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Sidehop technique/strength question


niconj

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My standing vertical is around 90cm. Running it's around 1.10cm.

this is actually interesting. i just tried my vertical height and it's only about 45cm (maybe add a few because of the very crude measuring technique: colored chalk on finger on pitched roof area of my apartment). and i don't even have weak legs. i could do ten one footed squats on my right foot (left is a lot worse) not too long ago. i'm not that light either: usually about 80 kilo.

i need to train this more. even with such a simple thing i find it hard to get the coordination down, releasing all muscles at the same time. thanks.

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but as niconj mentioned somewhere before, there really seems to be a difference between quick muscle release and slower.

Did I mention it? There is actually a difference in muscles. There are fast twitch muscle fibres which are good for jumping sprinting etc. and there are slow twitch muscle fibres which are for running long distances. I've basically trained the fast twitch ones doing squats and dead lifts and a loooooot of plyometrics (too bad I wasn't really talented in playing basketball. :D).

I think that it comes down to learning the right technique. I also think that I lack a strong pedal kick at jumping.

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Looks good to me. I'm sure you can alot higher than the stack you had there. Learn to use the front wheel to

Thanks. I really hope you're right. Right now I find it hard to really preload and pedal kick when jumping*. The first is really interesting as I do squats ATG (ass to grass).

*my rear wheel barely moves when doing the side hop.

Edited by niconj
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Try softening the tyre so it feels out of control (obviously not so its flat nearly) take a pallet off what you do in the video so it looks easy enough for you.

might help the rear wheel pop up even though it'll feel alien because of you not being used to the tyre pressure but once you can kind of control it and pop the rear end up then keep putting 1 or 2 psi in until you get the balance right?

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Try softening the tyre so it feels out of control (obviously not so its flat nearly) take a pallet off what you do in the video so it looks easy enough for you.

might help the rear wheel pop up even though it'll feel alien because of you not being used to the tyre pressure but once you can kind of control it and pop the rear end up then keep putting 1 or 2 psi in until you get the balance right?

Come again? With "my rear wheel doesn't move" I meant my rear wheel barely spins when doing the Sidehop.

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was my opinion on learning the rear wheel kinda pop technique but oh well 'in the words of the Virgin mary, come again?"

Oh ok. Yesterday I tried to put force into the pedal kick and found out that I really have problems with this technique. I can jump higher with the bike keeping the rear wheel locked than with the kick*. :( I guess I have to practice this a lot more. I also have a mental block when trying to go higher. I'm kinda afraid of not being able to bail out when it is needed.

I guess I will practice the Sidehop on a lower obstacle to get the technique right and then go higher step by step.

*On the other hand, kicking when gapping isn't hard to do.

Edited by niconj
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I guess I have to practice this a lot more.

If you want to get better at doing sidehops, doing more sidehops will be the way to do so :P

But seriously, only by riding and doing them will you be able to feel out all the little nuances/subtleties in technique that start to allow you to go higher.

That's what I was trying to get at ;)

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Should've said it then. :D

Will do, will do. Would 7 pallets be a realistic goal for this season? I can get on five I think with my crappy technique.

I've been going back and forth between 7.5 and 6 for the past year; I wish 2 pallets in a season was that easy :)

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I've been going back and forth between 7.5 and 6 for the past year; I wish 2 pallets in a season was that easy :)

I know it's rather optimistic but as you guys pointed out, it's the technique rather than pure strength. So if I get the technique right in the next couple of months, I should be able to put on a pallet or two I think... not sure though.

Edited by niconj
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If you're still dialling in some fairly fundamental parts of the technique like the pedal kick then you can make some pretty big improvements over a short space of time. It's once you've got the fundamentals locked and you're maxing out that improvements in strength would be more beneficial to you. "Power is nothing without control", etc...

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If you're still dialling in some fairly fundamental parts of the technique like the pedal kick then you can make some pretty big improvements over a short space of time. It's once you've got the fundamentals locked and you're maxing out that improvements in strength would be more beneficial to you. "Power is nothing without control", etc...

Yeah. Thanks, That's what I figured out. It's not that I don't know how to pedal kick but it's kinda weird doing it while sidehopping. Have to work on that a lot.

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If you're still dialling in some fairly fundamental parts of the technique like the pedal kick then you can make some pretty big improvements over a short space of time. It's once you've got the fundamentals locked and you're maxing out that improvements in strength would be more beneficial to you. "Power is nothing without control", etc...

Which is why those retards adding a 'tuck' on a 30" sidehop just ended up making themselves look like contorted spastics.

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Theres a set of sloped walls I practice on which have a "soft" edge to them.

So when I start on back wheel, I'd be further away than if it was just a normal vertical wall. Some how, I seem to be able to side hop higher on this wall than any other.

I think part of it is the soft edge which lets me fail without smashing me or my bike too much.

I think im gapping up to two wheels instead of jumping straight up.

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The kick seems more like it's there to hold your position relative to the wall rather than really powering you up there as well. It's not really a pedal kick in the same way it is if you're doing gaps or anything like that, so if you're deliberately trying to add power to that pedal stroke that might be hindering you a bit. When I'm sidehopping I've never really even thought about the kick aspect of it, it just sort of comes naturally.

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It'll contribute to you going up, but getting your body weight moving and learning the proper technique for lifting your bike up and under you will probably make more of a change to your sidehop height than focussing on trying to work out how to kick harder into it.

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