Post by alien_scream on Jul 6, 2005 17:54:39 GMT 8
taken form the trials.on-line.com thread!!!!!!!
Got bounce? The importance of foot position.
Want to up higher, gap further, and land smoother? Do you watch in awe and envy as "more skilled" riders do bigger moves smoothly and precisely while you feel like you're riding a bike made of lead? There must be some "secret" to it all, right?
Well, this post contains that secret. A lot of people ask the same question in many forms, and it basically has to do with going higher, smoother, longer, or more precise. Often a rider will analyze his or her technique to death and overlook this one simple aspect.
Here's the secret: Foot position. If your feet aren't in the right place on the pedals for trials, it changes the rider/bike geometry. A picture tells a thousand words, right? I'll start off with a picture of today's role model. Who could be the poster boy for proper foot position? How about our very own Ray, AKA Chronic.
In the above picture, I've highlighted his foot. Notice how close his toes are to the front of the pedal. There's a lot of room between the back of the pedal and the heel. He's getting some fairly impressive moves nailed, and this is one of the main reasons. With his feet positioned back on the pedals, toes just overhanging the front edge, he has all the rest of his foot behind the pedal axle to use as additional leverage, and where it counts. Try this quick test. Stand straight up and jump off the floor by pushing down with your heels. Don't use your foot or ankle to launch. How high did you get? Not very high, right? You also felty heavy and unsmooth doing it, right? Now, do the same thing but begin with your heels off the ground, held up by your ankle spring. When you launch, extend your ankles. You went a bit higher and did it with more smoothness and control, right? Study the picture of Ray again, and then look below to our next example.
So, who gets to be our example of what not to do? Let's pick on Fizzmahon, as he asked for a critique not too long ago. I'm really not picking on you Fizz, it's just that you posted the best foot shot of what most average newbie riders do: Put their feet too far forward on the pedal.
Above is Fizzmahon on the rear wheel. Look at his foot, the pedal axle is closer to the middle of the foot, and part of the ball of the foot hangs off the front of the pedal. Comapred to the photo of Ray, Fizz has significantly less of a mechanical advantage due to foot position. Pointing toes up or down will cause little change in the distance of the center of gravity, while ray would have a distinct advant age at being able to point his toes up and effectively lower his CG by a few inches. Pointed down, the rider's CG will raise by several inches from level also. In this aspect of trials, riders with bigger feet, if they use them properly do have a mechanical advantage over smaller footed riders.
Does that mean that if i have small feet i'll suck at trials? Not at all, because as long as you have proper foot position, you'll be able to make the bke respond just as well. It'd be like comparing a 100mm travel suspension fork and a 120mm. Sure, one has more travel, but it's not enough of a difference to make the 100mm fork inferior, and unless you're doing monster moves, the little bit of a difference won't mean much.
So, how do I find the proper foot position?
Easy, just get on your bike and plant your feet where you normally do. Can you feel the front edge of tke pedal under your foot? Is it around the ball of your foot? Slide back until you feel the front of the pedals under your toes, if you were barefoot, you should be able to wrap your toes around the front of the pedal. At first this will feel awkward but ride with your feet in this position and get used to it. Practice dropping your ankles. Want to manual like lenosky? That's the trick, drop them ankles and favor your back foot, get your weight as low as possible using the ankle leverage. Want to explode like TRA? Keep dreaming, but you can definitely benefit from making sure you use your ankles to extend fully. Going from full preload to liftoff, your ankles should go through their full range of motion, while in preload, try to touch your heels to the ground, (it won't happen, but try anyways, it's visualizaion, always visualize past the point that is possible and you'll execute right to the limits) go deep, and then unload till you're so tall on your toes you feel like a pretty lil' bike ballerina.
Remeber if you bounce your ankles and it doesn't seem to do much, move your feet back. If you feel heavy on the bike, move your feet back. If you can't comfortably stand on your tiptoes on the pedal, move your feet back.
Oh yeah, and move your feet back.
Got bounce? The importance of foot position.
Want to up higher, gap further, and land smoother? Do you watch in awe and envy as "more skilled" riders do bigger moves smoothly and precisely while you feel like you're riding a bike made of lead? There must be some "secret" to it all, right?
Well, this post contains that secret. A lot of people ask the same question in many forms, and it basically has to do with going higher, smoother, longer, or more precise. Often a rider will analyze his or her technique to death and overlook this one simple aspect.
Here's the secret: Foot position. If your feet aren't in the right place on the pedals for trials, it changes the rider/bike geometry. A picture tells a thousand words, right? I'll start off with a picture of today's role model. Who could be the poster boy for proper foot position? How about our very own Ray, AKA Chronic.
In the above picture, I've highlighted his foot. Notice how close his toes are to the front of the pedal. There's a lot of room between the back of the pedal and the heel. He's getting some fairly impressive moves nailed, and this is one of the main reasons. With his feet positioned back on the pedals, toes just overhanging the front edge, he has all the rest of his foot behind the pedal axle to use as additional leverage, and where it counts. Try this quick test. Stand straight up and jump off the floor by pushing down with your heels. Don't use your foot or ankle to launch. How high did you get? Not very high, right? You also felty heavy and unsmooth doing it, right? Now, do the same thing but begin with your heels off the ground, held up by your ankle spring. When you launch, extend your ankles. You went a bit higher and did it with more smoothness and control, right? Study the picture of Ray again, and then look below to our next example.
So, who gets to be our example of what not to do? Let's pick on Fizzmahon, as he asked for a critique not too long ago. I'm really not picking on you Fizz, it's just that you posted the best foot shot of what most average newbie riders do: Put their feet too far forward on the pedal.
Above is Fizzmahon on the rear wheel. Look at his foot, the pedal axle is closer to the middle of the foot, and part of the ball of the foot hangs off the front of the pedal. Comapred to the photo of Ray, Fizz has significantly less of a mechanical advantage due to foot position. Pointing toes up or down will cause little change in the distance of the center of gravity, while ray would have a distinct advant age at being able to point his toes up and effectively lower his CG by a few inches. Pointed down, the rider's CG will raise by several inches from level also. In this aspect of trials, riders with bigger feet, if they use them properly do have a mechanical advantage over smaller footed riders.
Does that mean that if i have small feet i'll suck at trials? Not at all, because as long as you have proper foot position, you'll be able to make the bke respond just as well. It'd be like comparing a 100mm travel suspension fork and a 120mm. Sure, one has more travel, but it's not enough of a difference to make the 100mm fork inferior, and unless you're doing monster moves, the little bit of a difference won't mean much.
So, how do I find the proper foot position?
Easy, just get on your bike and plant your feet where you normally do. Can you feel the front edge of tke pedal under your foot? Is it around the ball of your foot? Slide back until you feel the front of the pedals under your toes, if you were barefoot, you should be able to wrap your toes around the front of the pedal. At first this will feel awkward but ride with your feet in this position and get used to it. Practice dropping your ankles. Want to manual like lenosky? That's the trick, drop them ankles and favor your back foot, get your weight as low as possible using the ankle leverage. Want to explode like TRA? Keep dreaming, but you can definitely benefit from making sure you use your ankles to extend fully. Going from full preload to liftoff, your ankles should go through their full range of motion, while in preload, try to touch your heels to the ground, (it won't happen, but try anyways, it's visualizaion, always visualize past the point that is possible and you'll execute right to the limits) go deep, and then unload till you're so tall on your toes you feel like a pretty lil' bike ballerina.
Remeber if you bounce your ankles and it doesn't seem to do much, move your feet back. If you feel heavy on the bike, move your feet back. If you can't comfortably stand on your tiptoes on the pedal, move your feet back.
Oh yeah, and move your feet back.
thanks brad for sharing! 
