[amateur]

it seems as tho i cant bring myself to go off any big jumps. the skills are there, but the balls arent. i can do all sorts of drops(7ft'ers) and 15 stairs, stuff like that, but i cant bring myself to do any sort of bigger jump.

is there anyway to get over this fear other than doing it or slowly working my way up?

(i just recently started dj'ing because there arent any by my house)

 

[the BIG cheese]

close your eyes and tell your self not to hit the brakes, it takes a bit of dicipline but it works for me, oh and watching someone else do it first helps

 

[skiba]

Originally posted by the BIG cheese
close your eyes and tell your self not to hit the brakes, it takes a bit of dicipline but it works for me, oh and watching someone else do it first helps

definatly do not close your eyes

 

[monkeyboy424]

im gonna tell you some thing very stoopid, but listen closely my son, ok build up a beater bike!!!!!! have it be brakeless, so then even if you do WANT to chicken out you cant cause you will inflict serious pain on yourself. it works for all the pro bmxers so do not mock me mock them!!!!

 

[UCSBrian]

Have you got a buddy who can jump? Ive found when showing my other friends jumps that it helps them to be able to follow me. It allows them to get their speed right so they dont over shoot or under shoot. Especially if the skills are there, then it seems like all you need to know is how fast to go. Or just bite the bullet and go for it. Falling only hurts for so long.

Brian

 

[shootr]

I found the same problem when I started snowboarding, I had been a skier for like 12 years, and decided to take up a new sport. The same jumps that I had no probs with on skiis were suddenly too scary.
Like someone said, the best way is to follow someone over them, it eliminates teh speed variable, which is usually the largest mental hurdle.. That is how I ended up learning on the board.

I would not suggest having NO brakes, as that can lead to disaster even if you make the jump, if you cannot slow down and control your speed you could collide with another obstacle after, and often that is when you would get the greatest injury.(I know I saw a guy break his scapula doing just that, a "buddy" loosened his barrel adjuster so far that his brakes did nothing just for the reason the guy said..to prevent him from "chickening out" and he made the jump alright, clean as well, but the trail made a bend about 20ft after towards the rythm section, and he put his feet down to try and slow down but ended up smoking a tree...SNAP goes the Scapula!!)


And it is true, when you have some skills at something, and you haven't bailed in a long time, you start to get really afraid of bailing, because you can't remember how it feels to get hurt..
Crashes don't ever hurt as much as you think they should.

didn't someone say " the only thing worse than death, is FEAR of death."

 

[Ian F]

Go to a BMX track and practice there for awhile. What seemed to make a big difference for me was learning that casing a jump was not the end of the world, so I'm more confident in attempting a jump knowing I won't die if I don't clear the gap. I often hit a jump the first time knowing I won't make it and plan on casing.

The next step seems to be getting comfortable nosing your bike down to the landing from 12' in the air when the take-off jump has steep lip... scares the crap of me...

 

[axel]

Originally posted by Ian F
Go to a BMX track and practice there for awhile. What seemed to make a big difference for me was learning that casing a jump was not the end of the world, so I'm more confident in attempting a jump knowing I won't die if I don't clear the gap. I often hit a jump the first time knowing I won't make it and plan on casing.

The next step seems to be getting comfortable nosing your bike down to the landing from 12' in the air when the take-off jump has steep lip... scares the crap of me...

12" in the air???including the lip or no? cuz if tha is 12 feet above the lip....well, i donno if ive ever seen anyone go that big. but i do the same thing of thinking that if i case the jump, its not that big of a deal, as long as your balanced, it will be fine if you case it, it does help to slowly work up to bigger stuff tho, that was easy for me because i just slowly built up my DJs as i go better...unless you are going stupid big, then you should be OK if you mess up a little and land too short or too far

 

[Ian F]

Originally posted by axel

12" in the air???including the lip or no? cuz if tha is 12 feet above the lip....well, i donno if ive ever seen anyone go that big. but i do the same thing of thinking that if i case the jump, its not that big of a deal, as long as your balanced, it will be fine if you case it, it does help to slowly work up to bigger stuff tho, that was easy for me because i just slowly built up my DJs as i go better...unless you are going stupid big, then you should be OK if you mess up a little and land too short or too far

No, no, no... I meant 12' off the ground, not above the lip... ok, maybe it's not that high, but it feels pretty darn high when I'm spotting the take off for the next jump while I'm still in the air, and I have to nose the bike down to land the tranny right... Not bad once you get used to it, but damn scary the first few times.

 

[stringcheese]

yea just do what all these guys are telling you. but make sure to keep your body loose. cuz depending on the lip of the landing, if you're loose and you do case it, it won't be too bad and usually you won't crash.