[Pip3r]

Any tips/drills out there for getting used to cornering your opposite way? Ive gone out a couple times this winter when theres snow on the roads and tried to work on drifting but still cant get comfortable going my oposite way.
does anyone try to ride switch footed into them?

 

[MikeD]

Don't ask me. I can't turn left; I'm not an ambi-turner.

 

[dhtahoe]

Yeah try switching your lead foot. Example: when I turn right (my natural way) my left foot is forward and my right is trailing. This already puts your hips,shoulders pointing to the right. This is why I have always turned right better. When I learned to switch my lead foot before a turn I lost my weak side. Learn to lead both ways. Stand in the middle of the room. Pretend that you have a pair of bars in your hand and try. When you turn left lead with your right, and when you turn right lead with your left. Remember you shoulders follow hips. If your head, shoulders, and hips are going in that direction the bike will follow.

 

[Smelly]

Example: when I turn right (my natural way) my left foot is forward and my left is trailing.

typo i presume?

 

[RideND]

dhtahoe, I think he was saying that your left foot is forward and back? Or are we reading it wrong and it means something else?

 

[heikkihall]

No way. I corner ride left foot forward all the time, for right and left corners. Just practice your non dominant corner and it will eventually come. I really dont know if i have a weak cornering side. If I were to guess though it would be turning to the left.

 

[Acadian]

I also ride with my left foot forward and would have to say right hand corners are my weakness (amongst many other things ).

 

[SuspectDevice]

No way. I corner ride left foot forward all the time, for right and left corners. Just practice your non dominant corner and it will eventually come. I really dont know if i have a weak cornering side. If I were to guess though it would be turning to the left.

Kids who grew up skiing don't have a preferred direction I've found. We learned all about weight distribution an edge control at a super young age.

Piper,
The best drill you could do is just corner opposite as much as you can, snow is good, but dirt is even better. With the winter we've been having dirt is right around the corner (Unless you come out the Baystate Indoor, where there is plenty of left and right handers....).

 

[ioscope]

I am goofy on a skateboard, so I ride right foot forward. I am best at turning left, but all of the real turns on the local trail go right, so I'm pretty good at that too.

 

[-BB-]

Don't ask me. I can't turn left; I'm not an ambi-turner.

Go watch some Nascar...
They ONLY turn left.

 

[-BB-]

I also ride with my left foot forward and would have to say right hand corners are my weakness (amongst many other things ).

Cute girls in tight clothes, Sushi, and Beer are my weakness.

A Cute Japanese girl behind the counter of a Shushi bar, handing me a large Asahi (dry)..

Tell me you wouldn't be the same Luc.

 

[Acadian]

Cute girls in tight clothes, Sushi, and Beer are my weakness.

A Cute Japanese girl behind the counter of a Shushi bar, handing me a large Asahi (dry)..

Tell me you wouldn't be the same Luc.

dude...you caught me off guard there!

 

[UiUiUiUi]

mhm asahi... damn need to visit Sushi and Soul again :love: :love:

 

[Smelly]

I am goofy on a skateboard, so I ride right foot forward. I am best at turning left, but all of the real turns on the local trail go right, so I'm pretty good at that too.

I'm regular on a skateboard/snowboard and ride with my right foot forward so i guess there's no rule about it. i've been trying to teach myself to ride left foot forward though. i think that would make a lot more things feel less sketchy. right now if i have my left foot forward i feel really awkward on the bike. it'd be nice to not feel that way.
one of the things i've started doing to adapt is when i'm standing talking to someone, whenever i remember i put my left foot in front just to get my body adapted to the feeling. it feels kind of wierd even just standing there, but i guess it's all part of the learning process

 

[dhtahoe]

Kids who grew up skiing don't have a preferred direction I've found. We learned all about weight distribution an edge control at a super young age.

Yep that's where I learned... skiing

 

[-dustin]

i have a big problem with this on a road bike. mtn bike isn't so bad for some reason, but when it comes to a road bike...i have to drop tons of speed. kinda sucks.

 

[heikkihall]

Kids who grew up skiing don't have a preferred direction I've found. We learned all about weight distribution an edge control at a super young age.

I never really thought about that, it makes sense though. But I deffinately do have a weak turn on my skis. Biking had a bad effect on my skiing. My coaches were allways trying to figure out why I wanted to have my left foot in front of the other. I was allways hunched over and looked like I was riding a bike too. They didnt like that and tried to make me quit riding several times.

 

[caputo1989]

Try it with a lighter bike first.

 

[SuspectDevice]

Biking had a bad effect on my skiing. My coaches were allways trying to figure out why I wanted to have my left foot in front of the other. I was allways hunched over and looked like I was riding a bike too. They didnt like that and tried to make me quit riding several times.

Those bastards! Bike riding can turn some people into hunchbacks, that's for sure.

 

[ZEDMAN]

i ride right foot foward and i had trouble taking right hand turns and still do to a point. just one day i found that balance spot and trusted that my tires would hold. i also started just riding around like coasting and what not with my left foot foward. at first it felt super werid but now i dont really notice. this might have helped but i dont switch my feet in a berm. just practice.

 

[chicodude]

i have a big problem with this on a road bike. mtn bike isn't so bad for some reason, but when it comes to a road bike...i have to drop tons of speed. kinda sucks.

Really? It was the exact oppisite thing for me...........

 

[kidwoo]

It is my deeply felt belief that it is better to do the exact opposite of what dhtahoe is saying.

Here's why. I'm naturally reg footed (left foot foward) and turn to the left a little better. The corning knobs on my tires back this up as well as just normally feeling stronger coming out of left turns. Now depending on the condition of the turn, I may or may not want to drop the outside foot. This is WAY easier to do with a trailing foot than a leading foot. Now dhtahoe will say "yeah but you can get a pedal stroke in that way" but still.....that is the most unnatural feeling motion I have ever tried to force into a turn. Plus droping your outside foot with your trailing foot lends itself to a very easy pumping motion that can preload your suspension easier and pop you out of turn pretty fast.

Even in turns where traction is fine and you keep your feet level throughout it makes more sense to me and feels more natural to have your high (outside) foot in the rear because it gives you a stronger pivot to switch your weight back at the end of a turn. Say your inside foot is back.......In most Dh situations you're trying to deal with maintaining as much traction as possible to hit the turn as fast as possible. If your leaning your bike, which way is your body most of the time? Above the bike with the bike leaning the direction of the turn and your weight a little on the outside. Pivoting on an inside rear foot is much more akward than pivoting on an outside rear foot. Only on stupid hard berms like on well used slalom tracks can you really stay centered or inside the turn the whole time and keep good traction. Even then at the exit, your weight will be a litte back meaning your pedals a little angled up (like front crank approaching the angle of your downtube) and which pedal is most likely to catch? Inside or outside rear? Inside rear because it will be much closer to the ground on the inside of the turn than an outside rear.

This is of course gospel and there's absolutely no refuting my thinking here because I'm much better looking than dhtahoe and am always right.

What do you think sirs?

 

[-dustin]

Really? It was the exact oppisite thing for me...........

my only big **** eating was on a road ride where i took an opposite turn and hit a patch of sand (it was around mid-night, i couldn't see it). it think it's still in the back of my mind.

 

[zedro]

dude, just hammer the throttle and point'it.....so' simple

 

[kidwoo]

As far as practicing, I just started forcing myself to switch it up on right hand turns. It took a while to start getting the traction AND exit pump where I normally ride at northstar (moondust powder) but when I went to whistler I don't think my "weak" stance/turn side was any less powerful. I started trying it on our dj/slalom track thingy and it's wierd. We've got a lot of turning jumps and forcing myself to jump opposite footed is odd but it is improving my skills riding that way for sure.

I also started putting my willy down the other leg when I ride and it seems to help, having shifted the grounding rod and all.

 

[dhtahoe]

Oh I still use the foot up foot down tech once into the turn. But to start my turns I switch. How can all the superfast guys(Rennie,Minnar,Peat) be wrong. Hey it felt unnatural when Shaums showed me, but with time it helped. Learning to ski helped too. Better looking Last time I looked we both have hot girlfriends. I am from venus and I have a huge *****

 

[zedro]

I am from venus and I have a huge *****

you too!!!!?

(assuming by huge *****, you meant huge *****)

 

[Sir Happypants]

Cute girls in tight clothes, Sushi, and Beer are my weakness.

A Cute Japanese girl behind the counter of a Shushi bar, handing me a large Asahi (dry)..

Tell me you wouldn't be the same Luc.

right about here is where this thread was derailed...

 

[dhtahoe]

right about here is where this thread was derailed...

Yep

 

[Red Bull]

This has never been a problem w/ me . But that might have something to do with learning to ride a bike when i was 2.5 years old...

 

[dhtahoe]

This has never been a problem w/ me . But that might have something to do with learning to ride a bike when i was 2.5 years old...

What was that like 5 years ago

 

[shocktower]

I never even thought about it ,I like to twist or pull on my bars to help get more grip in the tires also I like cornering with my feet up .and now you must practice ,and not think of it as a diffrent direction but just another corner

 

[Red Bull]

What was that like 5 years ago

Umm, that would be ummm, 14 - 2.5= 11.5 years ago, i think