How Foot Placement Affects Mountain Bike Handling and Cornering. (part 3)

Mountain bike your best
On 09/08/2014
By Gene

In the last 25 years one topic that has come up multiple times is how foot placement affects mountain bike handling and cornering, especially going into a corner or switchback. I have heard always have the outside foot forward so you can start to pedal earlier on the exit of a corner and I have experimented with that and the opposite, having the outside foot trailing as you go into a corner. This was actually my first foot placement article that I was working on before a student asked a question that sparked part 1 and 2:  http://wp.me/p49ApH-15o    http://wp.me/p49ApH-15P

Turns out, having your outside foot back while cornering is faster, but not for you! Or me, or three-time World Cup Champion and three-time World Champion Greg Minnaar). Confused? Well, in a second I will explain why having your outside foot back in a corner can help you a little bit but first I have to explain what will help you a lot! The number one thing that determines cornering exit speed (your goal) is vision. As you enter a corner you should be looking at least five feet past the exit of the corner and up to 30 feet past if possible (I know, in dense woods you often can’t even see the exit from the beginning of a corner, in these cases you have to look as far as you can, then as you enter the corner look further). Next you must finish all of your braking in a straight line before the corner and be in proper body position (that is a blog article in itself). Doing those things consistently is tough and why Greg Minnaar, Aaron Gwin, Cody Kelly and Mitch Ropelato are so consistently on the podium, they do this 100% of the time!

foot placement

Greg Minnaar nailing the big picture elements of cornering.

Can you consistently corner as well as those four racers? Even though I have coached three of them I can’t consistently corner that well and neither can most other pro downhill racers, very few if any pro cross-country racers and very few riders of all levels/experience. I have video of hundreds of pro racers (including me) and thousands of amateurs racers looking at the apex or closer as they enter a corner. The same videos show most racers, pros and amateurs alike braking in the corner and often out of position. These racers/riders are missing 98% of what creates exit speed. Having their feet in the right position (outside foot trailing inside foot) at the entrance might make them corner 2% faster but looking through, braking before the corner and maintaining the correct body position would make them 50-100% faster! Since we all have a limited amount of practice time (drill time, not riding time) our time would be better spent working on the big picture,(looking through the corner, braking before the corner and using perfect body position) before we worry about a little detail like which foot is forward.

Why can be faster to enter a corner with your inside foot forward and outside foot trailing? It allows you to easily distribute your weight exactly where you want it, by simply “letting” the outside foot drop to where you feel most balanced (from 50% of your weight on either foot to 60-40, 70-30, 71-29, etc., and you can slowly shift your weight to the outside foot or quickly shift your weight). This is much harder when your forward foot is your outside foot (for me this is a right hand corner as I ride left foot forward) as you really have two choices, outside foot level with inside foot or outside foot down. The micro adjustments are much harder with your forward foot making turning away from your forward foot a little more awkward than towards your forward foot. If you could switch which foot is forward instinctively, with zero thought, cornering towards your forward foot would be faster (a little bit!) but in my 15 years of coaching over 3,000 students I have yet to find a student who can do this effortlessly. Even my fastest student, Greg Minnaar cannot do this without thinking and then screwing up a more important element of cornering. I do believe as the world cup gets more and more competitive racers will start adjusting which foot is forward as they enter corners to gain that extra 10th of a second or two tenths. This is something that will take a YOUNG racer years to master. Your time and my time would be better spent perfecting the more important elements of cornering!

BetterRide student Aaron Polly getting the picture skills right!

BetterRide student Aaron Polly getting the picture skills right!

How your body deals with this is interesting. After 40 plus years of riding left foot forward (biking, skateboarding, snowboarding and surfing) I have twisted my legs, hips, back and neck. Despite years of yoga, stretching, foam rolling, massage therapy and chiropractic care my right hip is WAY tighter than my left and back gets sore quickly. With this in mind I have started riding awkward foot forward on the easier sections of trail. While this won’t make up for the imbalance in my body it might keep it from getting worse!

So focus on the Big Picture techniques like vision, balanced and neutral body position and braking before the corner. IF you ever master these then you can worry about which is forward as your enter a corner or switchback.

Comments

7 Comments

  1. Griff Wigley

    Well done, Gene. I like your measured tone.

    I, too, “have started riding awkward foot forward on the easier sections of trail.”

    And I’m focusing most of my efforts on hip flexion to get more of that balanced body position and letting the foot placement to my unconscious for now. 😉

    Reply
  2. John Weber

    Just wanted to drop a line to say thanks! I am a newbie to bicycling. I became a daily commuter 6 months ago & am approaching 1k miles riding the roads on a touring bike. Thanks to your lessons on hill climbing, cornering etc…etc. I can ride better, make fewer mistakes & enjoy it more! Note that your guidance on maintaing a balance neutral position while riding solves a lot ills in technique for me. Thanks Again!

    Reply
  3. Tom Loonan

    Nice read and quite insightful as a continuing effort we all owe ourselves as we continually promote both our sport and individual accomplishments.
    I, too, began switching it up quite a number of years ago, for a pretty different reason though. As my lefty son grew up, struggling with some skills in sports, I decided to augment my skills and experiences by doing almost everything ‘backwards’. My biggest problem was, and still is, getting a goofy foot forward; whether it is cornering or just regular straight shots when not pedaling. Thinking after the read, in hindsight of course, how good could I have been in the early 80s racing BMX with this information…?
    Thanks Gene, as always.

    Reply
  4. Clay

    I also suffer from much tighter hips…especially the hip flexor on the right side. I would guess this is fairly common because I believe a chief cause of it is all the time we spend driving our cars. Most people use their right foot almost exclusively to do the accelerator and brake pedals. It has been my observation that I keep tension in my right leg as to be poised for a quick adjustment in speed or braking. I now try to use cruise control as much as possible and consciously relax while driving to minimize it’s effects on my muscle imbalances.

    I’ve been working on switching forward foot posittion for left and right turns based on which position allows me to twist my hips into the turn better. I believe I’m more effective at turning my hips into the turn with the outside foot forward.

    Reply
  5. Andy Huber

    As you may already know Brian Lopes agrees with you on foot placement.( I would say he knows a thing or two about going fast). Gene, you should write a book, like he did. I would be the first to buy it.

    Reply
  6. Mike Gleason

    Gene, I took your class in last year in Marin county with Dylan Renn and I have to say my cornering has improved 110% from before using outside foot down. Busy doing 4 triathlon’s this year, coaching my 17 year olds baseball team I finally entered my first mountain bike race of the year last week and finished 2nd place (not bad for a 58 yr old)!!! Easy to make up time in the corners now and is real fun. Dylan was a great coach and I cant thank you enough and am looking forward to the next class.

    Reply
  7. Billy

    Outside foot down is best option no matter what the corner is like (bermed , flat , off camber) unless of coarse you don’t have the ground clearance (rock gardens , roots , breaking bumps). Outside foot back is a close second because it maximizes your ground clearance and you finish your turns clean . Think about how your profile looks when you tabletop your airs . If your opposite foot is back (laying it over to the left so right foot back) you can really lean it over .

    Reply

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Rider Reviews

Thanks again, you were a great part of my succees for 2005. I had the best year of my life. Part of which at the age of 52, I entered numerous mtn bike races, podiumed 5 times and won the Texas Mountain Bike Racing Association series for my division.

Your instruction, professsionalism and emails went above and beyond all expectations.

Kent Wells
2016

Thanks Coach Gene for your time the last 2 days! Your coaching is spot on! I’m so lucky to have had the chance to spend this time learning from the most passionate mountain biker out there – one who cares about the sport and all the techniques that go into it! Total respect! That’s all I have to say! If anyone is questioning or “thinking” about signing up for his camp- DON’T , just do! Thank you Gene!!!!

Gretchen Wavro

This was by far the best use of both money and time in regards to my mountain bike training.
Its 3 days of my life I will never forget.

Jim, BetterRide Camper

The results are starting to trickle in as I have the time to ride some of my local rides that I track my times on.  I’m astonished!

My descending time from the summit of Chimney Gulch to the Beaver Brook cross over dropped from a personal best of 6:51.0 to 5:46.0, for the bottom section it went from a personal best of 13:42.0 to 10:12.2.  Considering that I really haven’t had enough time to practice a lot yet, I’m stunned at the improvement.  I can also say that I felt more in control than I used to and I cleaned a section I’ve never had the balls to even try before.

Again Gene, I can’t thank you enough.  The camp was great.  Your ability to break skills down into digestible parts, watch riders and help them refine techniques, your humility and sense of humor make you a world class coach.  I’ll be taking your next level two clinic this year and probably a refresher next year.”

 Mark Forgy
Expert XC racer, Mountain Bike Fanatic

Just wanted to give you an update and let you know that I am starting to experience the delayed effects of your camp.  I knew when the camp ended that I was leaving with some new skills that were helpful immediately.  But I also knew there were other skills that were going to take more practice, patience and time.  Well, I’m starting to see them.  

I’ve been practicing descending the way you instructed us but until the last couple of weeks, I knew I was still faster descending the way I always had – I was just more comfortable that way.  But in the last couple of weeks, it all kind of clicked.  

I’m not winning any downhill races – yet – but all of a sudden (and it really did seem to happen pretty suddenly) your techniques took over and instead of just using them at low speeds only when I thought about it, I was using them all over the trails and feeling pretty comfortable.  Now I find myself only reverting to my old techniques when I come into a corner already off balance.  Anyway, thanks, it’s a great feeling – can’t wait to use them on race courses this year!

Sarah Kaufman
Top Pro Endurance Racer

I just wanted to let you know that I’ve had big improvements in my racing this year after taking the betteride course (about 10 minutes improvement from last year).  I got 2nd place in the beginner category at Eldora, then placed 15th out of 35 in the Sport category at Winterpark in my first ‘sport race’.   I passed people on the downhill for the first time in these two races, and am feeling much more confident on the downhills (I hit 31.5 mph max on a tight singletrack in the Eldora race).

Jonathan Jones

Tonight was the first night of practice cyclocross races.  The cornering techniques I learned in you camp last weekend rock on the cross bike.  I was able to carry speed through the corners and off cambers that I could only dream of last year!

I actually found myself cranking up the speed before the corners instead of braking. Nobody else is using this technique.  I found my self keeping pace with stronger riders just on cornering skill alone.  Imagine after I’ve a had a few weeks to practice.

I had best time of my life on a mountain bike at your camp, and look forward to doing another one next spring.

Chris Cornelison
September 24, 2010

I took your Neshaminy clinic in June.  I wanted to fill you in on my race results.  I raced all season in the Midatlantic Super Series in Women’s Sport. I won the overall championship!  I am so happy that I won!  I will be moving up to Elite next year.

I’ve been doing the drills you taught for 20 minutes, twice a week.  I almost always preride my race courses.  I work on hard sections to figure out the best lines.  Since the clinic, I have noticed that my balance has improved tremendously.

So, Gene… thank you for the clinic.  I still tell all my riding buddies about it. Especially how you break down the mechanics of everything that you teach.  I let them know how you explain the physics behind the techniques.  I tell them that the learning environment you provide is the perfect way to learn something, practice it, and really get it. I’d love to do a refresher course.

Angie Wallace
September 15, 2009

Attending Gene’s camp in Sedona was one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made. You can read skills articles and watch the youtube videos all day, but these will never engrain the skills needed to become a good mountain biker.

Gene’s course teaches you all of the primary skills, and then he drills them into you. You repeat these drills under his watchful eye until the become engrained. It’s been about 9 months since I attended the course and I still hear Gene correcting me if I’m going about an obstacle or turn in the wrong position.

I still make every ride a learning experience because of what he taught, and my riding has improved immensely as a result. Thanks Gene!

Steven Peyton
August, 2018

Just wanted to show you what your lessons made me do this past weekend!  If you click on the photo or link to the photo album look through the album and on the 2nd page, bottom row, there’s a great shot of me doing what you taught me to do with my elbows-totally Brian Lopes style. 

I was impressed to see myself doing that-a big change in my riding style and I know it’ll make me faster in the long run.

So thanks and I may have some time coming up where I can make it to one of your camps-I’ll let you know.

Amanda Riley, Kenda, Titus, Hayes Team
Winners of 2008, 24 hours of Old Pubelo

Thanks again for holding the camp last weekend.  I was finally able to get out and ride yesterday on the falcon trail (loop that goes around the Air Force Academy).  There are two sections that I have had problems with in the past.  One is a tight turn with two drop offs that are oddly spaced and the landing slopes off into some bushes.  I’ve ridden the trail a dozen times and walked that section most times.  Once I tried it and endo‘ed into the bushes.  When I rode it yesterday, I cleared it with confidence.  

I kept repeating to myself “Do or Do Not – There Is No Try”:-) I relaxed, saw the line I wanted to take, found my balance and went through the section very controlled – it was great!

The next section is a steep switchback climb with a ton of sand.  I have never made that turn, although I have tried to every time I’ve ridden the trail.  This time I approached the switchback using the techniques and strategy you taught us.  The result – made it!  No problem!

The last thing I noticed is that the whole ride was smoother.  I focused primarily on the vision techniques  – and body position skills.  The ride felt slower than what I normally ride, but it was actually six minutes faster!  Absolutely amazing!
Brad
Oct. 8, 2008 (5 days after his 3-day coaching session)

My son took your camp in winter park at age 14. He is 16 and just completed the Laramie Epic (30 miles) last weekend. He placed 2 in the age bracket 0-29. He continues to use your techniques and tips. Smooth is fast! Your worksheets are worn out and weathered from continued use! Worth it….you bet!!!

Sheila Palmer
July 2019

Your camp gave me the confidence to go out and try a few races this summer.  My first race was in the beginner 40 to 45 age class in the “Point to Point” cross country race in Winter Park.  While I certainly did not break any records – I at least had a respectable finish and more importantly had a total blast.  

My second race was a Super D (much more my style in that there is MUCH less uphill cranking) at Winter Park where I got a second place finish in my age group.  3rd race was a Mountain States Cup Super D race in Copper where I came in tenth.  Again no records but still having a total blast.  

My friends the same age as me think I am crazy doing this stuff but I think they are crazy to be sitting on their arses.  Again, thank you for giving me the confidence to go out there and try some racing and hopefully in the near future I will be in another one of your camps!

Will Edgington
September, 2009

Thanks for the e-mail.  By the way, after completing your camp in Arizona, I dropped 5 minutes off my previous best lap time at the 12 hours of Temecula mountain bike race (59 to 54 minutes).  Obviously, this was a significant breakthrough.  

I’ve also noticed that by being a smoother and more efficient rider and by decoupling my body from the bike, I exert less energy and travel faster.  “Looking to victory” works like a charm.  Most importantly, the basic skills I was exposed to in your camp (and continue to develop) have made mountain biking more enjoyable.

Keith
January 2008

I’ve been wanting to pass on a personal success story.  I participated in my first mountain bike race in Copper Harbor, MI. I placed 6th in my age group (over 6 min. behind 3rd place) on a very technical course. Considering the field, I was happy with the results.

My goal after the BetterRide camp was to be in the top 3 in the same race with a similar field. With my new found skills I placed 1st this time with 2nd place over 7 min. behind. I tore it up! Thanks, I’m always telling people that no matter how much they think they know how to ride a mountain bike, they owe it to themselves to attend one of your camps. A year later I still practice my skills every time I’m out.

BTW, a while back you suggested some reading material. I chose Body, Mind Mastery by Dan Millman. (in audio book form). Not only do I feel it helped my mountain bike skills with things like, how tension is counter productive and how the “opponent is not the enemy, but instead the teacher” it also helped me in my own personal life. Good recommendation!
Keep up the good job.

Rich Schmit
April 2011

Gene and fellow BetterRiders!
I have been smiling all day long today, thinking about our rad weekend together! I taught 4 of my kids how to do wheelies today and they thought I was super cool for a solid 5 minutes until they had it completely mastered and were smoking past my on their rear wheels. 

 
Thank you forever, Gene, for sharing your passion and deciding to teach. An empowering, motivating, completely exhilarating weekend. I feel like a little kid on Christmas morning with my new toy. It was a total honor to cross paths with you all!

Currently standing on one leg while I brush my teeth and dictate this email…
Jen  

Friends took the 3 day a while ago and really enjoyed it.

I didn’t think I was ready for that but I hired him privately for most of a day. Best experience going. It helped my skiing also. Eyes, eyes and balance via movement on the bike. 

Steamboat in the rain…..

John Rostenbur

MTB Skills Camp in Fraser, CO. It was amazing. Phenomenal skills coach, Coach Gene Hamilton, literally broke down the fundamentals of mountain biking in 3 days. Super fun fellow campers. Enjoyed every bit.

Now I need to practice and strengthen some new neural circuits. If you want to improve your MTB skills, no matter your level, take a course from Better Ride.
Patricia George

Thank you, Gene! I thoroughly enjoyed your skills camp. One of the most effective learning environments I have experienced to date. Now it is all about due diligence!

 I am interested in a “day with Gene in Moab” and future course offerings.

Ryan Bertram

 

Gene, The first thing I did was buy some cones. My drive way is pretty steep so can do switch backs there. My pedal wheelies are coming along. Yesterday I had a bit of a breakthrough ride with my vision. On a ride with some small drop offs I realized by using the vision technique I was more balanced, more comfortable and jumped further without trying. 

That was the best clinic I have ever done. Thanks for the reading list. I’ve read a number of those books but I now have more to read.

Don Leet

 

 

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