Mr_Orange Posted May 3, 2016 Report Share Posted May 3, 2016 Working on bunnyhopping higher. I noticed for all high bunny hops, when fully tucked at the top, the rider drops their ass down low towards the back foot side of the frame. The bike is also twisted 45 degrees. Like this (look up bunnyhop contest videos, they're all like this): For high side hops though, it's the opposite. The rider drops below the frame on their front foot side. Side hop: Is there a reason for this? I ride left foot forward and when i try to bunnyhop high, my body naturally drops below the frame on the front foot side and the bike turns 45 degrees to the left. So, I tuck more like a side hop when i bunnyhop, almost like my body wants to face perfectly forward. I've never even worked on this too, it's just what my body wants to do. Is this bad technique? My hops are progressing but very slowly so I'm wondering if this is holding me back. I can kinda twist it the other way, but it just feels way more unnatural and harder. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted May 3, 2016 Report Share Posted May 3, 2016 Paging @Ali C... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ooo Posted May 3, 2016 Report Share Posted May 3, 2016 If Danny stayed straight he would have to keep the bike higher than the beam for the length of the bike. So by turning the bike its length become shorter so he doesn't have to keep it high for as long so it makes it easier to get high over a beam. How you bunny hop really depends on what you are doing, but you really need to be able to hop dead straight sometimes to. There is a more common way to turn for moves like whips and 180's but some people ride opposite. I think they usually turn towards the back foot side. Its more important to ride normal if you want to start doing barspins -360's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Orange Posted May 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2016 (edited) I thought the twist was more for getting really tucked without the seat or back tire hitting your ass. Your explanation makes sense too though. So you're saying it's likely that people are just rotating towards their more natural spinning direction during a bunnyhop which tends to be towards their back foot? My comfortable way of spinning 180's is clockwise, towards my back foot, so it's strange that my body wants to twist counterclockwise at the height of a bunnyhop. btw, found image comparisons of what i'm talking about. I look like the 1st guy. Most people look like the second guy: Edited May 3, 2016 by Mr_Orange Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ooo Posted May 3, 2016 Report Share Posted May 3, 2016 Oh yeah the tuck gets you higher too, I thought you were just asking about the twist, you can tuck without twisting as much. Danny's front wheel and back wheel cross the bar at the same time he is at almost 180 when he jumps. I have no idea which side is best to tuck on though, maybe it would be best to tuck on your normal 180 side because it would be easier to turn the bike 180 to get over the bar. The sidehop tuck is to do with getting the wheels as high as possible to plant them on the wall, its one of those centre of mass tricks, and not anything to do with bar jumping its just habit. They are already almost parallel with the bar so they don't have to turn much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali C Posted May 3, 2016 Report Share Posted May 3, 2016 pretty much what OOO has said, the tuck is the get the bike higher without it hitting you in the arse and the twist is to shorten the time the bike takes to get over the bar. Which way you tuck is personal preference, Danny, Myself and most BMXers will tuck to our back foot side as this is the same way we spin so it means you can do high 180 hops and general spins in riding (think tyre tap over things). Trials riders tend to tuck to the other side as you can tuck the bike up higher in sidehops and not be limited by your back foot being in the way. The down side is that it can really mess with how you bunnyhop and link everything together when riding street. I had to unlearn my spins and tucks and start again the other way, I really think it helps in the long run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Orange Posted May 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2016 Trials riders tend to tuck to the other side as you can tuck the bike up higher in sidehops and not be limited by your back foot being in the way. That does kinda make sense. I'm all over the place when it comes to spinning. When i snowboard, my natural spinning direction is to the right, but I'm much more comfortable doing grabs that twist to the left. On a skateboard, i can 180 to the left much better than i can in my natural direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herbertlemon102 Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 On 3 May 2016 at 6:42 PM, Mr_Orange said: That does kinda make sense. I'm all over the place when it comes to spinning. When i snowboard, my natural spinning direction is to the right, but I'm much more comfortable doing grabs that twist to the left. On a skateboard, i can 180 to the left much better than i can in my natural direction. I'm one of the few goofy footed riders, I guess it comes in handy as I Bunnyhop tuck the same side as I sidehop, which is nice for consistency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Orange Posted May 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 Been watching videos of Flipp and noticed he bunnyhops twisting frontside too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llOEjpI0kL0&t=1m47s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali C Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 it does him no favours when it comes to some other stuff though, he struggles to spin out of wallrides as he does them oppo (if I remember correctly) and he often uses a pedal crank to spin rather than just a hop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herbertlemon102 Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 (edited) 23 minutes ago, Ali C said: it does him no favours when it comes to some other stuff though, he struggles to spin out of wallrides as he does them oppo (if I remember correctly) and he often uses a pedal crank to spin rather than just a hop. ill agree with that- if i were to spin with no bitch crank the "normal" way, i pivot around my back foot, which is closer to the rear axle, and thus spins easy. no bitch crank the "wrong" (but right for me) way, and its more difficult. in short lines i dont have enough time to pull it all the way around, but a small bitch and it brings it together. i can non bitch- its just more effort and more likely to go wrong. i do like being able to bunnyhop sidehop though. plus, its not something i can change. Edited May 12, 2016 by Herbertlemon102 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali C Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 it totally is though, I did! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herbertlemon102 Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 1 hour ago, Ali C said: it totally is though, I did! you were goofy? it feels like its something so rooted in my head it cant be changed... what did you do? just try and spin the other way ind kept going at it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aener Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 2 hours ago, Ali C said: it does him no favours when it comes to some other stuff though, he struggles to spin out of wallrides as he does them oppo (if I remember correctly) and he often uses a pedal crank to spin rather than just a hop. Yep. This. Constant pain in the ass. Very slowly becoming able to go both ways, but I'm still goofy at heart. That said, STRICTLY in relation to bunnyhopping up high stuff, I think tucking the sidehop way is beneficial for the same reasons as it is with sidehops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali C Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 yeah, I agree with that, there are times I get caught out, that's why I always say trials teaches bad habbits for street/bmx stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 32 minutes ago, aener said: I think tucking the sidehop way is beneficial for the same reasons as it is with sidehops. Isn't the main benefit for going bad foot side with sidehops because you've got a pedal nearer to where you might need it if you slip off, and you get a bit better clearance on the way up? The only reason I ask is because I sidehop the 'wrong' way and also tuck going up stuff that way. I think all you really get from the sidehop thing is the muscle memory or ability to contort yourself best to move your bike higher, so I'm not sure if there's anything intrinsically better about tucking that way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aener Posted May 13, 2016 Report Share Posted May 13, 2016 (edited) No... Tucking on the front-foot side, there's a big gap your bum can move into so you can move the bike higher up in relation to your body. Tucking rear-foot side, your foot is in the way of that. It's the classic "Go watch Neil vs. Craig" argument. They both make their way work, but Neil always looks like he has to compensate/go around his foot, where Craig just... Sank. Haha. That's what I found, anyway. I used to sidehop opposite too, but one day it suddenly just felt more natural to go the usual way, without even trying. It was a really weird feeling Edit: Sorry - missed off the last sentence you wrote - was reading it on a phone >.< I'm not arguing that tucking that way is better - just that in terms of straight bunnyhops, being able to move the bike higher lets you get on top of higher things, assuming you've gone in with enough speed to lever your body-weight over the corner. I dunno. I'm a big believer of "do whatever feels best for you, not what someone tells you to", but this is what feel like a logical explanation to me Edited May 13, 2016 by aener Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusevelt Posted May 13, 2016 Report Share Posted May 13, 2016 Ty Morrow's pre-load and body language is also worth a watch in slo-mo at 00:24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted May 13, 2016 Report Share Posted May 13, 2016 4 hours ago, aener said: It's the classic "Go watch Neil vs. Craig" argument. They both make their way work... That's what I meant though - both ways work, but people usually cited the things I mentioned before as being the reason that you should ideally learn to go to your bad foot side. It seems a lot of people naturally want to go the other way, but 'everyone' goes the other way so people change over. Those things are what people usually list as the benefits of that way... EDIT: Semi-related, but as I saw this the other day: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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