Dialing the right speed for jumps

watch other riders and see how much speed they get and where they land. i like to follow friends to get an idea of how much speed i need. 

I'm not sure in term of feet, I'm really bad at estimating which is why I can't figure out the speed just by looking at people.

Based on their sizes on the mountain though I just divide the jumps into small, medium and big (the one with flags on both edge of the lip). I don't have problem clearing the small one, No problem on medium half of the time) and the one I tried and short land it last weekend was the big one.

I will just stay off the big one right now and I'll try to land the medium one most of the time before trying the big one again

If you ride at Mt High i'll be able to give you some pointers(i'm there sat/sun)

As you already know, the answer is to watch people. It sounds like you don't know what to look for though. You don't just watch them and say oh he cleared it and I THINK he was going this fast. Its more like you watch where they take off from and how many speed checks they do.
On a bigger jump there will usually be some sort of starting point. Busy days there'll be a line. Sit there and watch a few people. If you see 3-4 short it, wait for the guy that clears it. See how many speed checks they do(key point). Obviously some people will brake harder than others but at least this way you get some sort of idea. For me I ride a shorter board so sometimes i'll do one less check than others.

After awhile you'll kind of know how much speed you need. But yeah just start out small and get comfortable going faster. I remember the days when I couldn't clear the bigger jumps. In my head I knew I needed to go faster but I just wasn't used to going that fast on a jump.

Overshooting jumps sucks, I've had my fair share of bruised tail bones. Like you said, it's a mental block. If you've been riding this park for a while you should have some idea of how fast you should be going, the issue is probably that you're doubting yourself. I recommend a couple beers, just enough to take the edge off. That's how I learned one and a halfs and doubles on the diving board this summer.

Originally posted by Attrox Originally posted by VNlilMAN If you ride at Mt High i'll be able to give you some pointers(i'm there sat/sun)As you already know, the answer is to watch people. It sounds like you don't know what to look for though. You don't just watch them and say oh he cleared it and I THINK he was going this fast. Its more like you watch where they take off from and how many speed checks they do.On a bigger jump there will usually be some sort of starting point. Busy days there'll be a line. Sit there and watch a few people. If you see 3-4 short it, wait for the guy that clears it. See how many speed checks they do(key point). Obviously some people will brake harder than others but at least this way you get some sort of idea. For me I ride a shorter board so sometimes i'll do one less check than others.After awhile you'll kind of know how much speed you need. But yeah just start out small and get comfortable going faster. I remember the days when I couldn't clear the bigger jumps. In my head I knew I needed to go faster but I just wasn't used to going that fast on a jump. Thanks for the tips that's what I'll probably do next time, watch and take 1 less speed check. I wouldn't be able to ride this weekend, catching cold sucks And as far as overshooting, that's even worst than undershooting IMO.

Your right about undershoooting i undershot a 30 foot kicker by about 5 feet and broke my wrist back in january

one thing is to watch other riders, and see how many times they speedcheck, judge that to find a spot where you can just straight line it, or just mimic their checks

try hitting it with just some straight air's maybe an indy so you have full control and can see your landing, after you dail your speed in for those move to your spins.  You should be either the same speed or a tiny bit faster for spins.

Practice, Practice, Practice

It depends on the park- most are pretty well designed, so that the run in corresponds to the kicker, if this is not the case, start slow and build up- you'll get a feel for how fast you went last time and thus know you have to go a bit faster.

You aren't going to feel 100% comfortable to start with- pushing boundaries takes a while, but stick at it and you'll be steezy in no time.

Also remember that different conditions on different days are going to affect the speed, regardless of run in distance.

Just keep practicing and trying until you can try no more.  It's about trial and error.

i agree with the trial and error. even if you watch other people and and try to mimic them, your not gonna get it perfect. use that to try and get an idea, and if not, just try it out and adjust accordingly.

just keep practising on the medium ones, build your confidence back up and only hit the big ones when you know your comfortable enough to. OR go over the big jumps with a pal, and stay at the same speed as him.

I just check where others are starting from without carving at all...then I won't come up short if I make some turns. Just bullet down the mountain from the starting point and stick it!

I can never seem to judge my speed either and after seeing my brother tear his ACL on a jump which he didnt have enough speed I am totally terrified of it.

ussually judging speed aint really to big of a deal to me but end of last season i was riding at sunshine and i overshot the landing by like 20 ft --no joke-- landed strait on my previosly injured back it was terrible, all i remember is flying through the air way higher than ive ever flow and honestly thinking "OH crap I'M ABOUT TO DIE" luckily i didnt

yup thats me too, speed checking makes it so much harder to follow through with a big jump, but its that last minute fear!

Originally posted by VNlilMAN If you ride at Mt High i'll be able to give you some pointers(i'm there sat/sun) As you already know, the answer is to watch people. It sounds like you don't know what to look for though. You don't just watch them and say oh he cleared it and I THINK he was going this fast. Its more like you watch where they take off from and how many speed checks they do. On a bigger jump there will usually be some sort of starting point. Busy days there'll be a line. Sit there and watch a few people. If you see 3-4 short it, wait for the guy that clears it. See how many speed checks they do(key point). Obviously some people will brake harder than others but at least this way you get some sort of idea. For me I ride a shorter board so sometimes i'll do one less check than others. After awhile you'll kind of know how much speed you need. But yeah just start out small and get comfortable going faster. I remember the days when I couldn't clear the bigger jumps. In my head I knew I needed to go faster but I just wasn't used to going that fast on a jump.

Are you going to be riding mt high this coming season. Ill have to kick it with you. Help me out a bit that would be awesome!