When I practice I seem to ride quite well and confidently, but as soon as I enter a trial I lose all my ability and struggle with the most basic skills!

I

When I practice I seem to ride quite well and confidently, but as soon as I enter a trial I lose all my ability and struggle with the most basic skills!

I

Marking your practice sections makes them more competition like. Home builder stores in the US sell little colored flags for marking the ground before digging. I think they are in the pipe/ irrigation section. They are small, cheap, easy to carry and easy to stick in the ground. It is surprising how the markers make it more difficult.

Marking your practice sections makes them more competition like. Home builder stores in the US sell little colored flags for marking the ground before digging. I think they are in the pipe/ irrigation section. They are small, cheap, easy to carry and easy to stick in the ground. It is surprising how the markers make it more difficult.

Next practice I will mark out some sections, and get my dad observing

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Welcome to the world of riding trials...

Been riding 30 years, never solved that problem, I've always said... take away the markers and observers and dam it I'm good.

Might take up knitting instead.

Yup, a clear case of 'flag-itis'..I can't shake it off either.

My guess is you care too much. I am also new to trials (and rubbish for that matter) but I can ride the same level in a trial as I can in practice because I don't care too much about what score I get generally. If I am doing reasonably well in a section and start thinking about the score before I am out then it all goes to pot.

It's called perfromance anxiety and quite a lot of men can suffer it when it comes to sex as well

Stop worrying about the score and just try to enjoy your ride as you do in practice. It will make a big difference.

My first lap is always the worst because of the "first loop jitters", and the last loop sucks because by then I am tired.

When reading this next statement remember 2 things 1. out clubs use ribbon/tape for marking and 2. I am old enough to remember when video recorders used VHS tapes.

I ride AWESOME!!...........until there is tape involved.

Yep it's a common problem, probably due to nerves and a desire to do really well in front of others.

I have set up tape around a hilly practise area and I find I go to pot even there. I seem to always have my weight on the wrong foot and before I know it I am leaning one way and the bike is heading the other.

In another area I have cones and a balance bar and I am reasonably ok on that but as soon as I ride with tape or with other competent riders I am useless

Can't offer any advice for nerves other try and get into your own little world.

I can offer a few tips on practice and first lap management.

When practicing mark out a section proper with markers and ride it as if in a trial. Only believe that you have mastered that section when you have cleaned it 3 times in succession - This is Sammy Millers tip not mine but helps you focus.

When walking the sections on the first lap, walk up the section and get a general feel for where it goes. Then walk back down the section planning where you are going to ride. This way the first bit you ride is the last bit you walked - Bernie Schrieber's tip not mine.

I find a can of red bull or equivalent 15mins before the start just helps wake the brain up. -my tip so may be worth ignoring.

I think everyone rides better when there's no flags/observers involved , for a start you can turn wider, attack things with a better line and in some case you avoid the nasty bits..

A tip i was given by a pro rider was to always mark things up tighter and harder than you would normally or even better get someone else to mark out a section - makes practice alot more like the real thing [ i ride badly either way ]

A few nerves are quite normal and you can manage them with good thoughts;

A sports coach taught me 'The mind can be trained to be so powerful but can very easily be fooled' so the real skill is to keep it focused.

When practicing get someone else to set your sections out so you have no control of being familiar with it till you have walked them, so it feels like a real trial and even better if there's a good group of you.

At a trial Imagine you are just doing your practice. every time you ride it is just practice.

Nobody wants to see you do badly so just do what you do and put a good show on for them and let the others have a bad day

Edited October 24, 201114 yr by RichT