Feet coming off the pedals while jumping is a scary experience. Here are five tips to help keep your feet connected to the pedals, prevent a racing heart and help you to finally master the jump.

Jumping Technique

The most common reason for feet coming off pedals is the rider’s body coming up too fast or being too stiff. To keep your feet on the pedals, you must bend your arms and legs, allowing the bike to travel upward. This requires a relaxed posture, not tension. For both clipless and flat pedals, proper jumping technique is important for success. To maintain contact with your pedals, create tension between your pedals and handlebars by pointing your toes down and dragging slightly backward on the pedals.

Timing Your Compression

Proper timing of compression is essential to keeping your feet on pedals while jumping. Compress down into your bike right before the transition up the ramp. To practice, perform a level lift in a flat or slightly descending area, compressing and allowing both wheels to come up evenly.

If you aren’t 100% sure when you should be compressing on a jump, have a quick read of the What, Why, and How of Jumping.

Proper Suspension Setup

Correctly set up suspension makes timing compression easier. Check out Suspension Setup in 4 Easy Steps for guidance.

Foot Placement (flat pedals)

Place your foot on the pedal so the axle is behind the ball of your foot. This differs from clipless pedals and helps prevent springing up and off the pedals when extending your foot downward.

Jumping Gear

Good shoes and pedals are critical for maintaining contact with the bike. Purpose-built bike shoes are better than tennis or skate shoes, and mountain bike-specific flat pedals (not cheap plastic platforms) are a must for jumping. Proper technique, combined with good shoes and pedals, will help everything stick together. Join a Jumping Mini Clinic for personalized feedback from a certified instructor on improving jumping technique. This will help you to keep your feet on pedals, and soa with confidence.

3 Easy Ways to Jump Video

In this comprehensive video, we’ll delve into the top 3 most frequently encountered types of jumps and provide you with practical insights and techniques to execute them with both style and consistency. Our aim is to equip you with the necessary knowledge and skills to enhance your jumping ability, helping you to perform these moves to the best of your ability.

Next Steps

Don’t forget, Ninja is here to help take the fear out of flight! Join us for a Jumping Mini Clinic for direct, real-time feedback from a certified instructor on how to break bad jumping habits. Learn to keep those feet on the pedals and soar with confidence.

Other Jumping Resources

Ninja is proud to be a contributing author to many WikiHow articles including these quick tips on how to master jumping here.