You might have heard the advice to ‘drop your heels’ when mountain biking
I watched a lot of clips of world cup downhill racing and Enduro World Series in slow motion. One thing that is common amongst all the riders, is a wide range of movement through the ankles. (However most riders don’t drop both heels together!).
Understanding Ankle Flex & Mountain Biking Technique
When you are riding technical mountain bike trails you need to feel grounded. Standing on the pedals in a pedals level position. However in this position you are balancing on 3 freely rotating pivots: two pedal axles and the bottom bracket. Which isn’t simple!
Equal pressure on the pedals
We need to keep equal pressure on each pedal whilst being soft and relaxed through our ankles & lower legs. If you unintentionally put more pressure on either pedal, you are likely to unbalance yourself.
Unlike many other technique focused sports, like snowboarding, skiing or motorbike trials. The split stance when riding a mountain bike is asymmetrical. When we bend our legs the rearward leg has to bend more, which make its even harder to maintain equal pressure on the pedals.
This is why most riders wont drop the rear heel as much as the front one.
Have a look at this video to see just how much ankle movement mountain bike trials riders use:
What are the benefits of improving ankle flex when mountain biking?
- Feel more grounded on the pedals – even pressure on the pedals, will help keep your feet in place when using flat pedals.
- Being more relaxed in a tall neutral stance – flexing your ankles in a tall neutral stance, helps to relax your legs.
- Precise pressure application – the movement in your ankles can be used much to apply pressure precisely.
- A better range of movement when pumping/absorbing – if you don’t flex your ankles when you squat down on the bike (the pumping/absorbing movement). Your weight will tend to shift forward & you will struggle to maximise your range of movement.
- Improve jumping technique – ankle flex will help you to straighten your legs fully when jumping which gives you the ‘pop’.
- Having better control & balance in a low position – a low position on the bike tends to be the hardest position to control the bike from.
How can you improve ankle flex?
Here are the key ways I use to help riders improve this:
- Adjusting foot position on the pedals – most riders tend to find moving their foot forward on the pedals helps them to flex their ankles more, e.g. a midfoot pedal position.
- Improve ‘feel’ through your ankles & feet – work on subtle movements, such as gentle bounces in a tall neutral stance, or track standing with your wheels inline.
- Work on strength & movement skills – Squat movements & heel raises – If you can’t do a full depth bodyweight squat, you will struggle to get a good range of movement on the bike. Improving balance & movement in heel raises will also help with this.
- Flat pedal/shoe selection – you might benefit from trying shoes with different stiffness, or different size pedals. Heavier/bigger riders are likely to prefer stiffer shoes & bigger pedals.
Conclusion
Whether you have good ankle flex already. Improving the ‘feel’ & precision of movements through your ankles/feet can help you to learn new techniques & build confidence in your MTB skills.
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