AJ: keep head over bars over big gaps - why

queen of spodes
In one of his latest vids AJ mentioned that he teaches all riders to keep their heads above the crosspad or further forward when hitting large jumps. Can someone explain what this does to body positioning that makes us safer on bigger gaps?
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Question 8/30/2021 5:52am
8/30/2021 5:52am Edited Date/Time 8/30/2021 5:52am
You gotta unlock your hip
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soggy
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soggy 8/30/2021 6:03am
8/30/2021 6:03am
Because you should practice proper technique at all times. You shouldn’t sacrifice technique because you are doing something for the first time
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GaryC1
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GaryC1 8/30/2021 6:41am
8/30/2021 6:41am
I can't remember if it was one of his own videos or someone else's I'd seen before but the reason is that if you hang further bars with your arms extended you have less control over the bike to correct the pitch and direction. Having your head over the bars with arms and knees bent allows you to control the bike much better. Smaller jumps this isn't as big an issue but always a good idea to implement the same correct technique over every jump you do.
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kb228
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kb228 8/30/2021 7:28am
8/30/2021 7:28am
I thought you kept your head over the bars all the time except hard braking..
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queen of spodes 8/30/2021 7:43am
8/30/2021 7:43am
Thanks I am a life long rider and very occasional racer, and slow.

There's a 65foot-ish tabletop at our local track I want to clear solidly. I'm consistently landing 3/4 of the way, just too afraid to hold it on. Having the right technique will help my confidence in clearing it.

I appreciated hearing AJ mention that half hitting jumps is actually more dangerous than hucking them clean.
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Yeti831
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Yeti831 8/30/2021 8:11am
8/30/2021 8:11am
I’ve been struggling with orientation jumping after a long break.

That video single handily solved my problem. Even sent the fat 90ft uphill at Jordan River vet track yesterday with zero issues.

Another thing I was doing wrong was not pumping my arms right before take off. Ass back and head forward is the ticket 🙂
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soggy
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soggy 8/30/2021 8:34am
8/30/2021 8:34am
Yeti831 wrote:
I’ve been struggling with orientation jumping after a long break. That video single handily solved my problem. Even sent the fat 90ft uphill at Jordan River...
I’ve been struggling with orientation jumping after a long break.

That video single handily solved my problem. Even sent the fat 90ft uphill at Jordan River vet track yesterday with zero issues.

Another thing I was doing wrong was not pumping my arms right before take off. Ass back and head forward is the ticket 🙂
That jump is fun👍🏻 To me hitting it with the right speed feels like you are going to the moon and overshoot but ends up perfect
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queen of spodes 8/30/2021 12:29pm
8/30/2021 12:29pm
If any of you are at scrubn' dirt one weekend when I'm there and wanna help lead me over it, I'm down.
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