A few weeks ago I shared a podcast covering the new science behind coaching cues and how people best learn new skills. If you missed it then I encourage you to check it out but in a nutshell here is what the science tells us:

• Less is more. Most coaches tend to over cue a skill and give people too much to think about. While not science, my experience tells me that 3-5 cues per movement is the most someone can remember.
• The body learns best through analogies that “stick” in the person’s head and that these analogies will be different for different people. People don’t think in exacting detail and analogies can help you pack a lot of cues into one.
• Internal vs. External Cueing. The science clearly shows that External Cues that focus on something outside of the body are more effective than Internal Cues that focus on a body part or muscles.
• Use Internal and External language for describing but focus on External for cueing.
• Direction of the cue can also have an impact (moving away from vs. moving towards something)
• Using tape can help you turn an Internal Cue into an External Cue

Based on these things I have had to re-think some of my favorite coaching cues and how I teach people to move both on and off the bike. To show you how this concept works I’ve shot a couple of videos that I wanted to share with you going over the best cues for your basic body position and moving in a balanced way on the bike.

Here are two videos showing you the new coaching cues I’m using and how they apply to the bike:

Everything starts with this skill, which I refer to as Cockpit Control, and lays the foundation for more advanced skills. In fact, if you find yourself struggling with more advanced skills then odds are high that you need more work at this basic level.

I hope you get some ideas from these videos that can help you improve your Cockpit Control and maybe get you thinking about the cues you are using for other skills as well. If riders seem to like this approach then I’ll release some more videos covering other skills so be sure to let me know what you think and if these cues worked for you.

Until next time…

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

“Without constant practice, it is hard for words to convey the true meaning of the thought. To come to understand something that appears obvious, you must constantly probe into the meaning of the words.” – Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings