Progression Pathways: From Panic Braking to Forward Momentum

Jake Johnstone
1 day ago
3 min read

“Super non-judgemental space. I’m feeling really positive about riding. Thank you so much Jake.”

One of the things I love most about coaching is seeing how quickly riders can shift when they’re given the right tools. Today’s Progression Pathway comes from a rider who came to me after a tough setback: a crash that left her with a broken wrist and a lot of hesitation on features she used to ride with confidence.

Painting the Picture

Last season, she was cruising through Whistler’s black tech trails and even some double blacks. But after an unexplainable over-the-bars incident on a blind chute, things changed. She described herself as:

Feeling “very intermediate” after the injury, sticking mostly to blues and easy blacks
Struggling with blind rolls, drops, and steep features, where panic braking had crept in
Riding less, focusing more on rehab and gym work, and “losing a bit of mojo”

Her goal for the session was simple but powerful:

“Would love to figure out some strategies to trust myself to tackle blind features, feel confident on steeper rolls again.”

She’d tried the odd group coaching session with various instructors in the past, but still felt stuck when it came to transferring that knowledge onto the trail in real moments of pressure.

The Turning Point

Together, we worked on strategies to interrupt that moment where fear takes over... The 'Amygdala hijack', which her friend who was on the scene for the crash had described it. Instead of getting stuck or defaulting to panic braking, we layered in mental tools for committing with control, plus technical skills for approaching blind features and steep rolls with confidence.

Here’s what we focused on in the lesson:

Roll Downs: Low, Lead and Press, staying strong and active in the legs, using a full range of movement
Breathing for nervous system regulation: using an extended exhale technique before arriving at the “hard bit”
Mental Skills Journal: pre and post ride reflections to build proactive focus and self-belief
Visualization: asking “how could this go right?” and rehearsing speed, body position, and line choice
Anchoring: introducing a simple conditioning strategy to trigger her desired psychological state (confidence) on demand.

On trail, she worked through some challenging features with many breakthroughs and 'Ah-ha, Lightbulb Moments'. She rode a bunch of new features, revisited some old features that had been provoking hesitation and doubt, and spent time sussing out others (mental preparation for next time). All of this work began the process of unlocking trust on rolls and steeps that had previously triggered panic braking.

Future progressions for her will include pressure control, drops, combination features, and getting comfortable carrying speed - all built on the mental strategies we began laying out here.

Her Experience in Her Own Words

“Awesome coaching session. Jake took me through some strategies to help me tackle challenging features that are definitely going to progress my riding. I’m stoked.”

Her biggest takeaway:

“Being able to use these strategies when I’m out riding on my own and feeling more confident to have a go at tricky features. It helped me to start visualising the way I might ride it instead of feeling “stuck” by this one spot in the feature. It made me feel more positive that I could do it.”

And beyond the riding:

“I was super stoked to get some kit!!! And my own handwritten reflections were really awesome to have. I wrote down everything we talked about when I got home and received an email summerising the key points to practice afterwards.”