All the physical aspects of sport riding need to be practiced and drilled so that you do them subconsciously… This is why expert riders sometimes (too often) make horrible teachers – they’ve internalized their skills toolbox enough that it’s hard to teach people stuff that comes “natural” to them. Of course it didn’t always come natural to them. Even Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner had to really work on their body position (BP) at some point. Foot position is one of these things that you either get down to your subconscious skill set – or you will totally forget when you need it most… We think about our hands, but most people rarely think about how their feet are resting. The first two minutes of this video gives an excellent show and tell of foot position for sport riding.
Why care about foot position? Not only is good foot position necessary to keep from grinding your toes on the pavement at sharp lean angles – it’s the foundation for the rest of your body position… Get this right and everything else about correct BP gets easier. Get this wrong, and there’s not way your BP can be correct on fast corners. When you have trouble with BP, check out where your feet are on the pegs and chances are it’s part of the problem.
Now it’s hard to work on anything BP related during winter riding. I’m not leaning over far enough to worry about scraping my boots. I feel like the Michelin man in my gear, so it’s hard to even move very much… But foot position is something you CAN work on during those slow and chilly winter rides around town… Learn to position your foot on the balls of your toes (everyone chuckles when guys start talking about riding “on their balls”), and closer to the end of the peg…until that becomes second nature.
Have something to share about learning to ride (ahem) on your balls? Share the wealth. Or don’t. In the comments section. Cheers!
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