Jump box help needed

[Bushwacked]

I'm trying to clear a 4ft high 4ft long jump box and can't quite do it...

Wondering if any of you might have some tips.

Can't get much more speed as the run in isn't that great. Been pulling hard on the bars and pumping to get some speed but keep landing within 6inches of the edge but not clearing it.

Anyone got some ideas?

Also sometimes when I get some serious height I feel like I'm just not in control - scares the hell out of me and not sure what I'm doing wrong..

Help!

[SaMAlex]

Are you catching the front wheel or the rear? If the front is getting over it then you need to nose dive more and get the back wheel up.

Failing that, its all about speed.
Go faster = jump further


(Oh, and I always feel out of control. It amazes me every time I roll away from a trick! Esp Jumping!)

[Bushwacked]

Front wheel is landing just short.

The out of control bit is like the bike and me are no longer connected - feels like I'm "off" the bike but sometime when I jump and luckily most of the time it doesn;t feel like this or is this because I'm staying too much in control. (My wife does say I am a control freak) 

[SaMAlex]

If your front wheel isnt getting across then you need to go faster. Some people may get over it slower with more of a popped bunnyhop but speed will do it.

You just need to spend more time on your bike and more time jumping. It will all come together in the end, you just need to get familier with how it all feels and get used to what happens when you are in the air.
It WILL come 

[Bushwacked]

Cheers Alex - It feels like its getting there... will just keep pushing on.

Going to have to get the pump sorted as the run in is really short.

Will practice jumping when I'm down at Corby next week

[SaMAlex]

Will practice jumping when I'm down at Corby next week

Tuesday night? Hopefully I will see you there 

[Bushwacked]

Hopefully Tuesday - on a course Tuesday and Wednesday in Leicester so if I can blag the evening away from the usual beer drinking and crap that goes with sales courses.

[evamedia]

You could be pulling up too much, I had trouble after coming back from a long break with jumping boxes.

Go the same speed, don't pull up, just lean forward a little bit.

If you think about it, your front wheel is already up as you've gone up the transisition.

I tried for ages till someone mentioned it to me, solved it very quickly. I tried the more speed, just made me dead sailor higher and longer.

[Bushwacked]

I don't like the dead sailor feeling!!!   

[macky]

More speed will definately help....

don't try'n pull up for hight when ya jumping the box... try to push forward over the box!!

but goin faster will help loads...

[Philbert]

a common error made be people, your not on your own. to clear a box don't pull up, push into the transition. pulling up and getting height comes later. push into the ramp and squash the jump, you'll get the length, less height but you'll keep control of the bike too! then as your technique develops and you find it easier you'll naturally start to pull to get higher.

[Guillotte]

If the bike isn't a natural extension of yourself, then you'll really have to work until it is. We can all give you tips on how to maneuver the bike technically but until you accept it as part of yourself, then you can never fully "feel" what it is you're trying to accomplish. Don't worry about what you think you SHOULD learn...worry about the things you already know. Once you become part of the bike, doing what you do, then and only then should you move on to the next stage.

[Bushwacked]

Thanks for the advice... will start going for length rather than height - I'd noticed that when I pushed the bike forward it went further (elementary physics dear Watson!!!  )

I've been getting a lot of time on the bike and I am really comfortable (although I'm thinking that changing bars to a higher set might be a good idea) - its just on the rare occasion I'm flying through the air and the bike wants to go down and I am still going up!!!!