How to case a jump


Here’s another gem from the BMX book. I’m pinned but getting ‘er done.

Chris Powell was gracious enough to intentionally case this high-speed double on the Chula Vista Olympic track. He made even this bad landing look good.

Cool things to note

• His bike follows the terrain.

• His center of mass goes straight.

• His head does the opposite of the terrain.



How he does it

This is a pro-active move — much like pumping a roller.

• Extend the landing gear.

• Start pulling up BEFORE impact.

• Fully absorb the bump.

• Extend into the backside for control and pump.

Pretty awesome. If you could case this smoothly, imagine the confidence you’d have.

OK, back to work.

Braaap!

— Lee


10 replies
  1. Bomber says:

    I don’t get the “Start pulling before impact” thing. Cause when you start pulling before impact, you have no room in youre legs and arms to absorbe the impact?

    I’m confussed..

  2. Seb says:

    Lee, when he cased that did it make a loud bang like when us mere mortals mess up, or was it buttery smooth?

    I’ll have to give that technique some thought and practice – as you say it’d be a confidence boost when stepping up to longer jumps.

  3. leelikesbikes says:

    Bomber:

    This is a pretty complex move that will be explained in detail in the book. For our purposes:

    He starts pulling RIGHT before impact. Look at the photos. In #1 his arms are straight. In # 2 his arms are barely bent.

    This gets the bike moving away from the face, so when it contacts the face there is much less impact.

    Jump off a ledge and try the same thing with your feet. If you start pulling up right before impact, it’s way smoother, eh?

  4. leelikesbikes says:

    Seb:

    No sound. No loss of speed. Pretty freaking awesome.

    “Ha, I look good even when I’m messing up,” Chris said. “Funny, I’ve always thought I was good at casing. I try not to do it much, but hey … it happens.”

  5. JP (Jonathan Pool) says:

    Lee, this is awesome! In my opinion this technique is highly valuable for anyone learning to jump (that would be me).

    Do you think getting the fundamentals of this down would help lower one’s risk of injuries from coming up short?

    Can’t wait for the book!

    JP

  6. leelikesbikes says:

    I think this is a crucial skill. Heck yeah, it’ll lower injury risk — it’ll lower your crashing risk.

  7. Trevor says:

    being able to case will make you alot more confident learning to jump

    i can and have pritty much cased every jump and the trails, its good practice to case them all and still be able to pump through, wasted many an evening trying that!

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