Help please, Ladies training

[sapaul]

Due to the increase in lady riders here in SA. I have organised some training for free for a bunch of ladies.

I want to do some homework, this is because men just do not understand how women think and although I am experienced in training men, I find that mixed groups tend to have the girls zoning out, particularly on the technical stuff. Ultimately they miss out.

The ladies attending are all riding but have no or very little formal training. We intend to cover

Smooth pull off, I find a lot of ladies will ease the clutch out very slowly. (Why is this)

Looking through corners,

Keeping within the lines, in particular, riding at the pace and corner entry speed. (Why do men love to lean and women fear it)

Overcoming survival reactions

help me to help them please via your comments

Cheers

[MZ33]

Wow, SApaul, kudos to you for doing this!

I am kind of hesitant to say there are big differences in how women learn vs. how men learn. I've done all my MC learning in either a mixed or all-guys-except-me group. Each individual will have different issues, regardless of gender, although gender & culture may result in different ways of expressing it.

LionLady & Blues are better equipped to address this, I know, but it sounds like this group lacks formal instruction & coaching more than anything. Giving them specific & individual feedback in each exercise should be the most helpful.

Best guess:
slow to let out clutch = either "I don't want to either stall or pop a wheelie" or mistaking slow for smooth. The whole clutch/throttle/friction zone thing needs practic

eyes up = that isn't gender-specific, that's common

leaning = don't really understand the mechanics of pressing on the handlebar to lean the bike. Tend to try to use the body, in the case of women, more likely to use hips

If you don't have the first three, the lines & cornering are bound to be erratic. Hardest for me is to slow entry speed in advance of the turn, then apply smooth throttle to get out. Don't bother with the specifics of suspension/etc until they've got a feel for it beginning to work for them, then you can maybe explain why it works. It helps to emphasize that only experience & practice will make this better--this is very much a progressive skill, one to work on for a lifetime.

Overcoming survival reactions: only practice of new reactions, to supplant the old ones, is effective. So, they must teach themselves slowly & methodically to do this. You can give them the new tools, but they have to want it enough to go out and practice them on their own, repeatedly. Here's the kicker: practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. Whatever they practice is what they will do. Therefore, they should expect to continue to need coaching, and also to learn to analyze for themselves what they are doing & how to fix it, checking back with other proficient riders on how their abilities are progressing. That's what a biking community is for.

[sapaul]

Thanks MZ, 30 odd views and you are kind enough to post. Appreciate it.

I am not looking so much as to how to teach them, what I am trying to do is get inside the female mind set.

Your points on not stalling or popping wheelies lets me know where the fears are.

(leaning = don't really understand the mechanics of pressing on the handlebar to lean the bike. Tend to try to use the body, in the case of women, more likely to use hips) Great point, a too technical explanation of counter steering can leave most people zoned out.

(practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.) This I really like, thank you.

[MZ33]

I have noticed my fellow women have similar responses both to motorycles and power tools. We seem to have a keener understanding of what it means to get hurt. Big, vibrating, noisy machines with the capacity to move fast are scary. So, um, we often hang back a little more until we know more about how it works, what it does, what's the worst thing it can do, etc.

From a social perspective, women generally collaborate more, and feel less of a need to "master" the bike or the tool. We want to work with it, not be it's overlord. Don't mistake this! We want to be as smokin' proficient as any guy, and we can be quite competitive. But we do not expect to "win" over a bike or a power tool by wrestling it into submission.

Wish I could take credit for the perfect practice quote, but it comes from my husband's karate sensei.

[sapaul]

That makes a lot of sense, can you explain that to my wife please, she not only wrestles me to the ground but stomps me while I am there.

Cheers

[Wardy]

I think it has a lot to do with the teacher, especially if the rider is completely new to riding.
I am about to finish (hopefully this week) all my training and have been lucky enough to have the most amazing and patient teacher. He takes it slow, but teaches and watches you and picks up on all the little things I wasn't doing right.
The only issue I had was my corners/leaning. He worked out that I wasn't letting my body relax enough, I was too tense, therefore I wasn't allowing myself to push on the bars or lean into the corners. Even though I wasn't afraid of the bike or felt uncomfortable, I still wasn't relaxing with my bike.
Perfect practice with the right teacher is exactly what makes you a great rider!

[sapaul]

Thanks Wardy. 90% of lady riders I work with tend to use the upper body, and too straight arms instead of the floppy chicken wing technique, but then a lot of guys too. I do stress body positioning in the training as being of vital importance when you ride.

Patience, no man, we are in Africa, if you do not get it right first time, we send you back to the mud hut to pluck the chicken for tonight's supper, then to the corn field and finally the Mopane tree for Mopane worms. Yummy

[Johnj]

Jeepers that looks like a big worm. I bet a little garlic butter and some onions and Mmmmm...tasty.

[MZ33]

That makes a lot of sense, can you explain that to my wife please, she not only wrestles me to the ground but stomps me while I am there.

Sounds like she's just being proficient, is all.

[Lion_Lady]

My observations, in a nutshell. Guys aren't afraid of breaking something (ie the bike), or of falling down, in the process of learning a new physical skill. Its how they process the information. Women, being more social, tend to want to talk about a new skill first - it helps them understand what to do. This seems especially true when learning to ride. Some discussion is important, but you've got to steer them quickly away from the "what ifs" and get them riding, as soon as possible.

Maybe use a progression from friction zone/smooth starting and stopping, to shifting and stopping. Then weaving. As well as setting up for a corner. Stopping in a corner. Oh, and of course dreaded slow speed maneuvers. Have you checked out Capt Crash's videos? >> check your PMs.

P