There's always exceptions and nuances to these concepts. When you do a really high bunny hop, you kind of do pull up towards the end of the motion. But that's only when you're bunny hopping really high while trying to maximize your range of movement and even still the initial height is generated through your legs. The big takeaway is your legs and hips should be doing 95% of the work. See my longer tutorial for more details ua-cam.com/video/5Mjh0urnfhM/v-deo.html
@@SkillsWithPhil Not saying your by any means wrong Phil..But when u watch Jeff Lensosky tutorial - He's actually saying to pull on the bars and bring them toward your hip to initiate...sort of confusing with the different schools of thought..haha
Fitting the Shovel as a handlebar was pretty awkward but I'm getting used to it. Hasn't really helped with the bunny hop though. But useful for track repairs on the go. Cheers.
Mind blown! It is so obvious now that I feel silly not to think about it earlier. To compare buny hops - lifting front the wheel - to deadlift!!! Thanks Phil!
Thanks Phil, I've been bending my arms and having trouble getting the bike close in while my posture was upright. I think bending the arms makes me lean back too far but keeping them straight didn't seem possible but I see they just pivot down ....as you show. So this is really timely advice because it has been driving me crazy,
I get what you're saying, you don't curl your arms upward to "pull" the handlebar. But you use your arms a LOT on a bunny hop, you start by pushing down to compress the front fork for a spring, then when you pull backward you actually pull pretty hard with your arms to get the wheel up, at which point you stop pulling and lock your elbows. But yes, you don't continue to pull with the arms once the wheel starts up.
It has definitely taken me a long time to master the form of performing an American Bunny Hop but it is really useful on the trails when you need to get over a small log or obstacle.
Awesome advice. Tried that meer cat pose and was surprised how easy it came. Immediately knew i could now fly like an eagle. Did it again with a big jump and pull up and out, a semi truck drove underneath me, it was beautiful up there. Landed with both wheels and received the most evil, malicious, nightmare of a pedal slap. Ur lucky i cant post pictures. My wife saw it and almost threw up. Ill live. But its nasty. Any suggestions for a good shin pad? Id like to not ever, ever ever, experience that again.
Also using weight will help alot when trying to pull off a huge hop. Try pulling up your bars to your waist first while on the bike (It will take a couple tries but remember using your weight will help lots). After that try to do a full hop by lifting up your legs (Try to imagine your knees touching your stomach). Hope this helps!
Hi Phil, please help me, I want to learn how to lift the front wheel higher. How do you manual front wheel lift so high in such a short time? I am unable to get my bars so close to my thighs, I tried many method but nothing seems to work. Is it really just pure manual to lift it so high or do we need to bend abit of our arms while we are jumping upwards? Thank you in advance. I really hope you stumble upon my comment.
Excellent tip and demonstration! Reminds me of when I first came across your early instructional videos. Can’t believe that was like 6 years ago! And I ‘m still working on developing these skills 😂
This might be a stupid question but would you be doing the same sequence with a hard tail? Just wondering because, you can’t compress without a rear shock, like a full suspension.
Ooohhh!!! Okay, yeah this makes sense. I was thinking of my bmx/freestyle days, and was so not getting this, but for a mtn bike it makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the pro tip!
Phil, what I'm keen to hear your advice on is: Does anything change when you are actually moving (i.e. travelling at speed)? I can bunny hop just fine when stationary, but when at speed it just seems harder to get the front wheel up...?
@@SkillsWithPhil Yep, very similar movements. I have a waist high ollie, but am stuck at about a foot high bunnyhop....that could be because i've been skating for 30 years and only biking for one year....either way it would be cool to see a video comparing the two!
I've watched numerous tutorials about bunny hops. They all say push off with your legs. When I do I just jump off the pedals and the bike stays put. I've tried gripping by squeezing my legs together and that's just stupid. The only time I've managed was with spd clips.
Although your right about not replying solely on your arms to bunny hop. It's a flowy full body motion. No offense nothing smooth about your technique.
I had a broken right tarsal and fractured hip. I do physical therapy but the leg imbalance has given me a massive box hop while making bunny hopping posture a bit hard to find... I need to really concentrate on my hips to get my arms out of the equation. Thanks for the reminder
Def different on a big springy full suspension bike. For my bmx bike the arms lead and set the height of the hop, the legs bring the bike to even with where the arms led the handlebars to.
I always do both tbh, if I don't see something until the last second I need that pulling power to clear it safely with both wheels. Then obviously to get height but that's more just for the fun of it, when you tuck it it's amazing what you'll get over. Used to practice jumping tennis nets when the skatepark was heaving
I beginner on bmx, and I hard to do bunny hop,,, my 5’4” height, and my bike 21”TT frame,,, Do you think I still do perfect bunnyhop, like you teach, thanks
Your arms pull the front wheel up and your legs and hips take car of the back wheel. Your arms are only locked out once the front wheel is high up, that's when you initiate the upwards hip thrust.
Experienced Cyclocross racers jump barriers all the time on "road" bikes, but it is much harder. Bike geometry limits your range of movement, it's harder to get into a crouching position when your seat and top tube get in the way.
No of course not. But let me make another analogy that might work better. This isn't a perfect analogy, but I think it might help illustrate the concept. Let's say you have a hook attached to a rope, on one end, and the other end of the rope is attached to a helicopter. With that, you can hook onto things and hoist them off the ground. In that scenario the rope isn't doing the lifting, the helicopter is. Now take that idea and apply it to a bunny hop. In this situation, your hands are hooks, and arms are the rope, and your shoulder are the helicopter. So to lift your bike off the ground, you need to get your shoulder high into the air, and you do that using your legs and hip muscles.
looks like to me you roll the bike forward yank on the handlebars bring the handlebars to your pelvis and then push the bars away from you, resulting in the height
IDK about this one bro. I know its apples to oranges, but imagine trying to ollie without your front foot? Your back foot generates all the pop, but your front foot has to pull the board up over whatever your ollieing onto. Same with a bike. You're definitely pulling up with your arms to hop onto a picnic table/whatever (though your back and momentum is doing the work, not your biceps). I think what's' important (and what you're alluding to) is that you pull up, not in. To build on your weightlifting demo. Locked out arms ala deadlift vs pulling the bars to your chest ala bent over rows.
Your front foot does not pull the board up off the ground initially. It's only once the board has upwards momentum (from the pop) that you drag your foot along the grip tape to help gain additional height. You can Ollie without doing that step, albeit not very high or good.
There's always exceptions and nuances to these concepts. When you do a really high bunny hop, you kind of do pull up towards the end of the motion. But that's only when you're bunny hopping really high while trying to maximize your range of movement and even still the initial height is generated through your legs. The big takeaway is your legs and hips should be doing 95% of the work. See my longer tutorial for more details ua-cam.com/video/5Mjh0urnfhM/v-deo.html
What you just showed us wasn't a high bunny hop?!
Lol miss your videos
What I showed was a ~22-24 inch bunny hop which is more than enough for 95% of the situations where you'll need to use a bunny hop.
@@crnzsrt Haha!
Where you get that shirt?
@@SkillsWithPhil Not saying your by any means wrong Phil..But when u watch Jeff Lensosky tutorial - He's actually saying to pull on the bars and bring them toward your hip to initiate...sort of confusing with the different schools of thought..haha
Fitting the Shovel as a handlebar was pretty awkward but I'm getting used to it. Hasn't really helped with the bunny hop though.
But useful for track repairs on the go. Cheers.
💀💀💀 BAHAHAHAHA🤣🤣🤣
💀 😂😂
😂😂😂😂 lost it, then found it and lost again bro this was gold
Mind blown! It is so obvious now that I feel silly not to think about it earlier. To compare buny hops - lifting front the wheel - to deadlift!!! Thanks Phil!
Something wrong with you to begin with that you thought you could life rear wheels by pulling up on the handlebar.
Thanks Phil, I've been bending my arms and having trouble getting the bike close in while my posture was upright. I think bending the arms makes me lean back too far but keeping them straight didn't seem possible but I see they just pivot down ....as you show. So this is really timely advice because it has been driving me crazy,
I feel like no ones told me this yet. It’s the most simple, but affective advice for bunny hops. Thank you.
Best explanation I've seen about how to initiate the hop. Seeing your body mechanics in slow motion sealed it. Thank you.
Love these short tutorials! Love to see more!
Phils back on with another massive movement of What was Black Magic to be broken down simply. Loved this snippet. Thanks again Phil.
I get what you're saying, you don't curl your arms upward to "pull" the handlebar. But you use your arms a LOT on a bunny hop, you start by pushing down to compress the front fork for a spring, then when you pull backward you actually pull pretty hard with your arms to get the wheel up, at which point you stop pulling and lock your elbows. But yes, you don't continue to pull with the arms once the wheel starts up.
It has definitely taken me a long time to master the form of performing an American Bunny Hop but it is really useful on the trails when you need to get over a small log or obstacle.
@James Manzie There's the English bunny hop where you pull the whole bike up at once. Look it up
Looks like Phil is about to take over Tiktok.
If TikTok gets the incurable bug of MTB, it would be a _much_ better place.
It will never happen, MTB is too much work for TikTokers lol
AHHHHHHHHHHH, okay. Not that makes sense. Clearly this is what has been stopping me from bhopping like Fabio Wibmer.
Awesome advice. Tried that meer cat pose and was surprised how easy it came. Immediately knew i could now fly like an eagle. Did it again with a big jump and pull up and out, a semi truck drove underneath me, it was beautiful up there. Landed with both wheels and received the most evil, malicious, nightmare of a pedal slap. Ur lucky i cant post pictures. My wife saw it and almost threw up. Ill live. But its nasty. Any suggestions for a good shin pad? Id like to not ever, ever ever, experience that again.
Brilliant little vid Phil! 🤟🏻😎👍🏻
Also using weight will help alot when trying to pull off a huge hop. Try pulling up your bars to your waist first while on the bike (It will take a couple tries but remember using your weight will help lots). After that try to do a full hop by lifting up your legs (Try to imagine your knees touching your stomach). Hope this helps!
This is it…from bunny hops to Boosting. The legs are doing the heavy lifting. Thanks Phil. Concise and accurate.
Great visual! I would love to see this same type of explanation but with jumps/doubles that are semi-steep!
Hi Phil, please help me, I want to learn how to lift the front wheel higher. How do you manual front wheel lift so high in such a short time? I am unable to get my bars so close to my thighs, I tried many method but nothing seems to work. Is it really just pure manual to lift it so high or do we need to bend abit of our arms while we are jumping upwards? Thank you in advance. I really hope you stumble upon my comment.
Yeay, more skills with Phil ^-^
Amazing Phil! Keeping arms straight is key.
Awesome tip. Pretty much captures what I need to work on to go to the next level. Thanks Phil!!
Excellent tip and demonstration! Reminds me of when I first came across your early instructional videos. Can’t believe that was like 6 years ago! And I ‘m still working on developing these skills 😂
This might be a stupid question but would you be doing the same sequence with a hard tail? Just wondering because, you can’t compress without a rear shock, like a full suspension.
This is why a heavy bike is no excuse not to be able to do a bhop.
I can do it on my 45 pount emtb.
I've watched all your how to bunnyhop videos and I can finally do it! Thanks
Thankz Skilly Phil !!
Phil Kmetz, this is the perfect tutorial! I will send this to all my amigos because apparently I am not a good teacher.
Hey Phil!! Nice tip, after first practice getting front up my elbows were sore from so much pulling.. gotta lock em out! 🤘🤘
Exactly. It’s just like jumping when you’re not on the bike. You get the front wheel up, and jump up, not pull up.
Bingo.
Ah I never thought of it like that that's gonna really help my riding thanks man
@@mitchesfishing7844 yeah of course. This is what improved my bunnyhop and jumping the most.
@@igethanxcmtb9437 yeah for sure mate
Fire instructions. I pull so incredibly heavy with my arms. I can't wait to try this on the trails, bro. Appreciate it.
The lift shovel trick works wonders with my cyclocross/gravel 👌 Thanks!
Sometimes you can use your arms to do a J hop by lifting up the front wheel and use your legs to bring up the back
Ooohhh!!! Okay, yeah this makes sense. I was thinking of my bmx/freestyle days, and was so not getting this, but for a mtn bike it makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the pro tip!
Best advice ive heard so far, thanks Phil!
This is like an MTB PSA (Such acronym. Wow.)
Can you record video for how did you controlling bike in the air when you jump on lika pump track?
Love these little tips, I've been trying to get better at my hops, gonna give this a try!
Better Bunny hops "unlocked" thanks to you mon frère!
When I do this, I still need to pull the bars toward my hips pretty hard before getting to the apex. Is that expected? Still, very useful video!
That was so clean and concise! Well done!
Phil, what I'm keen to hear your advice on is: Does anything change when you are actually moving (i.e. travelling at speed)? I can bunny hop just fine when stationary, but when at speed it just seems harder to get the front wheel up...?
I’m not a professional, but I think it has something to do with a manual
Edit: or getting your weight back over the rear wheel will help
nothing changes, you just need to get used to it and focus on doing the same technique as when you're stationary. also timing becomes a factor!
Similar to how you get a skateboard off the ground while doing an olly. Pop the back push with the front to bring the back up off of the ground.
There's a lot of parallels between ollying and bunny hopping. I've actually thought about making a video on that.
@@SkillsWithPhil good idea man. Do it!
@@SkillsWithPhil Yep, very similar movements. I have a waist high ollie, but am stuck at about a foot high bunnyhop....that could be because i've been skating for 30 years and only biking for one year....either way it would be cool to see a video comparing the two!
I've watched numerous tutorials about bunny hops. They all say push off with your legs. When I do I just jump off the pedals and the bike stays put. I've tried gripping by squeezing my legs together and that's just stupid. The only time I've managed was with spd clips.
Try watching my full tutorial. It's linked in the description, and I think i addressed that aspect a bit better in the Longer video.
This is making me think: "I sooo can do this! Deadlifts! Deadlifts! Deadlifts! Like an explosive deadlift!"
The shovel example made a TON of sense
Although your right about not replying solely on your arms to bunny hop. It's a flowy full body motion. No offense nothing smooth about your technique.
I had a broken right tarsal and fractured hip. I do physical therapy but the leg imbalance has given me a massive box hop while making bunny hopping posture a bit hard to find... I need to really concentrate on my hips to get my arms out of the equation. Thanks for the reminder
Def different on a big springy full suspension bike. For my bmx bike the arms lead and set the height of the hop, the legs bring the bike to even with where the arms led the handlebars to.
I am still trying to learn how to do the proper technique of bunny hops high
I always do both tbh, if I don't see something until the last second I need that pulling power to clear it safely with both wheels. Then obviously to get height but that's more just for the fun of it, when you tuck it it's amazing what you'll get over. Used to practice jumping tennis nets when the skatepark was heaving
This was actually bothering me so long but now is finally clear to me. Thank you
Still practicing Phil. Appreciate this video helps a bunch
How do you get your front wheel up
As a MTBer without arms I've been telling this to people for years
I beginner on bmx, and I hard to do bunny hop,,, my 5’4” height, and my bike 21”TT frame,,,
Do you think I still do perfect bunnyhop, like you teach, thanks
the skills part of skills with phil are back!!!
Excuse me ☝🏼 do you need to be clipped or flat tennis shoes ?
This is really helpfull, thanks
this is classic phil
Your arms pull the front wheel up and your legs and hips take car of the back wheel. Your arms are only locked out once the front wheel is high up, that's when you initiate the upwards hip thrust.
Deadlifting that shovel sold me.
More tutorials please
This is what UA-cam shorts are for. ❤️
But is it the same with a bike that doesn't have a suspension 🤔 cant push off the front shock if there is non.
Yes
Kilogram of the bike?
Thanks dude, that’s the reason why it never worked, when I tried it.
Perform a dead lift when on the bike
Nailed it! Thanks.
Thanks Phil.
This was actually really informative. Definitely gonna carry this into my next practice sesh
You can use the pedals to pull it up too if you have some grippy ones
The best explain that I ever see. Brilliant👌
Phil is just the best
Can you try it on a road bike at speed? Say 20mph like you gotta get over a piece of wood etc.....
Experienced Cyclocross racers jump barriers all the time on "road" bikes, but it is much harder. Bike geometry limits your range of movement, it's harder to get into a crouching position when your seat and top tube get in the way.
@@SkillsWithPhil I've noticed.... I can't hop a curb on my road bike but have no issues with MTB or BMX 🤷
I just took the biggest shit. Reminded me of that Jurrasic Park scene with Dr. Malcom. Great video
Balls crushed by their stem gang
👇
Phil sounds like he’s sugar high
Love the vids. Keep up the trail building. You need to just put a day of riding.
I learned the bunny hop from this video a couple weeks ago
You're only pushing cuz you're compressing the expensive shocks that do all the work for you
I needed thisb
So let me get this straight. If you take your hands off the handle bars, you can still bunny hop?
Cool!!!
No of course not. But let me make another analogy that might work better. This isn't a perfect analogy, but I think it might help illustrate the concept.
Let's say you have a hook attached to a rope, on one end, and the other end of the rope is attached to a helicopter. With that, you can hook onto things and hoist them off the ground. In that scenario the rope isn't doing the lifting, the helicopter is.
Now take that idea and apply it to a bunny hop. In this situation, your hands are hooks, and arms are the rope, and your shoulder are the helicopter. So to lift your bike off the ground, you need to get your shoulder high into the air, and you do that using your legs and hip muscles.
all I need is a healmet to practice.
Excellent point
looks like to me you roll the bike forward yank on the handlebars bring the handlebars to your pelvis and then push the bars away from you, resulting in the height
Cue the heavenly chorus 😲 I think I got it!
Those shorts though!
you dont have to attack me like this, im trying!! :'(
thanks Phil
So I need to do Deadlifts to be better at bonny hop.
why can't i lift the rear sheel
Your clearly not lifting with your legs Jeremiah!
This is quality.
Yes i use my arms to do bunnyhop mostly more pull ups
Nice helmet....wat is the brand of that?
Whoa no more stash!!!!
I love your shirt man and this is awesome
thanks.
I find I use my arms to push down to preload. I only know this because I have a bad shoulder.
Mind blown!
IDK about this one bro. I know its apples to oranges, but imagine trying to ollie without your front foot? Your back foot generates all the pop, but your front foot has to pull the board up over whatever your ollieing onto. Same with a bike. You're definitely pulling up with your arms to hop onto a picnic table/whatever (though your back and momentum is doing the work, not your biceps). I think what's' important (and what you're alluding to) is that you pull up, not in. To build on your weightlifting demo. Locked out arms ala deadlift vs pulling the bars to your chest ala bent over rows.
Your front foot does not pull the board up off the ground initially. It's only once the board has upwards momentum (from the pop) that you drag your foot along the grip tape to help gain additional height. You can Ollie without doing that step, albeit not very high or good.
@@SkillsWithPhil IDK I just let my clipless pedals do all the work. JK!
The front foot is also in a pushing motion, like your arms, if you know how to hop correctly, its not rocket science.