How To Bunnyhop - Scoop Or No Scoop?

Over the last few years i have seen many heated debates on how to teach people how to Bunnyhop. In this video i bust out the Garage Bunny from Ninja MTB and try to explain my thoughts on the do's & dont's of the Bunnyhop.

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0:00 Intro
1:03 Garage Bunny / How Not To Do It
2:27 The Importance of Toe Position For 2 Wheel Hop
4:30 Is Scooping A Thing For Big Bunnyhops?
9:13 How To Launch When Front Whee is up
10:15 Questions On Other Examples On Youtube
13:01 Challenging Preconceived Notions & Online Coaching

[estherfriesen]

The slow motion clips are honestly what help me the most! Thanks!

[hmmm]

For years I was one of those who couldn’t figure out how scooping works. Finally an explanation that makes sense….gonna have to try it out tomorrow

[menemismix]

The reason your coaching is so great is not because of the way you explain things, obviously that counts a lot, but its the way your humility shows through your manner of speaking. You have a bright soul my friend

I wish you nothing but the best in life.

[vidviewer]

this was great as I had exactly the notion of scooping that you talked about like a backhoe (digger, JCB, whatever. Not sure about American term).
Love the detail and clear explanation pls make more stuff like this !
This looks like you are doing a manual and then lifting the back wheel

[durasal]

So good to see Kyle back in front of the camera! Kyle your coaching resonates with me a great deal. I think you approached the topic in a manner that welcomes feedback verses the “my way” approach. Nicely done!

[scorps]

I've been trying to learn how to bunnyhop for months and no videos ever helped, this is the first video to actually teach me, I watched 5 min went outside and did it on the first try. The tension trick works so well. Thank you for this

[Tactician]

I love Kyle's technical explanations - it's thanks to him that I learned how to pump my bike round a pump track, after some really bad instructor had completely confused me by overcomplicating it. I saw Jeff Kendall-Weed's experiment bunny-hopping with the wooden pedals, and I commented on that video that he could still grip the pedals by creating tension between his feet pushing backwards and his palms pushing forwards on the grips - just like Kyle is saying here.

If Kyle were to do an entire series just looking at the technical minutiae, e.g. what your feet do when leaving a jump, or how to counter-steer to initiate a turn, I bet he'd get a load of views.

[LiquidLizards]

I have disliked almost all MTB educational videos. Yours are the best. I have learned so many important techniques from this channel.

[YanDoroshenko]

The most important technique tip here is the following: you can know the theory all you want, but you won't get anywhere until you get out and dump a couple dozen hours into practice.

[twowheelsondirt]

Great video and explanation. Since you asked, I'll give my 2 cents... as a coach, my issue with calling it the scoop is that many people(and instructors) take it too literal to mean that the scoop is what is actually lifting the rear wheel up instead of guiding the wheel up... you are correct, it's pointing the toes and engaging the hamstrings creating the tension between the pedals and the bars which allows you to stay connected and guide the rear wheel up.. I absolutely teach the rear wheel lift when teaching the bunnyhop, it all starts with the energy we put into the ground and wheel lifts are a great way to demonstrate this. BTW, the Muscle Man is only pulling up, no energy into the ground. I could go on and on with this and really geek out... Great video Kyle!

[lostman]

hey kyle, muscle man here. i appreciate you pointing out my issue. watching you do the muscle man made me realize that is exactly how i look. 😂

[sherizaahd]

Gotta love that clear style that Kyle brings to instruction videos!

[ShemeckC]

I watched like dozens videos about this technique and you are the first one who mentioned the tension that is happening between the back pedal and your arms. For me this is a game changer, now I understand everything. Thanks!

[flyingkiwimtb]

Thanks Kyle, good analysis. As a Garage Bunny devotee I had 'pedal separation anxiety' when I swapped out the clips for flats. My solution was two-fold 1) make a pair of shin-friendly pedals by removing the pins and wrapping some thin foam around them and 2) created an exercise with the front wheel propped up about 12" (similar to your set-up) and then bouncing up and down as if on a pogo stick, replicating just the 'pop' part of the hop. The feeling of the pressure under the grips was what I focused on (arms fairly straight) - I found doing this created confidence and a muscle memory such that I didn't really think about my feet after that. As you say 90% of the work lifting the bike is done in the hands - maybe more??? 😊

[cunning-stunt]

Phil Kmetz says it's "like scrapping dog crap off your shoe".
Personally I'd use font foot heel down and rear foot toe down and push apart.
I use this technique with flats on my hard tail all the time on black trails.
Knees practically parallel, it helps the bike pitch, yaw and roll underneath me.

[kennethenriquez]

I just literally do it after watching the first 4 mins. Respect to you for being humble and for teaching it in a very detailed way!

[abstraddic]

Good to see you back, your girl held it down very well while you were down though. 💯👍

[rogerquenault]

Fantastic video as always, you make it look so easy and the height you generate is unreal, I’m in the mental block group and went out side for over an hour practicing your technic and only managed very small amounts of lift, I’m getting on in years and I’m finding it harder to learn new skills but I’m also stubborn so wont give up, your explanation of how it all works shows your skill level to be really high. Keep up the good work you do educating us mere mortals.

[TheLoamWolf]

Nice video buddy!! Loved watching those hardtail bunny hops!

[brandonwatsonmedia]

For me, whatever Kyle says, is the only RIGHT WAY to do something. Love you guys!