Mastering Track Stands
Hey Friends,
We’ve been seeing a lot of track stand challenges and contests popping up on social media which is awesome. However, we can’t help but notice some common errors being repeated so we created this list of tips to help you improve your track stand technique. If you are spending time practicing your track stands right now (or whenever) you might as well be practicing the correct way, right? Put these tips into practice and your track stands will improve. Try focusing on only one or two tips at a time so you can build some muscle memory around each one and not overload your brain trying to remember it all at once. If you are still struggling or not seeing improvements - send us a message or video and we can see what we can do to help you from a distance.
POINTERS FOR THE MOST RADICAL OF TRACK STANDS:
Eyes up! The best way to be balanced on your bike is to focus on the horizon ahead, not your front wheel.
Try to stay off the brakes… If you have to use your brakes for a second to stop from rolling, alright, however, squeezing them the entire time you are trying to trackstand will work against you. Locking your brakes means your pedals can only move in the back-pedal direction which means you can only adjust your balance to one side, not both.
It’s recommended to find a slight incline to put your front wheel on so that you can ease off the brakes and not worry about rolling forward.
Practice ratcheting - Learning how to get a little forward momentum without making a complete pedal stroke definitely helps you “stand” still without relying completely on your brakes. Little pedal ratchets can help you stay on that hill I mentioned in the last point and will keep you from rolling backwards.
Let your pedals “float”… Also related to staying off the brakes - if you can input small pressure changes on your pedals (ie, it isn’t locked in place because you are hard on your brakes) you will be able to make micro-adjustments to your side-to-side balance.
Engage your core! Yup! A strong core = better balance. If you struggle with this concept you might need to do more core exercises off the bike like plank, sit-ups, and yoga.
Let your knees “wiggle”. If you feel your bike falling to the right, try moving your left knee out, away from the bike to help pull the bike back to the left and vise-versa. This concept of “knee wiggles” is helping you make balance adjustments from the waist down. If you throw your shoulders or ribs/upper torso around to correct your balance you might over-adjust and over-correct which makes balancing even more difficult.
VARIATIONS:
Are you finding yourself able to hold your track stand for minutes, not just seconds any longer? Awesome! Celebrate that because that is a great skill to have mastered. If your track stands are getting so good you start to get bored (“I could do this forever!”) here are a few progressions you can start to add to your practice.
One handed, no handed, one footed, etc: That’s right, start taking limbs off the bike and see if you can still stay balanced. It’s fun to mix it up and see what limbs you can separate from the bike and still stand upright.
Take it to a steeper hill - If you can track stand for a minute plus, on a 30% grade, you have got those track stands on-lock.
Opposite stance track stands - Switch your stance on the bike from what is normal or most comfortable for you. Most people prefer to have one foot forward while standing on their bikes. By switching the front foot, your feet have new “roles” in the track stand and it can be quite challenging to stay balanced.
The four pack challenge. Challenge yourself to at least 30 seconds in each of these configurations back-to-back, in any order:
Front wheel turned to the left, left foot forward
Front wheel turned to the right, left foot forward
Front wheel turned to the left, right foot forward
Front wheel turned to the right, right foot forward
Happy Practicing,
Radical Roots MTB Team