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BMX Coach and Pro Nathan Lanky Philps

Hey everyone, Lanky here! I’ve been asked the question, “How do you keep progressing?” quite a few times and with my 30th birthday coming up soon, I’d say that’s a fairly relevant question. So here’s my top tips on how to keep progressing no matter what level you are!

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Progression is not found in your safety tricks. That barspin or tuck no hander you’ve done a million times is not going to help you any further than it already has. The key is to finding something you can do and then send it over something brand new. Example, you can barspin fly out, time to do it over a spine!

Find a goal.

You can’t progress if you don’t know where you’re going. Think about what tricks you want to learn, write them down and then get out there and practice them until you can do them, then write a new trick.

Ride with riders better than you.

Nothing pushes you to progress more than riding with guys better than you. If you get into a good session with 3 or 4 insane riders, their enthusiasm will rub off on you and you’ll find yourself sending things you never expected you could!

There is no such things as limits.

This is freestyle. What was once considered impossible is now regularly being rewritten. Once upon a time, backflips were considered untouchable! Now we have double flairs. The only limitations on this sport are the ones you place on yourself. Consider EVERYTHING as a possibility and eventually, you’ll land things that have never been done.

Always have fun.

If you’re not having fun, you shouldn’t even be riding in my opinion. What’s the point of doing something you hate? Remember that no matter what is going on, what tricks your trying and the frustration that comes with it, you should be enjoying the challenge even if you’re hating the trick. So never forget the reason why you started riding in the first place.

So these are my 5 tips on how after 15 years of riding I still manage to learn brand new tricks every single month. They mightn’t be groundbreaking, but to me, they’re an achievement always worth chasing.

Lanky AKA Nathan Philps
Lanky’s BMX Groms Member Page: bmxgroms.com/members/lanky/
Lanky’s Instagram: @lankybmx360

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