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First Look | Interactive Dirt School Coaching App

21.08.2015
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Let’s face it, we all want to ride better, and the fastest way to improve is to trust in the experienced eye of a coach. However, coaching is expensive and in today’s busy world, it’s not always easy to find time to book onto a course. Scottish coaching company Dirt School have been training elite riders for years, and have come up with a solution that allows you to carry a coach in your pocket, with the new Interactive Dirt School Training App.

ENDURO Magazine has become the leading App based mountain bike magazine, so we’re always keen to embrace and promote the power of a good App. Coaching company Dirt School (owned by Chris Ball and Andy Barlow) have been perfecting their own unique style of teaching for many years, and their skills are regularly demonstrated by some of Scotland’s brightest new enduro and DH stars. Dirt School have just released a new Interactive Coaching App, sharing their knowledge with anyone with an iOS device.

Now you can have the knowledge of the Dirt School coaches in the palm of your hand
Now you can have the knowledge of the Dirt School coaches in the palm of your hand
We all want to do better manuals
We all want to do better manuals

The Dirt School Coaching App comprises an extensive collection of eleven core skills lessons, from basic body position right through to jumping and manuals, broken down into easy to absorb interactive videos. Simply follow the clear guidance and watch the example videos, then have a try yourself – you will be manualing in minutes – well maybe not, but you will know what you should be doing!

The video examples are clear and demonstrate what, and what not to do
The video examples are clear and demonstrate what, and what not to do
There are also sections on checking your bike
There are also sections on checking your bike

Our Impressions

When we were younger we remember buying up magazine after magazine, eager to check out the latest ‘How To’ tips and tricks, “put this foot here”, “pull there” and “look over there”. We must have spent a fortune over the years in pursuit of the elusive technical perfection so we were super excited to test this App.

We all want to shred harder, so it's always good to work on the skills
We all want to shred harder, so it’s always good to work on the skills

When it comes to coaching, there are plenty of good on-line videos available, but there are also plenty of terrible ones with very dubious advice! We have worked with Dirt School before and their coaches are top notch, so we know their guidance will be effective. What marked the App out from the crowd for us was the unique facility to upload you own videos for comparison.

If you have a buddy at hand they can record your efforts, then with one click you can directly compare it with the example video to find out where you’re going wrong, or if you’ve cracked it. For coaching this is really useful as it’s easy to convince yourself that you are doing something until you observe your disastrous form back on video. The App retails for £4.99 which we think is a total bargain considering the range of skills it covers. This is a great App for beginners and intermediate riders, and even advanced riders will benefit from a little ground work. An Android version is coming soon!

The new Dirt School Interactive Coaching App can be downloaded from the AppStore. For more information check out the Dirt School website

Words and photos: Trev Worsey

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