Before working on whips, I made sure my basic jumping skills were dialled. I practised bunny hops and small bump jumps to learn how to compress my body and bike for lift[1]. Lowering the saddle and setting around 25–30 percent suspension sag helped keep the bike stable in the air[2]. I chose mellow table-top jumps so I could overshoot without consequence and focus on carrying a consistent speed off the lip.

Day 1 – Sick but pumped: I felt under the weather but excited to start. My “whips” were really just straight jumps with a tiny bit of bike movement. I accepted that some days would be written off and that progress isn’t linear.

Day 2 – Fun with friends: Riding with a couple of other women on the jump line was a blast. Even without focusing on technique, simply chasing each other through the jumps improved my confidence. It was a good reminder that keeping sessions fun helps you stick with a challenge.

Day 3 – Coaching session: My husband Josh, a reformed BMX punk, gave me a mini clinic. He explained that a whip is like a fingerprint – everyone throws it differently. To move past a flat table, he told me to punch my left hand down and forward while pulling my right hand back and up. This exaggerates the sideways motion and adds a stylish bar turn. After practising a few laps, my tiny table tops started to look like real whips.

Day 4 – Early-morning struggle: We squeezed in a session before work. Between being half awake and sending a few jumps too deep, I didn’t make much progress and decided to save my energy for the following days.

Day 5 – Low energy but some kicks:Tired legs meant I couldn’t push as hard, but I still managed a bit more rear-end kick-out by staying loose and keeping my eyes level over the jump. 

Day 6 – Rain and refinement: A light rain made the dirt tacky. Josh suggested pushing the bars off to the side rather than in front of me and shifting my hips to the right to get the back end further out. He also compared the body movement to twisting a spring – when you release, your body naturally returns to centre, bringing the bike back underneath you. A misjudged landing on a later lap tweaked my ankle, but a night of rest and ice sorted it out. 

Day 7 – Breakthrough: My ankle felt fine, and the muscle memory from the previous six days finally clicked. I could kick the rear wheel out, turn the bars and pull everything back before landing. While they weren’t pro-level whips, the improvement in one week surprised me and left me hungry to keep progressing. 

• Compression is king: Just like any jump, start by loading the bike into the lip. Bend your knees and ankles and pump the transition to generate lift[1].
• Punch and pull: For the whip itself, punch your outside hand down and forward while pulling your inside hand back and up. This creates the sideways motion and bar turn.
• Move your hips: Shift your hips toward the direction of the whip to help kick the rear end out. Think of twisting your body like a spring – when you release, it naturally snaps back to centre.
• Bring it back: Mid-air, turn the bars back toward neutral and pull your knees toward the frame to bring the bike underneath you. Spot your landing and absorb the impact with bent elbows and knees.
• Keep it fun: Mixing serious practice with playful laps with friends makes the process more enjoyable and helps you stick with it. 

Seven days isn’t enough to master a whip, but it is long enough to make measurable progress. By focusing on compression, punch-and-pull technique, hip movement and relaxed body positioning, I turned awkward table tops into small but stylish whips. The experience also reinforced the value of coaching and of keeping rides fun. If you’re itching to learn a new trick, set yourself a short challenge, be consistent and don’t expect perfection. Improvement comes from repetition and a willingness to laugh at yourself along the way[3].