![\"Mark](\"http:\/\/corbamtb.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/IMG_4415.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAs the coordinator and instructor for the monthly CORBA Introduction to Mountain Biking Skills Class <\/a>at Malibu Creek State Park<\/a>, I look forward to the first Saturday each month to help yet another group of eager mountain bikers become safer and more proficient. I also provide private lessons (mountainbikeskills.com<\/a>) and have gotten quite a few new clients over the last couple of months, which is pretty typical for this time of year, what with the weather getting nice and a crop of races just around the corner.<\/p>\n What continues to amaze me is how many people think they don\u2019t need\u00a0 coaching. As I say all the time, even the best athletes in the world have coaches. I see people in the CORBA classes<\/a> who have been riding for quite some time who have developed bad habits that are quite debilitating. And they almost always can be easily corrected with a few minor adjustments. But the adjustments aren\u2019t always intuitive or obvious, and that\u2019s where a coach comes in. If there were a better way to improve one\u2019s technique instead of using interpersonal coaching, I think they would have come up with it by now!<\/p>\n