Once your child is riding around with good levels of control, it’s a good idea to help them further develop their cornering technique. As always, a good demonstration will go a long way towards teaching the correct technique. You’ll need dry and suitable surface conditions for faster cornering activities since wet or slippery surfaces can lead riders to slide out on corners.

For tighter or faster turns, you can teach your child to move their head in the direction of the exit of the turn to help with balance. Keeping their chins up will also help them corner with confidence. They should also practise turning with their inside pedal lifted up to the twelve o’clock position. This pedal position will allow them to push into the outside pedal to create more grip and will ensure that their inside pedal doesn’t catch the ground if they lean into the corner.

A good way for your child to improve their cornering technique is for them to ride in figures of eight, which can be made smaller or larger for different levels of challenge! Remember to teach them to get into the habit of looking behind to check if it’s clear before turning and to normally brake before the turn rather than on the corner itself, which could cause them to slide out!

Advanced Cornering Technique

Unii’s Learning to Cycle Journey shares what to teach your child about advanced cornering.