Teaching Your Kids to Balance on the Gate — You Do Not Have to Figure It Out Alone

The start gate is where everything begins in BMX racing.

It's also where a lot of new families feel completely lost.

I'm Brad Bellette , founder of Ride Together Australia. My son Jimmy started riding at six years old, and I remember standing on the sideline watching him roll up to that gate for the first time — a hinged ramp that holds the rider at an angle before dropping them into the race. It's a different sport entirely until you understand it.

Balancing on the gate is a skill. It requires the rider to hold their weight correctly on the pedals, maintain their line, keep calm under pressure, and be ready to explode forward the instant the gate drops. For a six-year-old doing it for the first time, that's a lot to process.

The good news: it's very teachable. And kids pick it up faster than you'd think.

Here's the foundation. The rider should have their dominant foot forward, pedal at roughly the 2 o'clock position. Weight should be on the pedals, not the seat — you're already in a standing position before the gate drops. Arms slightly bent, head up. You're balanced, coiled, ready.

The gate drop itself is where reaction time comes in, and that's something you can practise without even riding — just working on the feel of the position and the response cue.

For parents, the most important thing you can do is get your child in front of a qualified coach early. Not because you can't help — you absolutely can — but because gate technique built on good foundations from the start is far easier to develop than technique that's been reinforced incorrectly for a year.

This is where AusCycling -accredited coaches make a real difference. The AusCycling coaching accreditation system ensures coaches have the knowledge and skills to teach fundamentals properly — from gate position to body mechanics to race-day strategy. A few sessions with a qualified coach early can set a rider up for years of proper development.

One of the things Ride Together funds is exactly this: access to AusCycling -accredited coaching for families in regional and remote Australia who don't have it on their doorstep. A clinic. A coach visit. An online session. Whatever it takes to get proper instruction to kids who deserve it.

• Coaching clinics at regional tracks
• Travel support for coaches to visit remote communities
• Online coaching sessions for riders without local access
• Connection to the broader AusCycling coaching network

Because that first clean gate start — the one where everything clicks, the gate drops and the rider is just gone — is a moment your kid will remember. We want more kids to have it.