Video: 7 Year Old Crosby Zoomerman Hits a 24 Foot Double For the First Time

 Agreed

 That was pretty hard to watch. Must have been added as a joke or something. If not, then wow.

 How did you learn to get over your fears Jeff?

 I think it's worth noting that Jeff Lenosky is saying this and not just some guy on the internet.

 @brandonweekly: I always dealt with fear by trying to master similar but different situations. For example, I'd probably find 10 tabletops and try to come as close to mastering every distance before hucking something. I will be the first to confess that I'm definitely on the "too conservative" end of the spectrum. I'm primarily a tech rider so I usually more likely to try something relatively safe but difficult 100's of times VS something super dangerous that you try once or something goes seriously wrong. Everyone is going to handle fear differently and fear is not necessarily a bad thing. It's just my opinion that decisions involving such risk should be made for yourself with an adult mindset.

 @jeff-lenosky: well said. I'm still trying to wrap my head around how someone can think this is a positive experience. This will only push the child or make them feel bad about themselves in the future. Kids don't need that pressure that early on in life. They need to be kids. That's just my opinion take it or leave it.

 Big time disagree. I learned as a kid by myself and took 1000s of run ins before turning off my brain and hitting it. Those habits indeed stayed with me and I take way way way too many run ins to this day. I wish I had someone to tell me off when I was a kid. As long as the mentor is confident in the kids ability I think it’s sound advice.

 @Crosby-Zoomerman: maybe just let the kid be 7 then. Only thing that will set him back at this point is an injury. He's got years to come back and hit that jump whether or not he could hit it that day.

These groms ripping vids are generally some of my favorites but this is the only one I've seen where I was genuinely scared for the kid's safety. Not just the 24fter but many the clips in the video were near misses.

 His accomplishments are without a doubt amazing! But if something goes wrong this could wind up in a court of law for abuse charges.

I know people will disagree; but when it comes to the little people, there are those that will not except Dads misguidance with his youngster. Defiantly teetering a fine line with video and if he became badly injured at some point without video this footage could be used in legal matters.

To add his mussel, bone density and ligaments are not developed enough in order reduce the severity of an injury sustained from such high velocity impact.

Good luck Tho!

 @Crosby-Zoomerman: can a 7 year old really “rationalize”? I just wonder if encouraging stuff THAT big without much more focus on technique first is a good move.... no offense and many props to his bravery for doing it but... it’s a bit scary to watch. And the parent in this situation egging him on, telling him to stop taking practice runs in and just go for it because speed is right (given that the first jumps don’t even look dialed, actually look very close to OTB, not comfortable form at all) is ... not the best look. And FWIW: Matt Mcduff has almost killed himself multiple times.

 @timetogetsendy: Seriously. I think the kid has some skills but mostly he's just hucking and hoping for the best. The pressure he's getting from dad is just creepy. Ease off the bro-coach bs and let the kid ride for fun.

 @jeff-lenosky: The wise words of Bruce Lee " Learn in your own process". this illustrates the avenue of mastery and the ability to express one's own style for flawless execution with speed power and grace.

 So I been riding with my 9 year old a lot, he can ride well although he is nowhere near sending massive gaps. I aint ever pushed him into that sort of stuff cause I am a pussy-hole-parent. Anyways, he bailed on a jump last winter and broke his arm really bad (plate and judgemental consultants). I felt like sh!t, I dont get where the dad in this can turn his fear emotions off, maybe am just of a weak mind.

 @usmbc-co-uk: I'm scared of being in the same situation as you in a couple years. Playing it safe is the way to go. Keep it fun too. Always has to be fun for them.

 @jeff-lenosky: a bit off topic but having grown up watching all your vids (NWD) I really appreciate your perspective and more than that, it makes everything I watched that much more impressive.

I'm not really sure there's such a thing as too conservative. I doubt I'm alone in this, but I'd rather get out every day and ride at 20% than risk the downtime and what comes with pushing my limits over and over. I'm not sure that's something I was able to rationalize at all until I was close or into my 20s and certainly not at 7.

 @HaggeredShins: I think the easy answer is that your job as a parent is to be the voice of reason, and definitely not to push them. If the kid wants to try something and it's something within their capability then let them go to it.

If you feel you have to push your kid to try harder/train more/do better they'll do it, but they'll hate you for it and probably hate the sport to. That's without even getting into the fact that this kid is only 7. Normally you don't see that kind of crap from parents until they get into their early teens.

 @jeff-lenosky: watching the video on mute, kiddo just wants the positive reinforcement of the high five at the end. That’s when we see the real smile, not the fake one he does to keep dad happy...

 Yeah this was horrible. At 7 years old the kid has not developed a way to assess risk in any way and is overshooting and landing jumps sketch as f**k, yet he's being pushed to hit even bigger ones in the line.

The fact that he was landing that sketch and the father didn't even pull the plug, or even session smaller jumps until he was comfy with them, means the father isn't correctly assessing risk either.

Whenever I see someone hitting jumps like that, I'm reminded of the guy I saw jumping similarly sketchy. He had a huge OTB right in front of me and knocked himself out and broke his neck, and I was waiting with him for half an hour for EMS while he kept asking me where he was and why he couldn't breathe properly.

I don't want Crosby to break his neck because his dad is a f**kwit.

 Well done my friend @Crosby-Zoomerman:

 "He wanted it"

When a kid says they want something, the parent must oblige ... said no parent ever.

 @Crosby-Zoomerman: If he was 17, there would be nothing wrong with this video. But he’s 7. Get over your unhealthy obsession with Instagram likes and just be thankful he likes riding bikes.

 best comment ever

 It's like the worst of hockey parents only with huge consequences. Dad needs to give his head a shake.

 I once helped a family get their eight year old kid out of Duthie after his front wheel came off on an xc trail. They hadn't tightened the quick release enough. His jaw was broken and a bunch of teeth were out and he was in shock and trailing blood everywhere. Half shells and rock strikes don't mix.
There's an adult consequences / adult decisions conversation that needs to happen when you're risking your central nervous system and your life. I'd like to see a seven year old review the medical literature on neck braces.

My seven year old didn't want to ride drops, so I ride them and tell him they will come with time. He doesn't have Instagram followers. I'm ok with that.

This really is starting to feel like pageant business.

 Something is off in these dialogs in the video. Ask open questions, allow the kid to answer them in his own words. Give him room to do so. Seven is a great age for a kid to become aware of ownership, develop some independence. Allow emotions to exist and give them a place.

 @vinay: You are wise and right.

 @friendlyfoe: This was *exactly* my thought. I've coached youth hockey for the past 6 years, and this guy reminded me of the worst of hockey parents - constantly pushing talented kids past the point of safety because dad wants the NHL... and you see a lot of those kids with multiple concussions or serious injuries by the time they are 13. Same bullshit here.

 *This account has been DEACTIVATED*
Colin Zimmerman was not ready for the backlash

 Riding with my kids is just not my jam. I love to goof off with them on the easy stuff but have no interest watching them push their limits (and finding them). Following your kid and watching them come right to the edge of eating it and then recovering is so nerve-racking; I don't find any pride in it - I'm too scared.

I've been to the ER enough times on my own to know I'll probably have to take them or meet an ambulance there at least once, but watching it unfold live is just way worse. As much as I love to ride, in these situations I'm a scared-ass parent first.

For context: 40ish dad who's happy doing relatively crazy stuff himself but feels required to dial back my kids' similar aspirations.

 @Crosby-Zoomerman: in the vid he overshoots the middle jump each time. I'd have though addressing speed control here would have been preferable before releasing the beast on the biggest jump.
Gotta be confusing for a kid if you tell him to channel his fear as pedalling and go fast, for him to then understand that he actually needs to slow down.
I see the vid edit as "dont be scared.. pedal fast" then "dont be scared and don't pull out"
Sure there's clearly a tremendous talent here that capitalizes on a lack of childrens comprehension of consequence, but I'm concerned that this becomes normalised and the next parent pushes their kid to instabang bigger.

 @Crosby-Zoomerman: If you post on the internet people are going to tell you what they think. Being his parent does not make you infallible, people criticizing you are expressing genuine concern for your kid that you should learn from. He does look like he's mostly just going for it. Many injury's occur because people's confidence/balls write checks their skills can't cash. In this case pressure/desire to impress you is playing a big role too. Not cool.

 I respectfully disagree. You are positioning yourself, using Crosby, as an Instagram Influencer. On his own, Crosby wouldn't be able to get to these destinations, film them nor post them to social media. Nor, I assume, is he capable of emailing his images to brands to ask for product in return for posting his super awesome vids on Instagram.
By nature, in addition to the 11 brands you are returning support to and creating exposure for, you are influencing other parents and skewing their perception as to what is socially acceptable, expected and appropriate for their child to do inside extreme sports pursuits. Consider the litigation culture in the USA, I genuinely wouldn't be surprised if you get named in a suit where we will have a child suffering a life changing injury following a crash where they are following Crosby's 'example'. So, likely yes you can probably be held liable for other parents decisions [IANAL]

More concerning, the POV vid of him dropping is has HIM repeating YOUR mantra "dont pull off and do the jump" So to be fair, it doesn't matter how bent out of shape HE gets on that 2nd nose heavy landing that HE's repeatedly getting wrong, HE is going to hit that 3rd jump, no matter what, because YOU have removed HIS decision making ability.

I have riding kids, I get it. I love watching and enabling their progression, I get frustrated when they don't want to go and ride and miss an opportunity, but I'm absolutely there ready to pull their plug or be the voice of reason when somethings not right, or a step to far at that moment in time. (not saying I'm the greatest parent ever, I have absolutely significant flaws in many aspects of this extremely difficult job that we assign ourselves)

Anyway, your kid, your choice of how you parent. But perhaps dropping the social media element and let him progress under the radar without the added pressure of delivering 'go-big' content would be an immeasurable benefit.

[my 2c]

 @jonnyboy: from what I’ve heard and from many people messaging me about this dude on IG he doesn’t care what any of y’all think. He’s gonna do whatever he thinks is best for his kid and often deletes anything negative about his son on that IG account. I’ve also heard his son wins lots of races and is very fast. So obv kid has tons of talent. Just don’t get the need for these huge gap jumps. How is that helping him go faster? You can’t do rampage at 8 can you?

 Congrats on your 2.4 foot gap.

 Apparently so is CTE

 I had to Google that. Now I know why our president is the way he is.