Motocross
Super Slo-Moto: The Bubba Scrub
Moto legend James Stewart reveals the art of his signature Bubba Scrub in super slow motion.
James Stewart riding his home track
© Garth Milan
No other technique has made an impact in modern motocross like the Bubba Scrub. When James Stewart hopped on the pro scene in 2002 at 16, he brought with him enough youthful enthusiasm to shame a Justin Bieber concert.
What’s more, it showed in his riding. James was always an animated rider, moving all over the place on the bike when he was on the track. As he honed his professional skills, he developed a technique of throwing the bike sideways on the face of jumps, which allowed him to hit the jumps with more speed while at the same time staying lower than other riders, which ultimately allowed him to put power to the ground more quickly.
It revolutionised the sport...
...and, it looked awesome.
2 min
Super Slo Moto James Stewart Bubba Scrub
James Stewart shows us his signature Bubba Scrub in super slow motion.
Today, it’s virtually unheard of to visit a motocross or supercross track without seeing some young guns practising scrubs. James Stewart has been absent from the professional motocross scene in 2015, but evidence of his impact on the sport is on every track during every lap of Supercross and the AMA Pro Motocross Nationals. Every great rider uses the scrub to preserve speed in hitting jumps. Still, though, there is nothing quite like an authentic Bubba Scrub.
JS7 portrait at the Stewart compound
© Garth Milan/Red Bull Content Pool
James Stewart is all smiles
© Garth Milan/Red Bull Content Pool
James Stewart, the innovator
© Garth Milan
Bubba Stewart celebrates his triumph mid-air
© Garth Milan/Red Bull Content Pool
But it's almost impossible to describe how to put down the Bubba Scrub, even for the man who invented the move. It's a skill that comes from hours on hours on the motorcycle, uncanny mechanical sympathy and the athletic ability to control a speeding bike.
Perhaps watching the move filmed in super slow motion might shed some light. And even if it doesn't, it still looks cool, right?
So we went to the master and asked James Stewart to break down the Bubba Scrub at his home track in Haines City, Florida, USA, while we captured every nuance of the move with a cutting edge Phantom Flex camera. Now you can study up on your scrubs, but, remember, yours probably won’t look like this at first.
