A bit more on body positioning, or “pre-positioning” before a turn. It works the same for all turns, but in difficult corners, such as a steep downhill hairpin turn, or when there is debris/gravel/water on the ground, our psychology and instincts often work against us. The instinct is try to keep our body upright, or even lean away from the turn, to not fall, which are exactly the opposite of what you should do. The scarier the corner looks, the more you need to lean your body into the turn, or even hang off on the inside of the turn, to help the bike turn with minimized bike lean and maximized traction. Get your body pre-positioned BEFORE the turn!
Always remember – safety first. It takes time to build up the confidence to lean hard into a scary corner. You just need to practice it all the times, even on city street corners, to build up the muscle memory. Start with lower speed and work up the speed gradually based on your own comfort level. For me, riding on streets exclusively, it took me over 1 year, 11k miles, to finally get comfortable on the most difficult roads in the local hills.