hopping and thumbs

I've been practising hopping onto narrow kerbs and am still learning to control
exactly where I land so I don't bounce straight off. My major fear at the moment
is that when I don't land correctly, the uni bounces back up at me and can twist
my hand around. When holding my viscount saddle, I have four fingers under the
rim of the saddle and my thumb pointing back down the seat. The thumb is the
problem, because if I misjudge the jump too many more times, I'm going to break
my thumb. How do people get around this but still retain control of the saddle
when jumping onto small pointy objects?

Thanks, nic

pricen01@tartarus.uwa.edu.au writes:
[color=blue]>I've been practising hopping onto narrow kerbs and am still learning to control[/color]
[color=blue]>exactly where I land so I don't bounce straight off. My major fear at the[/color]
[color=blue]>moment is that when I don't land correctly, the uni bounces back up at me and[/color]
[color=blue]>can twist my hand around. When holding my viscount saddle, I have four fingers[/color]
[color=blue]>under the rim of the saddle and my thumb pointing back down the seat. The thumb[/color]
[color=blue]>is the problem, because if I misjudge the jump too many more times, I'm going[/color]
[color=blue]>to break my thumb. How do people get around this but still retain control of[/color]
[color=blue]>the saddle when jumping onto small pointy objects?[/color]
[color=blue]>[/color]
[color=blue]>Thanks, nic[/color]
Try hopping w/o your hands. I learned thisi way bc when I was a teen, I only
ever saw jumping in the context of rope. It never occurred to me to use hands.
If you can hop well (at least well enough to pretend to jump rope), then adding
hands to the equation will only make it a lot easier. Basically it sounds likek
you need improvement in balance and in hopping, and I would bet that a few hours
of handless hopping wouldl do it -- plus it's fun.

You don't have to do the 'few hours' all at once, tho I did. Then I had trouble
walking for a day bc my inner thighs looked like Billy Crystal had taken a
cheese grater to them ("Ooh, I hate that!")*.

David

*Saturday Night Live reference.

[color=blue]> at me and can twist my hand around. When holding my viscount saddle, I have[/color]
[color=blue]> four fingers under the rim of the saddle and my thumb pointing back down the[/color]
[color=blue]> seat. The thumb is the problem, because if I misjudge the jump too many more[/color]
[color=blue]> times, I'm going to break my thumb. How do people get around this but still[/color]
[color=blue]> retain control of the saddle when jumping onto small pointy objects?[/color]

Lose the Viscount saddle. It just doesn't have enough handle for any serious
pulling up. It's not really a handle at all. For me there are only two fingers
really working when I pull up on one, and I guess I've just been spoiled by
Miyata seats. Get a Miyata, put an innertube in there, and you've got one real
nice seat.

Stay on top, John Foss contributing designer on the Viscount seat (1984)

Ditto. Anybody wanna by a few brand new Viscounts?

In a message dated Thu, 12 Apr 2001 12:02:16 PM Eastern Daylight Time, John Foss
<john_foss@asinet.com> writes: Lose the Viscount saddle. It just doesn't have
enough handle for any serious pulling up. It's not really a handle at all. For
me there are only two fingers really working when I pull up on one, and I guess
I've just been spoiled by Miyata seats. Get a Miyata, put an innertube in there,
and you've got one real nice seat.

Stay on top, John Foss contributing designer on the Viscount seat (1984)

Nicholas Price wrote:
[color=blue]> When holding my viscount saddle, I have four fingers under the rim of the[/color]
[color=blue]> saddle and my thumb pointing back down the seat. The thumb is the[/color]
[color=blue]> problem, because if I misjudge the jump too many more times, I'm going to[/color]
[color=blue]> break my thumb.[/color]

Try tucking the thumb under the seat with your fingers. With a little practice,
you should be able to grip just as strongly without the thumb as you can with.

This was drummed into me when I used to play judo, where the judoka with the
best grip will usually win the fight, and it's important to keep the thumb out
of the way for the same reason as you suggest.

--
Danny Colyer (remove your.mind to reply)
http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/danny.html "The secret of life is
honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made" -
Groucho Marx