Beginner needs advice

I bought my 12 yr old grandson a unicycle for Xmas. I don't want him to
get discouraged before he learns.

Is there a proven system for learning? Thanks

--
"Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." Calvin Coolidge

Just reassure him that he's going to fall and it may be difficult at
first, but it's really fun once you learn how. Make sure he learns to land
on his feet and let the uni go if he has to, to help prevent injury to
himself. I personally learned by holding onto a fence or something similar
and riding along it, and progressed from there to riding away from an
object I was holding onto (car, pole, etc), and from there went to
freemounting. Try to find other riders in the area. I would not be as
enthusiastic about it if I didn't find the people I ride with now.

John

Ace wrote:

[color=blue]> I bought my 12 yr old grandson a unicycle for Xmas. I don't want him to[/color]
[color=blue]> get discouraged before he learns.[/color]
[color=blue]>[/color]
[color=blue]> Is there a proven system for learning? Thanks[/color]
[color=blue]>[/color]
[color=blue]> --[/color]
[color=blue]> "Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." Calvin Coolidge[/color]

When you're learning, I think it works better if you have a partner who
either knows how to ride, or is learning with you. It's not as much fun
learning alone IMO.

"Ace" <liberty@catt.com> wrote in message
news:092DBF0E00C33214.DFEEAAEA3F3679...lp.airnews.net...
[color=blue]> I bought my 12 yr old grandson a unicycle for Xmas. I don't want him to[/color]
[color=blue]> get discouraged before he learns.[/color]
[color=blue]>[/color]
[color=blue]> Is there a proven system for learning? Thanks[/color]

[teachndad]

Ditto, tell him this will take some time. It isn't like riding a scooter. You can't just pick it up and go. Have him work as hard as he wants. Give him 13 - 16 hours. Maybe have him do 30 minutes or less at a time over a week or weeks. Most of all, tell him he can do this. It gets progressively easier, but you have to work at it.



He will get the spins right off the bat. The uni will spin out from under him and that is normal.

Find a railing anywhere.


Also do a search here by looking under: beginner, newbie, starting, etc.


Unicycle.com sells a video entitled (I think) Learning to Ride a Unicycle. It shows a 10 or 11 year old learning to ride over a week's period. They show him in various stages of learning and yes, he eventually rides the uni across a deck, but you also see his falls as he tries. He does not get injured and they have some simple tips to follow when learning. The rest of the video shows some of the other things you can do while riding a uni and then shows some of the models sold at unicycle.com. I think it runs around 15 bucks or so. I found it helpful.

One final thought, have him post questions here when he has them. IT might give him a sense that he can go somewhere for help. He even gets to come up with his own moniker.


Keep it up

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Let the kid see the incredible things that can be done on unicycling and
he will catch the bug. Once he sees that it's hard but possible, he should
be ok. Two videos are recommended: "Universe" and "One Wheel No limit."
Exposure to a real live unicycling is great too. My kids (5 and 7) might
let their unis sit for 2 months, but when they get the urge to try, we
take advantage of it. Our club is the biggest inspiration for them, but
the fact that I draw so much attention on the street is also kind of a
motivator for them. I have sometimes have had to leave my uni home when
taking my kids to the playground because I get so swamped with attention.
As for "proven" methods, yes they exist. Just hang around this newsgroup
and you will get lots of advice.

Joe

Many unicyclists learn in complete isolation, but peer inspiration
helps tons.

In a message dated 12/20/01 5:47:58 PM Eastern Standard Time,
liberty@catt.com writes:

[color=blue]> I bought my 12 yr old grandson a unicycle for Xmas. I don't want him to[/color]
[color=blue]> get discouraged before he learns.[/color]
[color=blue]>[/color]
[color=blue]> Is there a proven system for learning? Thanks[/color]

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charset="US-ASCII"

<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=2>Let the kid see the
incredible things that can be done on unicycling and he will catch the
bug.&nbsp; Once he sees that it's hard but possible, he should be
ok.&nbsp; Two videos are recommended:&nbsp; "Universe" and "One Wheel No
limit."&nbsp; Exposure to a real live unicycling is great too.&nbsp; My
kids (5 and 7) might let their unis sit for 2 months, but when they get
the urge to try, we take advantage of it.&nbsp; Our club is the biggest
inspiration for them, but the fact that I draw so much attention on the
street is also kind of a motivator for them.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I have
sometimes have had to leave my uni home when taking my kids to the
playground because I get so swamped with attention.&nbsp; As for "proven"
methods, yes they exist.&nbsp; Just hang around this newsgroup and you
will get lots of advice.<BR> <BR> Joe<BR> <BR> <BR> Many unicyclists learn
in complete isolation, but peer inspiration helps tons.<BR> <BR> <BR> In a
message dated 12/20/01 5:47:58 PM Eastern Standard Time, liberty@catt.com
writes:<BR> <BR> <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff
2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">I
bought my 12 yr old grandson a unicycle for Xmas.<BR> I don't want him to
get discouraged before he learns.<BR> <BR> Is there a proven system for
learning? Thanks</BLOCKQUOTE><BR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <BR> </FONT></HTML>
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