SIF jumping and riding

[daveykim]

Hey again!
I had a question/concern regarding SIF.
so i can now easily pull the seat to the front and sometimes even the back and ride. My concern is that i cannot seem to jump well or hold good balance when i wanna just hop around with the seat in the front. ill ask some questions to show you what i mean.

is your back suppose to be kind of in an uncomfortable position when you hop wit sif?
where are your hands (or hand) suppose to be?

I can do the unispin 180 mount and i wanna be work on the actual 180 unispin but its hard to stay balanced or an even comfortable enough position to even attempt it.

cheers
davey

[AlisterBurt]

Hey Davey, maybe try raising your seat a little, get comfortable with riding SIF first, it will become more and more natural eventually

[unireed]

it was weird for me at first youll get used to it quickly. practice no footers before the unispin and you will be a sifmaster

[daveykim]

Originally Posted by AlisterBurt

Hey Davey, maybe try raising your seat a little, get comfortable with riding SIF first, it will become more and more natural eventually

i am pretty comfortable riding sif i think. should i be comefortable riding with both arms seperately and together? its just that hopping feels really weird..

[timekeeper]

It's all going to feel a little awkward at first but SIF is invaluable once you get comfortable with the hopping. I personally move my right hand away from the handle and grab the saddle on the right side just behind the seatpost, with my fingers curling underneath the base and my thumb on top of the seat. You don't really need to worry about doing it with either arm in my opinion, but it can't hurt.

If your seat is fairly low, as in your knees really extended while riding normally, raising it will make SIF hopping feel more natural as you won't be as hunched over. It will also make tricks like wheel-walking easier to control. Play with the height to see what's comfortable for you.

As for the 180 unispin, jump mounts are a good way to practice but unireed speaks the truth: Practice no-footers. Just jump straight up, leave the pedals, and try to place your feet back on. If you're doing static unispins (not rolling) it isn't critical at first to land back on the pedals perfectly so just aim for the cranks as a safety zone. This will get you used to the strange feeling of being disconnected from your unicycle. From there, you can try unispins with the seat in front.

It seems like you're learning very quickly so keep up the good work! I've only ever landed a handful of unispins and I sort of gave up. Just have Spencer yell at you until it happens. He's motivational like that

[daveykim]

any tips to help me keep the unicycle on the ground while i lift up? i tried a few times last night and i can get like 2 centimeters upp but not any higher and its a tad scarry. i was practicing in my dorm hall at 1 am and my resident assistant caught me. so i talked my way out of it and went in my room. 5 minutes later, i peek out my door and shes staring right at me XD haha. anyways, yea any help would be awesome with the no footerrrrrrrr

[unireed]

it's just what it seems like. you jump up from the pedals and land on the pedals or cranks. judt dont pull the uni up with you and youll eventually get used to it. and to keep the uni on the ground, just try holding it differently