one thing you want to keep in mind while riding on the balls of your feet.
If you are approaching something that is going to be a drop, or even catching air of a kicker or something, move to the middle of your foot, you don’t want to take an impact with your ankles, as opposed to up through your legs
Although I usually use the ball of my foot, I’m not convinced it makes much difference for power. It may have some difference of control, but I’d guess it’s just what you’re used to.
I know the ball of foot thing has been discussed endlessly in the two wheeled bike racing world, but I believe when it’s been studied they’ve discovered that people are most efficient doing what is most comfortable for them. There’ve even been some successful racers who’ve done weird things like penguin style pedalling (heels on the pedals), just because it was the most comfortable thing for them.
Joe
After reading this thread I gave it a go (pedals pushed by the ball of my foot) on my 29er.
I found, for me, (not a very good rider - yet), it gave me more control, was more comfortable and I seemed to have more flexibility to sit properly on the seat. I also felt I rode faster without freaking out so much.
So, thanks.
Cathy
Though this may be true for bikes (I kind of doubt it), it’s definitely not true for unicycle racing. We have no gears. We pedal as fast as humanly possible. The farther forward your foot is on the pedal, the less leg extension you have. It slows you down measureably.
I imagine if you analyzed a video of any group of top unicycle racers, you’d see none of them have their feet centered on the pedals. There may be variations in foot position, but all would be pretty close to the ball-over-pedal-axle position.
As you move your foot forward, you give up the range of motion, and power, of your calf and ankle muscles. Plus you force your thighs to make a larger circle. Definitely less efficient.
When pedaling real slow, like up a long climb, this isn’t really a factor. Also when doing drops, where you don’t want to put your achilles tendons at risk. Otherwise, you should get better performance on the balls of your feet.