Most of not all of the other hardcore MUni guys I know use center foot placement. I do usually reposition more to the ball of foot for steep climbing, but 80% of the time it’s over the arch. Believe me, if your doing 5 foot+ drops on the ball of your feet, you’ll find out right quick it’s a bad idea! When you land you want your weight to be evenly distributed on your feet.
If there’s no support for the majority of your foot (behind the ball area) that is not over the pedal, it can easily be hyper extended backwards and result in a bad sprain. Shoes are also a crucial component, along with the right technique. Doing big drops with really thin soled or over flexy soles is also a no-no for serious MUni, and is not good for big drops. Thick, stiff soles, like 5.10’s is the way to go.
I think this 7 set might be the biggest thing I’ve jumped, as you can see I was on the ball of my foot and it was fine. That other drop only looked about 2 feet tall, maybe your technique was off or something?
I’m a bicyclist who started unicycling last year. On a bike, I’d never think of pedaling without the ball of my foot directly over the pedal axle. It’s the most efficient, and gives the best shock absorption. That’s also how I uni, although sometimes I’ll shift my foot slightly forward. When I started, It was easier to ride with my foot shifted slightly forward and tilted down:
This helped smooth my pedal strokes. Now that I have more practice, I think pedaling the same way I do on a bike is much easier, and is definitely best on the local muni trails. However, the guys I ride with (who aren’t bicyclists, and have been unicycling 7x as long as I have) like hopping; they ride with the ball of their foot in front of axle. Because of this they have to lower their seats to leave more room to absorb the bumps.
There have been many threads on foot position. You will find a wealth of knowledge in the archives as well. In general, the older, more experienced riders concur with arch over pedal for drops. Bottom line, just do whatever works best for you.
as a street rider i prefer riding with my foot in the middle, i find that it hurts my ankles much less. I have never had any knee pain from this either, but then again i try to roll out all the hard landings i have.
If you are just learning how to ride just do what feels good to you.
I ride muni with my feet like this, and if I get to long flat sections or road, I shift back to the balls of my feet. Highest drop I have done in this unicycle foot position was 3.5 ft. And at just about that point, I could see that if I were jumping from any higher I’d need to shift the pedal back further. Luckily I’ve been doing it a lot, and slowly worked up to it, so I’ve been careful. But when I was learning I overextended my ankle a few times, and it is NOT fun. Just don’t do it.
I went out and did a 4foot drop i had in my backyard and did it both ways and if ur rolling it is easyer to do it with the ball but if your doing it static the arch is better.
Advanced: There are some cases not to use the balls
Moving your feet forward on the pedal protects your ankles/achilles tendons in big drops, and also may help keep your feet from losing the pedals in rough MUni.
It’s not like you have to use to the ball of your foot OR the arch. You can change your foot position during a ride. If your riding on smooth ground, use the ball of your foot. When you come to some rough ground or a drop shift centre your feet more forward on the pedal.
I put it in my sig while I was changing some things, I hope you don’t mind John, I’ll remove it if you like.
Back on the direct topic: I have strained my ankles from landing incorrectly, but what are the specific injuries you risk by landing with your foot too far on the ball of your foot?
Posterior ankle sprains, Achilles ruptures, anterior ankle impingement. If you allow your uni and the rest of your body absorb the force, you should be fine though
And "standing 