since reading the forum hopping and all its relations have infected me to my bones.
two weeks ago i managed my first stationary hop up a curb. i am now trying to roll hop, but don’t seem to get much height or distance yet!
last night tried a pedal/crank grab onto a small bench which i found i could land but not stay there.
has anyone got any tips to improve poor technique or do you reckon its just the old matter of practise and commital to the jump? even if i set my self up in the position on the bench i can’t find a balance spot where i can stay there. - alway fall back whence icame to ground.
Are you trying to grab seat out or in? I started off trying to do in seat-in, but got nowhere… I could land on the edge but couldn’t stay there, I’d have to jump off it back to the ground.
Doing it seat out I find easier (ie. possible)… various people seem to be able to do it seat in, but I’m not one of them…
With the seat out you are free to lean further into the object you’ve landed on without the seat getting in the way.
The second part of the jump is the hardest, and scariest… start on something with lots of room at the top, because if you’re like me you’ll be bouncing all over the place trying to get your balance when you get up!
seat in, or seat out, you should remove your leg from the non-grabbing pedal for balance (and possible the opposite arm) this will help you gain alot of balance. put you foot back down when you’ve gotten your balance and quickly pull up
practice balancing with the crank/pedal on the object.
a brilliant contact juggler once told me to stop practicing rolling a ball onto my outside elbow and balance it there untill i had learned to balance a ball on my elbow without rolling there. (and no, i still cant do it)
parctice the ballance first, then the transition into it.
It’s actually easier to catch the ball from a throw of some type than actually roll it to that position, rolling to outer elbow hold can take quite some time to learn.
I haven’t tried going any grabs yet, but I came across these videos of Kris teaching some guys how to do some skills, one of which is grabbing. You might want to check them out.
