> > > > >Dear one wheelers and dealers, > > > > How do you jump roap on a unicycle. Do you jump once and idle once and > > jump once and idle once? Maybe you just jump and jump and jump. In > > that case I will be distraught because that is very difficult. I can > > jump once and idle once and repeat that but jumping many times in a > > row illudes me. > > I do it by the jump, jump, jump, jump method but don’t despair, I don’t think > it’s hard as all that. All you have to do is grip the seat real tight with > your thighs. I don’t do this for too long at a stretch because it does rub > rather seriously.
Another technique that I find better is to stand on the cranks (rather than the
pedals) and stick your toes into the spokes slightly. Now when you hop you have
better control for less thigh squeezing. It still rubs after ten minutes or so
(endurance hopping competitions are killers!) though and the technique does
fall down a bit on a giraffe. Hope this helps!
>Recently I have been working on hopping to make practicing more interesting. >Unfortunately, it hurts my finger to do so. I was wondering what the best way >to hop; ie. where (or if) to hold the uni, and should I be moving or >stationary.
Perhaps the best way to hold the unicycle while hopping is with one hand
directly in front of the with fingers pointed back gripping the seat. Use the
other arm for balance.
>One more thing, how much should the uni move when I idle?
When learning to idle, pedal a full 180 degrees back and forth. After some
success idling, one can reduce the wheel cycling angle from 180 down to as
little as 10 degrees, but anything less than 60 degrees will be very
challenging. One should become comfortable with any wheel cycling angle from 60
through 180 degrees.
I hear that the idling skill file will be available in the ftp archive at ftp.mcs.kent.edu /pub/Unicycling/USA-levels soon.
>> I’m trying to learn to do this. The skill levels site says "hold on to
the >> front of the seat." Should I do this with one hand or both hands? > >Long term you will use one hand, but you can start with two if it works
better.
Longer term you will use no hands - just squeeze those thighs. Wayne.
Wayne van Wijk, wvanwijk@gil.com.au
It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the
way. Prov.19:2
Kevin L. Seaman <KevinLSeaman@home.com> wrote in message news:37BF24AF.6344446D@home.com… > To successfully hop, you must “land” the wheel to the front, back or side to > maintain balance. > > Each time you go up, you may have to come down an inch or so in the direction > you are leaning.
Hmmmm. Does everyone agree about this??? Not possible to hop straight up and
down?
>> Each time you go up, you may have to come down an inch or so in the direction >> you are leaning.
> Does everyone agree about this??? Not possible to hop straight up and down?
No, staying in one place is not impossible. Just stay centered over the wheel,
and you’ll jump straight up. It’s a bit different than “riding is leaning and
then pedaling to put the uni back under you”. You don’t lean and then hop to
move the uni back under you. You lean, and then when you jump, you jump in that
direction because it’s the only way you can jump.
But perhaps the original point was that when hopping, don’t worry too much about
staying in one place. You’ll probably lean a bit, and so you’ll probably move
around a bit, and that’s ok.
I was wondering about this too, but hadn’t gotten around to writing. I’m able to
jump vertically with no problems.
Beirne
Michael Fuhrmann wrote:
> Kevin L. Seaman <KevinLSeaman@home.com> wrote in message > news:37BF24AF.6344446D@home.com… > > To successfully hop, you must “land” the wheel to the front, back or side to > > maintain balance. > > > > Each time you go up, you may have to come down an inch or so in the > > direction you are leaning. > > Hmmmm. Does everyone agree about this??? Not possible to hop straight up > and down?
In message “Re: hopping”, beirne wrote… >I was wondering about this too, but hadn’t gotten around to writing. I’m able >to jump vertically with no problems. > >Beirne > > >Michael Fuhrmann wrote: > >> Kevin L. Seaman <KevinLSeaman@home.com> wrote in message >> news:37BF24AF.6344446D@home.com… >> > To successfully hop, you must “land” the wheel to the front, back or side >> > to maintain balance. >> > >> > Each time you go up, you may have to come down an inch or so in the >> > direction you are leaning. >> >> Hmmmm. Does everyone agree about this??? Not possible to hop straight up >> and down?
I don’t agree. I have no difficulty in hopping in one spot while my strength
holds out. Actuslly, you can hop very lightly, and do not need to go high. Just
a hint is enough if you want to keep it up long.
Ask someone to lay on the ground close to you hopping and watch your wheel. They
will be able to tell you how far your wheel is landing away from where you
hopped. The better you are, the closer your wheel will come down to where it
was. It could be an inch, 1/2 inch, or maybe even 1/4 inch - but it will be
something greater than zero.
By making tiny hops “left and right” or “front and back”, you will “appear” to
be jumping vertical. This is what it is suppose to look like.
Let us all know what your observer says you do.
My original post was to offer help to someone asking how to do more than three
hops. I believe that telling them to “move” the wheel to a place other than
where they hopped, this person may be able to learn faster. If you can suggest a
better way to help them, then please do.
Kevin
Jack Halpern wrote: > > Greetings > > In message “Re: hopping”, beirne wrote… > >I was wondering about this too, but hadn’t gotten around to writing. I’m > >able to jump vertically with no problems. > > > >Beirne > > > > > >Michael Fuhrmann wrote: > > > >> Kevin L. Seaman <KevinLSeaman@home.com> wrote in message > >> news:37BF24AF.6344446D@home.com… > >> > To successfully hop, you must “land” the wheel to the front, back or > >> > side to maintain balance. > >> > > >> > Each time you go up, you may have to come down an inch or so in the > >> > direction you are leaning. > >> > >> Hmmmm. Does everyone agree about this??? Not possible to hop straight up > >> and down? > > I don’t agree. I have no difficulty in hopping in one spot while my strength > holds out. Actuslly, you can hop very lightly, and do not need to go high. > Just a hint is enough if you want to keep it up long. > > > > > Stay on top, Jack Halpern, IUF Vice President Website: http://www.kanji.org