I have been unicycling for about a month. I can static mount, do turns, and on occasion ride up a handicap ramp. I believe that the next skill I should be working on is either hopping or idling. My friends say that hopping is easier than idling. I’ve gotten one or two pathetic hops but they are way out of control.
Does anyone have any tips for how to hop?
Thanks
I just started with 1 hop, then 2 hops, then 10 hops, then 20 hops, then 10000000 hops 
Im not sure if theres an easier way to learn, but I just did it over and over again until it clicked 
It’s kinda weird though, because I started learning how to hop before I even knew it was a useful unicycling skill
Hopping is way easier than Idling.
Hold on to a wall and do a still stand, that is, stand up with the pedals level. While holding the wall for balance. Get used to this position. Now, pulling up on the handle on the front of the seat with one hand, jump. Just keep doing that till you can do it easy while holding the wall. Now do it without a wall.
Stand up straight with both legs tense so your knees WONT bend. Have one hand on the handle and also have that arm straight, so your whole body is straight and tense and nothing will bend.
Hop with your whole body keeping everything tense and tight, if one or both of your knees bend you’re likely to come off the front or back. The hops should be small and eventually you’ll be able to do them as long as you want on the spot, to help you balance when you cannot idle.
When you get good at this, you can start bending your knees (keep the pedals level still) and actually trying to get some height… and that’s useful for trials if you are going to do that.
I’m just a rookie, but I’ve read other threads about hopping and “how to”. At first I was only getting 2 or 3 hops, then a few days later I got 10. A few minutes later, literally a few minutes later, got 25, next try got 75. It’s just like everything with unicycling, getting a feel for it and practicing. Now a week later, I can pretty much hop as long as I want, and am working on height.
Keep at it and good luck!
as horrible as it may sound…
practice, practice, practice!
that is the most helpful advice that i can offer. you need to find a balance of relaxed and tense that works, and just PRACTICE!
This is applies for everything unicycling. Usually when you feel like you are making no progress, you are close to breaking through to where it gets easier. It’s darkest before the dawn.
In addition to the great tips in this thread, I found that reducing my tire (aka tyre) pressure helped.
Thanks everybody, Great Tips.
I have practice tonight so I’ll be falling down laughing as I attempt to hop. I liked the instructions of holding onto the wall and handle. That makes sense to me.
I’ve been trying to hop from a riding position and everything gets a little confusing. Sometimes I hop, sometimes it seems I throw the cycle at my crotch or my crotch at the cycle, I can’t tell which it is. Then I fall down.
How do you get into position when riding? Is this like learning to mount, where you get a 1/2 second before you tip over and if you get it good, if not start over?
When riding, just pay attention to when your rear foot just gets past bottom and is almost horizontal. Quickly stand up, lock your legs, and start hopping.
Start doing this while riding slowly.
pay attention to the tire pressure recommendation from stevya. I could hop ok then I inflated the tire too much and it was like trying to bounce a rock… doesn’t work well.
also shift the weight so that you are not rolling while hopping, if you weight the pedals unevenly, it will go forward, or backward, depending on which pedal you weight more, so shift your weight on the pedals until you are staying staionary.
Posted this last August, but it won’t hurt to repeat myself…
I learnt to hop about a month ago by cheating
Oh yes cheating…
I stopped the wheel from rotating by strapping the rim to the frame, with the pedals at 3 and 9 oclock, using some toe clip straps.
This made the unicycle into a pogo-cycle:D
Pogo-cycle can’t fly out front or backward leaving me to master mounting and hopping up and down on the spot, side to side, backwards ect ect without the worry of landing on my arse
After about an hour I unstrapped the rim, changing it back to a unicycle, and hey Presto, with a little more practise, I can now hop…
Good luck
Dave
when you first start, you will be pretty much trying to jump off the unicycle, this is incorrect
when you are standing up, and your hand is on the handle, picture your handle pulling up as only needed to pull the (parellel to the ground) pedals up into your feet.
Then, spring your legs up, remembering to keep pulling the pedals into your feet (this allows you to hop, with the unicycle, all as one unit)
Repeat 300 times
I am hopping! Not great, but hey my friends don’t ride so they are easily impressed.
Resting an arm against the wall did the trick. After a bounce or two I would end up rotating around and was out there on my own. After quite a few tries I was able to hop once or twice from a roll. More practice needed.
Fall like a clown and everybody laughs
Also, give yourself very small goals at first.
hop over a crack in the cement
then maybe over a painted line
then between two cracks
with all the height you have now mastered, curbs are not much further
It’s true, someimtes the locals guffaw mercilessly (thanks Mikefule, this is still my favourite expression!)
i started hopping accidently, seriously, i was riding along then randomly decided to try and hop for the first time EVER and hoped like 20 times controlled. This was probably because i had a pogo stick that i played on before i got a uni. So my advice, learn on a pogo, then hopping on a uni is soo easy
I’m stuck here. I can hop many times in a row. I can hop in a circle. I can hop to a curb or a few pallets and hop off. But I can’t hop high enough to clear a curb or step or pallet. I don’t think it’s about strength but more about technique. My tire pressure is low and springy but I guess I’m just retarded at getting height. Hmmmmmmm.
I started hopping stuff by hopping parallel to curbs. Lean in a bit then, push down to squash the tires, then hop