What are some tips to learning wheel walking?I tried for a while but gave up after getting hurt and have been meaning to trie again for months but am a little scared of it.
You want to start up against a wall… Push the tire in a “toe heel motion” meaning push the tire with your toe but not the very tip and sort of roll your foot as you push. Try to keep your weight over the tire… just practice and dont get discoraged if you get hurt, just keep trying. If that made any sence I hope it helps
Don’t you hate how practice is the key to everything.
-Sabin
If practice makes perfect but nobodys perfect why pratice?
Thanks that helps I think i might go try it now the uni just keeps disapearing out from under me
Also, Dont try to lift your feet a whole ton. Keep at least one foot on the wheel at all times (obviously, you will be switching feet) That is a hint for learning purposes.
-Sabin
thanks
I never found the wall to be useful.
I just started by taking my feet off the pedals and tried kicking the wheel.
The first step is to see how many kicks you can do before you fall over.
then, once you start getting more and more kicks in, see how slow you can do said kicks.
Try leaning back more than you feel comfortable with.
Once you can get a few steps in, try to find a slight incline to practice on. The incline helps you position yourself (if it were flat, you would be leaning back further) and also causes you to kick your feet down, not forward.
This is a skill that takes a lot of commitment. (I found, anyways)
I started holding on a wall for a while then let go
Try to lean back farther than you think you should, and go slower than you think you should.
ok
I don’t think it is very wise to lean back at all. I tried doing it that way and had extremely nasty falls.
it is very rewarding once you get it! it took me a while to get it but now i do it often. try to find a good speed to start at, and you will make more progress if you try from riding than holding on to something, although you will have to get off the uni more. finding the correct speed to lift your feet onto the wheel is important, and try to make sure your feet dont hit each other while doing strokes. my 2 bits.
You definately need to lean back more than feels comfortable at first, this is partly because your feet are farther forwards than normal so it counters that. It feels weird and takes a while to get used to tho.
Try wheelwalking up a slight slope, I found this helped a lot, as you don’t have to concern yourself with keeping a backward pressure on the tire to stop it shooting out as much, and you can concentrate on foot position more. A big problem for me was hitting my feet against each other or even on the upward pedal, so the up hill technique allowed me to focus more on that. Once you have that down then obviously try flat ground more. Someone posted something in a previous thread about saying a mantra of “toe, heel, toe, heel…” whilst trying it, which works wonders!
Also look forwards, it was easier for me to keep my weight that little bit farther back and balance better, probably due to a straighter back.
WW is a milestone I feel and as Shadowuni says, very rewarding! Good luck, I hope this helped a bit!
does it help to have smaller feet? am i at a disadvantage for having size 14 feet or does that just mean i can’t wheel walk on anything smaller than 24 inches…
or perhaps im just trying to think of excuses for why i couldn’t learn it.
-grant
That’s the “learn by falling” approach. Though it works for many people, I consider it a very inefficient approach. If you want immediate gratification this way is good for you because you can really see how you stand, but if you want to learn technique, start with the wall.
The problem with the go-for-it method is it always ends in a fall, which eats up a lot of time, especially with things like wheel walking. You spend less than 10% of your practice time with your feet on the wheel that way.
A chainlink fence with pavement next to it is even better, because you can grip it. I found my wall essential for wheel walking. Before you can make any real progress, it helps to train your feet to the walking motion. Do it slowly to get your feet used to the motion.
toe-hell, toe-heel, as previously described. Both feet are only on the tire when one is going off and the other coming on. Mostly it’s one foot at a time, like a three ball cascade (juggling).
You have to sit up real straight, and it’s a different position from regular riding, to counteract the weight of your legs in front of you, so it feels like leaning back. You have to get used to this position so you can feel comfortable there. An important way to do that is getting comfortable with falling off the back. Falling off the front is a no-brainer because your feet are right there. Off the back, you have to bring your feet out to the sides, around and down very quickly. Practice that and you won’t be as scared in the riding position.
Cannit be done on a 20" freestyle wheel?
David
Anything can be done on a 20" Freestyle wheel! Watch Daike Izumeda’s section on Universe II- if you don’t have Universe II, rush out and buy it this instant!
I’ve heard that it’s easier on a 20"
I forgot to mention that in my earlier post. Small feet, big feet, doesn’t matter. Those are your feet. 20", 26", doesn’t matter. In some ways a little 20" wheel is easier because you don’t have to scrunch your legs up so much to walk it.
I used to be able to walk my 12" uni a little bit. Now I have too much “gut” in the way (the seat’s real low).