I’m fairly going for it now on the old hopping practice and am starting to make some progress. However, after I finish my right wrist (which I pull up the saddle with) is incredibly sore.
Does anyone have any advice on preventing this. I don’t want to cause a permanently injury but can’t keep myself from practising long enough for it to get better properly! As soon as it feels ok I’m hopping like a rabbit again, but then it just gets more sore.
I use R.I.C.E when I get back in, but would like to stop it getting sore in the first place.
P.S. First person to make a joke about other reasons for getting a sore wrist gets shot at dawn.
Hmm, get some gloves with wrist support. You may just need more wrist strength. I dont get that pain, and never have. Just ice it, let off of it if it helps, and get more wrist supporting gloves.
Well obviously you need to stop … after your rides. =p
Actually, it seems like your just using your wrist in ways you never have before, and that strains the muscles. I know a lot of people when learning to hop will have the same problem in their fingers.
Id take a few days rest of hopping and during that time work on other things youve been wanting to. Riding backwards, one footed, idle? Then go back to jumping when your are not as sore.
How long has it been hurting now? For my fingers it took about a week for it to go away for good, may be the same or a bit longer for your wrist.
lol, I think that’s a borderline getting shot at dawn comment!
Thanks for the advice. I think I’ll go easy for a few days and then start doing some wrist strengthening exercises (control yourself unicycledood…), and maybe try and stretch my wrist properly before I do hopping again too.
That wrist rolling idea seems like a good place to start. Also, might get those weird wrist pumping things. I tried to use them in the past but gave up quite quickly because of the strain. I suppose that supports the idea that I don’t have very strong wrists.
Fingers are no problem though, I used to play the cornet so my fingers were in constant use!
I think you should just change your riding a bit and be more of an all rounder.
Try some moves that don’t use your wrist too much but still get a bit of a work out. I mean, if you wanna have a work out, why not do it while unicycling?
I picked up the same kind of thing while practising the freemount on the raffie.
Apart from rest, the best bits of advice so far must be the bit about asking male gymnasts for some advice and switching to your left hand.
It’s frustrating at first but you’ll thank yourself for the ambidexterity later.
I don’t know how good you are. If you are hopping 6-12 inches no problems, then this might not be you, but if you’re a bit of a beginner, a common mistake is to pull up too hard on the handle.
You only need to pull up hard enough to keep the unicycle with you as you jump , any extra is just your arms pulling against your legs. I know I used to pull way too hard and had exactly the pain you describe.
