Just now learning - learn idle before riding forward?

I have a really cheap unicycle and I’m just now learning. Most sites tell me to ride against a wall till I can keep balance without it. I was considering holding a flagpole while I idle till I can idle on my own and then learn to free mount and ride forward. Thoughts?

Learn how to ride first. Idling takes a lot longer.

Most people find idling to be considerably harder than riding forwards.

The other problem is that it’s unlikely you’ll learn to idle by holding onto a flagpole.

I spent weeks trying to learn idling by holding onto things and getting nowhere- when I forced myself to do it in the open with nothing to hold on to, I quickly (few days) started to progress with idling.

But, as idling is so hard to learn, I’d stick to just learning to ride for now, if I were you.

Idling is wayyyyy harder than riding. You need way more balance to idle than to ride straight. My progression was riding then free mounting then idling.