I was wondering if anyone had any tips for working up to stand up tricks like stand up wheel walking and stand up coasting. I usually need to break things down into simpler skills that I can practice, working up to a more complex trick. It takes me a long time to learn a new trick and I often spend a lot of time going in the wrong direction so I’m looking to possibly save myself some time. I can wheel walk with the right and left foot and coast already.
I’ve been working on stand up wheel walking, I can get like two or three pushes, but I think I have the right positioning on it. I can’t get into it, but I hold on to a fence to first get into position, I raise the seat so I can kind of grip it with my knees, my left foot is standing on the frame without making any contact with the tire, and my other foot is pushing the tire with slightly awkward pigeon toed pushes.
This is the directions that it says on the unicyclopedia page
“Stand-up wheel walk is riding, standing on the frame with one foot, and propelling the wheel with the other. Before learning it, you should be fairly steady with one-footed wheel walk, and preferably also be able to glide a little. You need a unicycle with a good sized square fork that you can stand on comfortably, and also a good-sized seat you can grab well with your knees/calves.
The first step in learning this skill is to figure out how to get into it. While holding onto the seat with one hand, and some sort of support with the other, transfer your favorite one-foot wheel walking foot so that it is on the fork and the wheel. Put the other foot on the fork. Position this foot carefully, as it will support most of your weight. Some find it works best to put the instep on the fork, not the heel or the ball of the foot. Now lean back a little, and stand up carefully. When you feel steady, move your driving foot down so that it touches only the tire. Turn it in a good ways, so that you are somewhat pigeon-toed. You should be able to move your foot freely. Practice moving along a wall, or while being guided by a spotter until you have some idea how to make the wheel move. Now try to move away from the wall. Make sure you stand up straight; don’t hold the seat, don’t look at your feet. The motion for stand-up wheel walk is a bit different from one-footed wheel walk. You don’t just use your leg to move the wheel; you should try to move the wheel with a kicking motion using your whole body. Different riders do this skill different ways; some push more with the foot, while others use mostly a full body motion and changing of pressure. The first is more stable, while the latter is faster and easier to balance sideways. In either case, you do short stand-up glides between steps. This can be scary, but it’s necessary for learning. This is a very satisfying skill to learn, if only because of the extra height it gives you.
As for the transitions, there are several ways to do it. You can ride, idle or hop, then jump onto the frame, with or without holding the seat, and possibly doing a 180 or 360 unispin on the way up, or you can plant your feet on the fork and stand up from riding, idling, one-footed wheel walk, or gliding. To get into it from riding, ride along slowly while holding the seat, then when your driving foot is near the top of a cycle, plant it on the wheel and fork and brake, leaning back a fair amount. Now in one swift motion, transfer the other foot to the frame, stand up, move your driving foot down, and start taking quick steps. You need to go really fast for the first couple steps. The main thing to remember is to lean back and do it fast. Getting into it from gliding works basically the same way, except you take a long time to brake the wheel before standing up.” I’d imagine that would help you more considering it was written by a guy that can actually do it. Hope I could help.
Are you gripping the frame with the side of your left foot as well? What about the side of your right foot? I’ve only been practicing one foot on frame coasting for a few weeks but found that the grip and pressure on the frame makes a huge difference and I made progress once I found a combination that worked.
The left foot is pretty much just staying out of the way and supporting your body weight. You’re holding the frame by squeezing your legs together around the saddle.