OK, I watched the tutorial films, i’ve read the forums, and i’m still not sure how to turn aside from excessive flailing (not very effective and tends to unbalance me) I’m not “leaning too much” since if anything i’m not leaning enough, as my wheel ends up outside of the turn from where i’m sitting still mostly vertical, and things fall apart from there, or else I just can’t turn aside from jerking the seat and the like, or vaaastly slow turns that don’t even get me turned around on a practice space.
What should my weight be doing in a turn? What’s the dynamics involved? What’s doing the work of the turn? Just turning my upper body doesn’t seem sufficient so far as I end up very twisted while flailing etc. but seem to go straight nonetheless, but I may be missing something.
What worked for me was to stop trying to turn tight circles and start out with a slow bank that eventually got me around corners. I’m talking about riding on empty streets and eventually getting around a corner but being in the oncoming lane. How I did that was like this. If you are making a right turn take your left finger and point that way with your arm going across your chest. Not so it touches your chest but like you’re making a 45 degree angle with your chest and arm. If you keep going straight then you probably have your hips in a death lock. Relax a little. Start by making slow banks like an airplane would. When you get the hang of it start making tighter and tighter turns. Eventually it all comes together.
Depending on how long you’ve been unicycling, you may not have enough practice or control to turn yet. When learning, it’s very tough/difficult to turn, but once you gain more control, you are just suddenly able to turn.
That being said, I think there are two ways: action/reaction turns, and banked turns. Action/reaction is when you quickly twist your upper body (or flail) in the opposite direction to turn the uni in the direction you want.
Banked turns are easier on the wheel, since you have less skid, and are performed by leaning into the direction of a turn at speed.
^^yea…the more you ride straight…the easier it’ll become to turn…at first i turned by slowing down and then jerking the seat…but that looks sloppy. When you get the hang of riding better you’ll be able to lean into the turns and make them look nice
I find the twisting my hips and thrusting down on the forward pedal on the opposite side you’re turning works out well… although it is sketchy.