Last night I introduced my son to unicycling. While he is still trying to “get
off the wall”, I suggested that I would make a couple of sticks with handles and
rubber stops on the bottom to assist him. Has anyone tried this method and how
well does it work? I’d like to know before I start making them. I think they my
work better than the method I used - ie. pushing myself from the wall. I
suffered may bruises using this method - both bodily and mentally…
Thanks, Derrick
Re: Using sticks to help beginners
I’ve tried this method and so has my neighbor. I quickly found it to be a waste
and learned the old fashioned way (with all the bruises). He, on the other hand,
can ride a block or so with sticks while I can ride freely for miles. Also be
carefull that if you do try this it is possible to spin out and get a stick
through your torso. 
That woulnd’t be much fun but would make an interesting story!
-Marc
— “D. L. Sheppard” <dlsheppa@cancom.net> wrote:
> Last night I introduced my son to unicycling. While he is still trying to "get
> off the wall", I suggested that I would make a couple of sticks with handles
> and rubber stops on the bottom to assist him. Has anyone tried this method and
> how well does it work? I’d like to know before I start making them. I think
> they my work better than the method I used - ie. pushing myself from the wall.
> I suffered may bruises using this method - both bodily and mentally…
>
> Thanks, Derrick
>
>
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RE: Using sticks to help beginners
> Has anyone tried this method and how well does it work? I’d like to know
> before I start making them.
Sounds like the consensus is pretty clear on this one, save your time and don’t
make any. Amazingly, I think Hedstrom still sells their junky unicycles,
available through some physical education supply catalogs, with the training
poles as an option.
The way to approach freeriding (riding away from your support) depends on the
rider. First of all, don’t ride away from the support until you have enough
skills to not completely waste your time. You should be able to ride along
your wall or fence, or with your spotter, for a good distance before trying to
go on your own.
For adults, I tell them to ride along their fence or wall until they can’t stand
it any more. There is nothing left then but to go for it.
Younger kids won’t wait that long. I give them a goal of a certain distance
reached while using only one hand on the wall or fence, then they can try to
veer away from it.
Teenagers or any highly motivated riders should just go for it, and try whatever
works for them.
I did convert a pair of ski poles for my B.C. wheel though, using it to keep
going and even ride the thing uphill… 
Stay on top, John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone http://www.unicycling.com
“The hotel was great. You couldn’t trash the place.” - Andy Cotter, praising
the UNICON X Jing Yan hotel, which let us ride in the lobby and pretty much do
as we pleased.
Re: Using sticks to help beginners
Last winter while I was trying to get over the barrier of “I can let go of the
wall, but I’d like to go farther …” I used a stick and it seemed to help me …
I duct taped a bunch of foam on the top which served 2 purposes - it gave me
sort of a knob on the top to hold on to and I hoped that it would help prevent
any serious falls onto it … I’D BE CAREFUL of 3 things - 1) falling on it
anyway, 2) even if you have a rubber “foot” on it, it will really slip out from
under you if you try to lean on the stick with any angle, and 3) I was careful
not to become too dependent on it which might have impeded my progress … I
didn’t use if for long, but it seemed to help add a little variety to my
practice. Not sure it’s worth it … I would think if the “wall” gets too
frustrating, it’d be safer to let him use the “hang on your shoulder” approach.
Bruce
Re: Using sticks to help beginners
Hi All I learned to ride with a pair of borrowed crutches, but soon discarded
them, they were very helpful in the beginning and at the end of the day its
whatever helps you! Phill
Re: Using sticks to help beginners
Greetings
In message “Re: Using sticks to help beginners”, Newchiefsci wrote…
All these are approaches are not really effective. It has been shown fairly
conclusively that two spotters (as described in by booklet “Anyone Can Ride A
Unicycle” and other books) is most effective. Twenty years of experience in
teaching unicycling to beginners in Japan have demonstrated beyond any
reasonable doubt.
>Last winter while I was trying to get over the barrier of "I can let go of the
>wall, but I’d like to go farther …" I used a stick and it seemed to help me
>… I duct taped a bunch of foam on the top which served 2 purposes - it gave
>me sort of a knob on the top to hold on to and I hoped that it would help
>prevent any serious falls onto it … I’D BE CAREFUL of 3 things - 1) falling
>on it anyway, 2) even if you have a rubber “foot” on it, it will really slip
>out from under you if you try to lean on the stick with any angle, and 3) I
>was careful not to become too dependent on it which might have impeded my
>progress … I didn’t use if for long, but it seemed to help add a little
>variety to my practice. Not sure it’s worth it … I would think if the “wall”
>gets too frustrating, it’d be safer to let him use the “hang on your shoulder”
>approach.
>
>Bruce
>
Stay on top, Jack Halpern, IUF Vice President Website: http://www.kanji.org
RE: Using sticks to help beginners
My daughter Sarah was really nervous about letting go of my hand when I was
teaching her to ride. I found that using sticks helped a lot; given the choice
of either letting go of my hand or getting whacked by a stick, she picked the
former over the latter every time. (just kidding)
Re: Using sticks to help beginners
Jack wrote:
> All these are approaches are not really effective. It has been shown fairly
> conclusively that two spotters (as described in by booklet "Anyone Can Ride A
> Unicycle" and other books) is most effective. Twenty years of experience in
> teaching unicycling to beginners in Japan have demonstrated beyond any
> reasonable doubt.
>From my experience it is not quite as cut and dried as you imply. The
majority of people do benefit from having 2 spotters at an early stage. The
first stage I have found essential is just sitting on the unicycle to get the
feel of sitting on the seat, a minute or 2 for most people. But there are
definitely a large number of people who do not benefit from the 2 spotter
technique or do but for an incredibly short time. These are often teenagers or
bike riders. The technique that seams to work best with them is push off that
wall and go for it technique as shown in Andy Cotters video “One Wheel - No
Limit” and Charley Dancy’s book “How to Ride your Unicycle”.
Roger
The UK's Unicycle Source <a href="http://www.unicycle.uk.com/">http://www.unicycle.uk.com/</a>
Re: Using sticks to help beginners
> teenagers or bike riders. The technique that seams to work best with them is
> push off that wall and go for it technique as shown in Andy Cotters
video
That’s how I learned at the tender age of 32 I had some pretty
spectacular falls which I wish had been captured on camera… but no injuries
worse than a bruise.
Arnold the Aardvark