I’m working on two foot wheel walking and I’m holding onto a pole and going around it, then when I start by just riding and then going into a wheel walk I can get 4 or 5 pushes with my feet, the pole thing seems to be working just fine but I was wondering if there was any faster or better way to learn it.
I heard that a 24’’ wheel is easier, but I can’t ww either.
I just learned how in the last month and it really comes down to putting in huge chunks of time. I found a wall to be more effective than a pole simply because it is a more realistic approach to how actual wheel walking happens. Something that also helped me was to start idling, and try walking from there. Stop the wheel completely with your foot and then move the other foot off the pedel and on the wheel.
The biggest mistake people make when wheel walking is to try and “kick” the wheel too hard. Your steps on the wheel can be slow and should also include your whole foot from toe to heel.
This is just how I learned. Don’t know if this helps at all.
I learned how to ww at a tennis court. I would hold onto the chain fence or the tennis net. Hold onto something while you “walk” (not kick) the wheel. Eventually, you should get use to that body position. It took me a lot of time and practice to get good. Also, lean back (but not too far)…if you find yourself dismounting forward, then your weight was too far ahead of the wheel…but be careful not to accidentally dismount backwards–you may land on your butt if you don’t catch the ground in time.
Another thing that helped me is to get between the two poles holding the tennis nets up (in the middle of two courts), or find a doorway and start with your feet already up on the wheel. Go for it and let go…ride as far as you can. It’s pretty much like learning how to unicycle all over again! I’m doing the same thing as you but I’m working at one foot wheel walking and gliding at the moment. It’s challenging to learn new uni skills, but so much fun at the same time (to see yourself progress).
Good luck!
I’d recommend not holding on to anything. If you can make 4 or 5 pushes before falling, then you have a solid enough base to practice without support. Like someone said above me, spending a huge chunk of time on it at once will help you a lot. I spent over a year trying to learn in small chunks of practice time; but after not getting much better, in the end, I learned to ww after a 3-hour practice session (when my power went out and I got determined). Even if you don’t think you’re making progress, just try to stay positive; you ARE making progress. Just don’t get discouraged; stay at it!
Nah, I can go maybe a little faster and over bigger bumps on a 24", but I can wheelwalk off bigger drops and with more control on a normal trials/freestyle uni(steeper turns and straighter lines).
I had to practice for two weeks, about an hour a day before I got decent at it. It definitely isn’t the easiest skill to learn.
AAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH! I AM FED UP! I can’t start wheel walking from riding! I know I should lean back, but when I do that, I fall off backwards!!!
Not at all.
Don’t practise going down hill! Even in the slightest. I spent ages practising on a slight down hill on my Road, spent hours, got no where. Then when I tried doing it going UP the same hill, i was making progress in no time.
To me, the thing that clicked was this.
When wheel walking, you’re really just letting the wheel out, one foot at a time.
When you lean back the wheel wants to travel forward.
So what you are doing is in fact, slowly letting the wheel out, with control.
As with others that said, use your full foot, ie. keep contact on the tire as much as possible. That is your control point for now.
Dont panic if the wheel is going faster, and you feel you have to move your feet faster to gain control. Get that control back, push on to the tire more and LET THE WHEEL OUT slowly.
Keep in mind, because you are going slower you will also need to focus on balancing side to side with your arms. So practising slow riding will help in this department. Also falling to one side can be prevented by steering towards that direction, as per normal riding.
I initially started from a mount to wheel walking. But another way is to ride SLOWLY, lift the top foot to the tire at the 12/6 o’clock position and start from there. The important thing is recognising that its slower than normal riding speed.
Then after wheel walking you can focus on getting your feet back on the pedals.
I think the problem I am having right now is that I have not figured out how to steer and catch myself as I fall sideways. When I get that figured out I should have it. I have spent a lot of time holding onto walls just to practice the foot position and motion. My longest un-assisted WW has been about 10 feet but then I fall sideways.
I gotta learn to steer.
I’m finally getting the hang of WW after quite a bit of practice. There is a lot of good advice in this thread and elsewhere. However, there are 3 things that helped me that I have not seen mentioned.
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What exactly does ‘lean back’ mean? You have to stay centered over the wheel or you will fall. I found that there are 2 basic ways to lean back and stay centered over the wheel: you can lean your shoulders back and then your hips forward, or you can lean your shoulders forward and your hips back. After trying both, and watching people who already could do it, I realized you need to angle your hips back and hunch your shoulders forward a bit.
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Once you get the first push or two it helps to squeeze the front of the seat a bit with your inner thighs as you push to help limit the wobble of the uni.
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Its not that much more difficult to start the WW from a slow ride than from a wall-assisted still stand. In fact, its probably easier.
ro
I got my new nimbus freestyle today, and it’s like learning to wheel walk all over again!
Wheel Walking
I just started trying to learn how to wheel walk again. I was at the piont of doing about 3 to 5 meters before I broke my leg 7 months ago. I have only done two hlaf hour sessions so far but am only going about 2 meters now.
When I do succeed a “longer” run it is usually when I lean more forward and balance that lean with good solid thrusts on the wheel. I usually mess up when my heel catches on the tire or my downward pushing foot on the way up. Also I have just raised my saddle. I mainly do trials with my 20" and had the saddle very low. I hope to have a serious break through in wheel walking soon. I know that wheel walking is just going to take practice. It actually took me more time to learn how to ride backwards than to ride so I am patiently working on this.
Unicorn
help
i’m just learning how to wheel walk and i found it easy to sart off with your wheel against the curb and get on the uni and just start pushing, if u do that you will be wheel walking in no time
it only took me a few days to learn. i just held onto a wal then pushed off and saw how far i could go. eventually after many trys it just comes to you…
kinda like learning to unicycle
It’s been months, and I still can’t get it, I always fall off forwards… ( I must really suck… )
One thing that helped me learn (and worked pretty good as a tip for my friend) is that I tried to go as slow as possible. (within reason), stay in control of your speed. By going slow it will help you find your balance point rather than just kicking like mad to catch yourself from falling forward.
Thank you Monday Hopscotch, I’ll try that