Coasting vs scuff coasting

[Alex Murr]

The day i started scuff coasting i was seeing results. i got about 2 revolutions as my best during that day. tried this for a week and a half and only got to about 3 revs and gained a bit more consistency before my progress just hit a wall but at least its better than nothing.

coasting (with one foot on the frame) on the other hand, just seems impossible. i transition from one foot pedaling and the moment i take off my foot i start to fall. sometimes its a slower fall and it lasts for about 3/4 of a rev. i have tried this on and off many times but now i wanna get serious about it.

any tips that helped you learn/how long it took you to learn/other tricks that made it easier?

[rogeratunicycledotcom]

Alex,

I think you are confusing bike and unicycle terms. Scuff = Glide

The normal transition on learning skills is:
1 foot riding
Wheel walking
Recovering to pedals
one foot wheel walking
gliding
recovering to pedals
coasting
recovering from coasting

Are you competant at onefoot gliding? this will help you with the transaction to coasting as the transfer to coasting is more gentle this way.

There are many ways to get in to coasting. Most people go from one foot gliding and transfer onto both feet on the frame. Some people prefer to keep one foot on the frame and the other for balance. I find both equaly easy/hard.

Roger

[Obtusellama]

Just speaking from my own experience, I feel coasting is easier than gliding but the two skills pretty much go hand in hand. When I started practising coasting more my gliding improved tenfold.

Foot placement is a matter of preference. I used to coast with both up on the frame but after trying it with my other leg dangling off (sort of like a pendulum) I found my distance increased quite a lot. The only tip I can really give apart from just practice a lot is to lean back a bit as you take your foot off the pedal and relax

Good luck!

[simonb]

Yeah, be careful not to confuse gliding and scuff coasting

This is scuff coasting:

Fun.Loving.Owl.Wings - YouTube

[Alex Murr]

yeah, thats the scuff coasting i was talking about. gliding is when you have one foot on the frame and one foot on the tire. dont think i said anything about that. but thanks for the info, im ok at gliding. ill make sure i can glide as long as i want before i start coasting.

[waaalrus]

Originally Posted by Obtusellama

Just speaking from my own experience, I feel coasting is easier than gliding but the two skills pretty much go hand in hand. When I started practising coasting more my gliding improved tenfold.

Foot placement is a matter of preference. I used to coast with both up on the frame but after trying it with my other leg dangling off (sort of like a pendulum) I found my distance increased quite a lot. The only tip I can really give apart from just practice a lot is to lean back a bit as you take your foot off the pedal and relax

Good luck!

I agree with Will and for me coasting was easier and more fun to learn than gliding (which I can't do and just started to work on in earnest). I like to keep both my feet on the frame. My technique is SAP (Speed, Angle, Pressure). I pedal with both feet to a certain Speed, put my right foot on the frame and start pedaling with just my left foot making sure I have stiff body position with the proper Angle, then put my left foot on the frame being careful of the Pressure I put. I can often get runs of 10 revolutions and have gotten a couple 18 revolution runs. At first my corrections were leaning forward but I've been getting better at corrections leaning backward. I'm sure you'll get it with practice. It's hard to imaging a better feeling than a long coasting run (maybe stand-up coasting?). I have to force myself to work on other tricks in a practice session because I usually would rather just keep coasting.

Coasting practice 3-3-2012 - YouTube

[Alex Murr]

both feet on the frame? i never tried that cuz i thought it would be much harder. and do you put weight on the seat or the frame? or do you change to help you balance?

[waaalrus]

Originally Posted by Alex Murr

both feet on the frame? i never tried that cuz i thought it would be much harder. and do you put weight on the seat or the frame? or do you change to help you balance?

I would try both ways (one foot out and both feet on the frame) and see which you like better. It's harder for me to maintain a consistent body position with a foot out and I'm also likely to get my foot tangled in the crank. Plus, I'm lazy. I put a little pressure on the frame at the beginning to get my foot up and then I try to put as little pressure as possible, keeping most of my weight on the seat. I find that a little bit helps me "stick" to the frame so that my body becomes an extension of it.

[johnfoss]

I'm still a little foggy on the scuff coasting thing. What I see in that clip is basically coasting. The rider gave the tire a push, then it was a brief amount of coasting before he transitioned away from it. But obviously it wasn't "straight" coasting as he was standing on the frame in whatever non-standard position.

Gliding is where you control balance by means of friction between the tire and your shoe. Or foot, if you're really tough. Coasting is where nothing touches the tire/wheel for the duration of the coast. Like in that second clip (nice coasting runs!).

Back when I was learning those skills, the general consensus was that having both feet on the frame was better for going in a straight line, while having one foot off the frame worked better for turning, or doing it in a circle. Whichever one you do the most will probably be the "easier" one for you. The above preference is based on Freestyle unicycles, usually on gym floors or smooth tracks. The rules may be different for Trials/Street unicycles in the great outdoors.

My method for getting into a coast or glide has always been from one foot riding. But that's because I never worked on other methods of starting those tricks. To do them at slower speeds you can also start from other tricks, such as wheel walking.

[Alex Murr]

its scuff coasting because he is standing up and he has 2 hands on the seat
its like a cross between standup coasting and regular sitting coasting (in both you dont touch the seat)

[Julia B]

Here, its easier to see in one of my old videos. You can do it with multiple pushes or with only one push, which is much better.

Look at 1:15

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdAHu-jFRrk

Also Eli can do it really well (0:42)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF_zFCFdLuU

[Alex Murr]

your video is blocked =[
and im guessing it would be easier to do multiple pushes?

[Julia B]

Originally Posted by Alex Murr

your video is blocked =[
and im guessing it would be easier to do multiple pushes?

Ugh, youtube copyright protector strikes again. It was just a 3 rev scuff with a lot of pushes anyway. And yeah, it's so much easier to do it with multiple pushes. Try it like that, I bet you'll be able to go as far as you want after a little practice.

[emile]

If you do multiple pushes it becomes scuff walk. You can work your way up to coasting though