SIF Hopping help

[unihopper]

Yup, practice is always key. Good luck with your hopping!

[MadFurai]

Unihopper, nice web site and good advice. Also, thanks for introducing me to the band "Abandon." Good stuff.

Anyway, so I can only hop about 25-30 cm if that and I just started SIF hopping. You can see my vid at the link below. I am still trying to get comfortable with SIF hopping, so I'm not even thinking about a tuck yet. However, I might try the "squat" trick to help develop my lateral stability.

Are there any other tips (other than practice) on how to increase my jump height? I was thinking about building a "limbo" bar setup so I could try increasing my height slowly. I also wonder if my foot position is correct. Should you be on the balls of your feet like when riding or more on your toes to bring the calf muscles into the spring?

Thanks guys!

[trueuni]

As I progress to getting to 50 cm, do you think I should use a prehop?
thanks

[ShafferJN]

I really hate to disagree, but take it from someone who has learned this twice and two different ways. Start SIF now! Do not wait till you get a certain height! SIF is harder for sure, but it helps your SI jumping! SI jumping does not help SIF verry much at all! Learn to ride SIF first then start jumping! It actually does NOT take long to start getting small tucks into your jumps, but they won't be huge. You don't need huge though when you start! Once again, I don't like having two ways of learning in one forum, but you will progress with height SO much faster in the long run and will learn to have SIF as a dominant jumping style overall. Trust me! Start now and in a months time you will see what I mean.

[unihopper]

Originally Posted by ShafferJN

I really hate to disagree, but take it from someone who has learned this twice and two different ways. Start SIF now! Do not wait till you get a certain height! SIF is harder for sure, but it helps your SI jumping! SI jumping does not help SIF verry much at all! Learn to ride SIF first then start jumping! It actually does NOT take long to start getting small tucks into your jumps, but they won't be huge. You don't need huge though when you start! Once again, I don't like having two ways of learning in one forum, but you will progress with height SO much faster in the long run and will learn to have SIF as a dominant jumping style overall. Trust me! Start now and in a months time you will see what I mean.

Sorry if my post wasn't clear, I was actually suggesting learning to hop 50cm SIF without worrying about tucking, and then focusing on tucking. I totally agree with what you are saying.

As far as prehops, I'd recommend hopping static. It allows you to focus on technique when you are starting out.

[trueuni]

Did you hop static the whole time until you got to 50 cm? I'v got 33 cm but now my form is falling apart. I'm finding my feet jump off the pedals when I jump which leads to scrapes. I have no idea how i'm going to get to 50 cm hopping static! If there's any more tips on how to improve my jump or help my technique from falling apart I'd be grateful.
thanks

[unihopper]

Originally Posted by trueuni

Did you hop static the whole time until you got to 50 cm? I'v got 33 cm but now my form is falling apart. I'm finding my feet jump off the pedals when I jump which leads to scrapes. I have no idea how i'm going to get to 50 cm hopping static! If there's any more tips on how to improve my jump or help my technique from falling apart I'd be grateful.
thanks

It's really just practice and time. Practice some other stuff for a few days if you get stuck. There's no harm in trying pre hops if you want to. I actually got to 74cm static before prehops actually started helping.

[unihopper]

Originally Posted by MadFurai

Unihopper, nice web site and good advice. Also, thanks for introducing me to the band "Abandon." Good stuff.

Thanks, I'm glad you like my site! I'm always happy to introduce someone to a good band.

[knoxuni]

any one need help with this i have added 20cm to my hop in the past month i figured it out.

[MadFurai]

Originally Posted by knoxuni

any one need help with this i have added 20cm to my hop in the past month i figured it out.

Sure, I'm always open to more tips.

[knoxuni]

once you have your seat out in front you are pushing down on the pedals and then pulling up on the seat right after in one solid motion. once i got my hops smoothed out it made a world of difference.

[aarons]

A few days ago I got 65cm SIF. Today I'm having trouble with 58cm. Tucking has become the most frustrating damn thing to learn. I am regressing.

Does anyone else have trouble with their feet coming off the pedals? I can't tell if I'm not pulling the unicycle up properly or if I'm not tucking evenly i.e. one foot is higher than the other. On most of my hops today my feet either came off the pedals completely or moved during the tuck and then slipped off on the landing. Any tips.

[greenie]

I've only got about 25 cm for my SI record at the moment and I can get about 30 SIF but I'm scared to do SIF because I can't even ride SIF yet and my feet are always flying off the pedals. This could be completely different to your problem but for me its because my arms aren't strong enough. You really need to pull the unicycle up against your feet when you jump. SIF hopping is harder if you have weaker arms because you need to bend your arms and lift where as with SI you kind of use you whole body to lift the unicycle.

Could be completely wrong

[aarons]

Yes there is definitely some adjustment for the arms and shoulders. I can tell by where I am sore after practicing. Uni-spins are like that too.

I can do a half tuck. If I try to tuck all the way down to the wheel, my feet come off the pedals. This is pissing me off enough that I'm going to practice just SIF hops until I figure it out. There is a celebratory beer waiting for me when I hit 70cm.

[knoxuni]

I had the same problem and still do, i just put more air in the tire and force more bounce out of it