Idling with arms at side

kahunacohen · 2012-06-17, 05:18 PM

Hi I've unicycled for many years, can ride backward, over curbs, idle both feet, idle one footed left and right, but still have a lot of trouble idling with my arms not moving at at my side. My arms tend to swing around, and I often have to correct my uni by making very sharp in-place turns when idling. Can someone give me some pointers about what I might be doing wrong?

johnfoss · 2012-06-18, 12:00 AM

Not practicing enough.

Okay, more detail. With practice, you will learn to minimize the need to move your arms around, until eventually you won't need them at all. One way to practice this is by crossing your arms while idling, or while riding around. Try riding in circles and other shapes with your arms crossed. Or try sticking your hands in your back pockets and doing the same. Ultimately you will learn that it can all be done from the waist down.

Then you can start to add juggling, and again try to figure out why it's so hard go juggle while idling!

harper · 2012-06-18, 12:19 AM

Relax and put ALL of your weight in the saddle. Keep it there. Remind yourself. What you describe is the classic response to a correction which is to stand on the pedals and then keep your weight there. ALWAYS keep ALL of your weight in the saddle.

kahunacohen · 2012-06-18, 01:20 AM

I am actually able to juggle a bit on the uni (I am a good juggler) but not great because of my idling weakness. Good advice about the saddle. I notice that I idle a lot better one footed when I put all my weight on my saddle, but oddly never tried the same strategy with both feet on the pedals.

Just got a KH-20fl, but came with a defective seat post clamp, so I have to wait for another one. I am currently riding a very old semcycle 24".

MadFurai · 2012-06-18, 11:57 AM

I've been working on this lately, too. I thought I was getting pretty good at idling with either foot and then I tried juggling 3 balls while idling. I think I completed a flash once out of 10 tries. As you said, I wasn't putting enough weight on the seat and I need to practice more. Just because you can idle well and juggle well, doesn't mean you can do both at the same time... lol

2012-06-17, 05:18 PM	#1
kahunacohen Registered User Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Silver Spring, MD Age: 39 Posts: 380	Idling with arms at side Hi I've unicycled for many years, can ride backward, over curbs, idle both feet, idle one footed left and right, but still have a lot of trouble idling with my arms not moving at at my side. My arms tend to swing around, and I often have to correct my uni by making very sharp in-place turns when idling. Can someone give me some pointers about what I might be doing wrong?

2012-06-18, 12:00 AM	#2
johnfoss North Shore ridin' Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Carmichael, CA Posts: 14,966	Not practicing enough. Okay, more detail. With practice, you will learn to minimize the need to move your arms around, until eventually you won't need them at all. One way to practice this is by crossing your arms while idling, or while riding around. Try riding in circles and other shapes with your arms crossed. Or try sticking your hands in your back pockets and doing the same. Ultimately you will learn that it can all be done from the waist down. Then you can start to add juggling, and again try to figure out why it's so hard go juggle while idling! __________________ John Foss "jfoss" at "unicycling.com" www.unicycling.com "Unicycling is a way of looking at the world, making a choice to slow down, finish what you start, doing things not because they're easy, but because they're a challenge." -- Nurse Ben

2012-06-18, 12:19 AM	#3
harper 768 - It's in your DNA Join Date: Sep 2001 Age: 60 Posts: 8,579	Relax and put ALL of your weight in the saddle. Keep it there. Remind yourself. What you describe is the classic response to a correction which is to stand on the pedals and then keep your weight there. ALWAYS keep ALL of your weight in the saddle. __________________ -Greg Harper Destroying the climate by shutting down nuclear power plants, one by one, since 1979. JC is the only main man. There can be no other. "A fool on a unicycle is redundant" - J.D. Miller

2012-06-18, 11:57 AM	#5
MadFurai Skateboarder to Marine to Unicycler Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Central Virginia Age: 42 Posts: 537	I've been working on this lately, too. I thought I was getting pretty good at idling with either foot and then I tried juggling 3 balls while idling. I think I completed a flash once out of 10 tries. As you said, I wasn't putting enough weight on the seat and I need to practice more. Just because you can idle well and juggle well, doesn't mean you can do both at the same time... lol __________________ MadFurai's YouTube channel

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2012-06-18, 01:20 AM	#4
kahunacohen Registered User Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Silver Spring, MD Age: 39 Posts: 380	I am actually able to juggle a bit on the uni (I am a good juggler) but not great because of my idling weakness. Good advice about the saddle. I notice that I idle a lot better one footed when I put all my weight on my saddle, but oddly never tried the same strategy with both feet on the pedals. Just got a KH-20fl, but came with a defective seat post clamp, so I have to wait for another one. I am currently riding a very old semcycle 24".

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