What a good idea. For healthy aging we are supposed to learn new skills and improve our balance. I have just ordered a unicycle and I have ski poles on the balcony so I will try this. My goal is to unicycle to work on my 61st birthday in July.
Really glad I came across this - I tried with my walking poles early on and didn't find them helpful but after watching this about a week in I tried them again and it is great - gets me away from the wall and I can see how I can progress well from here. I think one of the other posters is correct - you probably do need to spend a few days getting your balance etc with a wall before you are going to be able to cope with the poles, so don't give up on them if at first they don't seem to help. Try a few days later, especially if (like me) you are getting frustrated by only having a short length of wall to practice on.
I didn't learn using poles, but it looks like a good learning device. Especially, because you are not handicapped "finding" a good rail or wall to hold. The most critical unicycle fundamental are: 1.) Re-learning how to pedal with pressure on both pedals. You won't learn this by the "let go and just do it" method. Most beginners "need" something to allow constant steady velocity. 2.) Maintaining a constant forward lean. Since, the sticks are in front they automatically make you tip forwards. Even better if you have both sticks in front of you at the same time, as I mention below. I see two issue but can be remedied: a.) An "awkward rhythm" may result from the alternating pole planting action. Since, only one side of your body is tipping forwards. I would suggest a big forward lean then plant both sticks down at the same time. Pedal. Then repeat. Like using a "gorilla arms drag" type motion. This will allow you to equal support, but at same time freedom to twist any which way without "dependence" on one single stick b.) Once, you are able to ride bend your arms/wrist "ignore the sticks" and allow your shoulders and elbows to aggressively swing back/forth to aid unicycle riding. There is an actual rhythm between the pedaling/hip/shoulder action, which is very apparent when riding super slow. I hope this helps some beginners who are having a tough time.
I tried this today (yesterday was my first day and I used a long fence). Man.... this was a full body workout!!!!!! But I totally loved this method. I think it helps with my balance a lot. And I spend a lot of time on my unicycle instead of falling off every single meter. Thanks!!!
Hey Mike. I'm using your ski pole method. So far, so good. There's lots of nay sayers though. I get a lot of sith from people watching. One woman said I have to get used to falling 100% of the time! I replied that there would be no time left to learn if all the time was given to falling! ;) Ski poles allow UC learning when the are few, to no assisting walls, fences, or railing around, as with here. I can practice anywhere that is smooth and flat. Hopefully, I can ditch the poles soon and ride unassisted. Time will tell. Peace from Maine...Guy
Thanks a million it work perfectly on my unicycle skate bike Lee run vintage MTV era. I purchased on eBay. I have a 12 inch wheel model and a 16-inch wheel model in excellent condition cool. Thanks again
I did some search in youtube before practising but didn't see your video that time. I spent around 8 hours now ,can go strait line around 25 meters,can make small tuns .I'll try your idea tomorrow.I'm bit old(47 years) for these kind of sports.Ha ha ha
That's it! That's the way to learn to ride a unicycle. I had just ordered an adjustable walking pole to help me learn to ride my unicycle, but now I'm going to order another one. I was sold on using two poles when I saw how easy it was to maintain balance with two poles. I had thought that they would help, but I had no idea that they would help that much. I never even considered that they would enable the rider to maintain balance while not moving. So, if they can do that, I will be able to learn to ride a unicycle. No question about that.
I learned in 8 days practicing 45 minutes a day on parallel bars. Parallel bars are ideal because you can balance yourself easily with your arms as you learn the dynamics of the unicycle moving underneath you and your feet. You can turn around between the bars, or ride around to the outside and back. After 8 days, I could ride around 20 feet unassisted. After 12 days, I was riding. That was at age 50, I assume younger riders can learn faster. I know Seth at Berm Peak (Seth's Bike Hacks) learned much faster. And yes to the suggestion someone else made. If you haven't been on a bike in a while, definitely spend some time riding to get some leg fitness. Your quads are gonna burn on the unicycle. Do some hill climbing on your bicycle as good preparation.
Before I learned, I tried poles (trekking poles not ski poles, but similar enough) They did not work for me, I found them very distracting to the goal of learning to ride and they are something I wasn't interested in landing on. What did work was setting up 3 garbage bins in a sequence and using them to keep from falling for maybe 2 revs. I weaned myself off by at first tapping the bins and then eventually was able to ride and then practice went to not having bins anywhere near me because they were in the way of jumping off when the unicycling doesn't go as planned. I do think it is cool you learned with poles though and it was cheap to try.
Begginer tip. Sit on your seat and get all of your weight on the butt. Use the legs to balance. It helps to raise your seat incrementally to do this. I do not think having the seat high up is an easy way to learn, but a proper height makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE.
I'd like to see how well you can unicycle today, three years later. You should be a whiz by now. Seriously, please show us what can be done. It will be inspirational--I hope.
it looks great but did the poles ultimately handicap your balance? like how tightrope walkers use those long poles to change their center of gravity - did this do the same thing? and once you ditched the poles, did your progress regress at all??
Hi Mike. I've been learning to unicycle in Canada through the winter. Mostly short sessions in my basement. I've tried the nordic poles outside now and started to progress but I have a forward lean and struggle to look up and ahead. Was it hard to wean off them? Any tips? I saw a later video where you sit tall and juggle.
I don't recommend to these pools myself. I've used them and I used the fence and then my car to balance my hand on to hold onto. I tried the pools and it's I don't like it don't recommend it. But some people might get good use out of it I think it's better to keep your hands-free
Its a disservice to use those. I see him using them before he even try to hold balance. Im not sure if this is an aprils fool, but it seems some people here take it seriously. Instead; Hold the wall or fence and push off. And also try freemounting 5-10 times each session. That way you practice it but don't get overwhelmed by failure. A session us 30-60 mins a day. All of the sudden you will just do it. It took a week for me to learn. This is also recommend by champions.
I tried your method but after 3 days I had to stop because of wristpain (now it's good but I'm scared to begin again). The amortisation in the stics isn't enough.
Someone tell us how much you're spending on your unicycle and if you had a good one or bought a good one or had a cheap one got rid of it for a good one
This is the second video I've seen this morning that was ruined by music. Well, not completely ruined, because I bought a unicycle because of it, and I came back when I started practicing. I just wish there was a way to eliminate that damned noise.
+QUABLEDISTOCFICKLEPO ,Well, the music is now gone, subdued, anyway. Great. Anyway, I've discovered that it isn't as easy as you portrayed. Now I know that you must have had some practice BEFORE you started using the poles. After failing with poles, I rigged a rail above my head. Using it, I am able to cyle the distance between two poles about nine feet apart. It's not a pretty site, but it is safe, and I am getting needed practice. Maybe it's my imagination, but I'm sure that I'm doing much better than when I started about thirty-minutes ago. That will be my schedule, thirty-minutes every day. When I am able to unicycle to my satisfaction while using the rail, I will move on to the poles. After "cycling", or before, I practice juggling for thirty-minutes, What else? Oh,yes, I haven't started yet, but I plan on thirty-minutes of harmonica training every day. So, if I'm successful, in a month or so, I will be able to unicycle, juggle, and play the harmonica.I was thinking there was something else, but that's all I can remember for now. Oh, yeah, whistling.
For anything you have to learn, you'll learn faster and with less effort doing a little bit every day compared to doing it intensively on sunday, for example. I'm talking as a music teacher. So I think if you train for it 20' each day, you'll be good in a month with a maximum of efficiency.
Unicycling also requires a certain amount of muscle tone before you can really get to practice, without the muscles screaming at you. Also, when you are a beginner, you work your muscles way more than when you are more experienced, due to all of the unnecessary twisting and juddering. A few hours of practice not spaced too far apart will mean that your muscles will get toned, and you'll see faster gains on the unicycle too.
