Tricks for regaining confidence?

Try buying some ankle protection. There are sure to be threads about
good brands here.

The advantages of padding and protection for me is always at least 50%
mental. Though I rarely whack my shin pads, I feel much more brave when
I have them on. I wear wrist guards every time I ride although they
probably only have to do their job once in a while.

Also, remember that you are in no hurry. You already know how to ride
and that is an accomplishment. Riding inside is still practice and in
the end, practice will build your confidence and overall strength as a
rider.

--
onewheeljoe - house of one-five

****************************
Rumors, like young chickens, come home to roost.
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A famous quote comes to mind. "I share your pain".

I took a hard fall several months ago while doing a sharp turn with wet
shoes. My foot slipped off the right pedal. I fell backwards and scraped
the back of my right leg on the pins of the metal pedal. Ouch!!

I still have a hard time really digging in and doing hard, leaning
turns. I just bought a pair of Van's shoes which do seem to grip real
well. I am still getting used to the new shoes but they seem to help.

I don't have a quick fix for you. Keep riding.

--
mucRider - From the Over 50 Group

It is wise to invest in your happiness. - Harper
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Clurb said:

Anyone else had the same trouble and feels like sharing so I don’t feel
quite so pathetic? Any quick fixes anyone can suggest to help me out?

I've been riding a long time and have only had one bad fall (trying
downhill gliding, I came off and my leg bent sideways under me - thought
I'd broken it, but it was just hurt).

Anyway... I have now not ridden for ages, and just getting back into it.
My confidence isn't great, and I can feel it holding me back. During those
times, I just ride around a hall indoors and really feel the balance. I
mean REALLY feel the balance. Try riding slowly, turning slowly, riding
quickly, weaving, you don't need to do anything particularly daring, but
get a good feel for how your unicycle acts under you. I've also been
practising just sitting there gently holding on to something for support
and feeling how the unicycle can fall over, then correcting.
Interestingly, it seems to be that where your middle goes, the uni will
follow... so if you're falling off backwards, the worst thing you can do
is lean forwards - it pushes your weight back and off you go. You
basically need to thrust your groin(!) in the direction you want to be (or
the opposite of the direction you're about to fall off).

Sorry... digressed a little there... but just to let you know that you're
not the only one with confidence problems.

With me, it is slowly coming back, and next week I'm hoping to dare to
glide from riding or to take my foot off and coast. I don't feel good
about it just yet, though.

Cheers,

Stu
--
:wq

one time I was riding and my foot sliped off and got stuck between the
wheel and crank. This caused me to do the splits and one of my legs to
twist the wrong way. I was a little scared to go fast again (I was
trying to see how fast I could go when I feel). After alot more riding
and falling, I realized it probably wouldn't happen again, and if it did
the pain would go away. What dosn't kill you just makes you stronger. I
also found that it helps to watch other fall and hurt themselfs worse
than I did, but I am a little weird that way.

--
heavy metal unicycling - Loveland Unicycling Club

People who throw stones at you are quietly saying, "shoot me," they're
just not being verbally expressive enough.
-harper
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I notice that you're only in Leicester so as a half way house between
riding outdoors and inside you could come along to the Derby &
Nottingham Hockey Sessions every Tuesday evening between 8pm & 9pm at
the 5-a-side pitch at Darley Park, Chester Green - the pitch is a nice
soft artificial surface so very pleasant to fall of on (I have done
extensive research on this and so can speak from a position of
experience)
- theres loads of different abilities there from near beginers to fairly
experienced riders (we get somewhere between 10 and 18 people depending
on the weather) so you'll get masses of encouragment and tips if
required and hockey is undoubtably a good way to improve your skills in
a fun environment - let me know if you are interested and I can let you
have more details - it'd be great to see you along one evening.

Cheers

Roland

--
roland - Just a unicyclist
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I'm guessing you are over the age of 30 (though you did not say so).
Younger riders tend to just go for it more. I can understand the
trepidation with an ankle injury, as with joints it's possible to do
permanent damage. Not necessarily from unicycling, but from any
activity.

But to not be active is to not live, either. Better to get out and
experience things. Practice dismounting. Practice falling. If you know
how to do it, you can fall all day and not be hurt.

Also you could look into a pair of Active Ankles. I haven't used them
myself, but I know many top riders who like them for riding on
ankle-breaking terrain. Search on that name.

--
johnfoss - More Moab Fun

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com

"Read the rules!" -- 'IUF Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/iuf/rulebook/) -- 'USA Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/usa/competition/)
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I just spent a year off after having twisted my knee wheel-walking.
It'll be a long while before I wheel-walk again, but I've worked my way
back into riding, idling, some seat-in-front, and some one-footed stuff.
So my advice is just to ride simple stuff and don't worry about pushing
too hard. It's better to just ride. The rest will come with time.

--
U-Turn - As long as my feet keep movin'...

Weep in the dojo... laugh on the battlefield.
'LiveWire Unicycles' (http://www.livewireunicycles.com)
'Strongest Coker Wheel in the World'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albup39)
'29er Tire Study' (http://u-turn.unicyclist.com/29erTireStudy/)
'New York Unicycle Club' (http://www.newyorkunicycle.com)
-- Dave Stockton
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Clurb said:

*
My next two questions are:
1. Will wobbling my way around a hockey pitch with a bunch of randoms
hefting big sticks at me really improve my confidence?
*

Definitely! My 7 year old daughter is a very nervous rider, she can free
mount in our lounge, but not outside on smooth tarmac & rarely in a
sports hall. She has the same fear of hurting herself outside as you,
her younger brother is much more confident, and she is slowly getting
over it.

Back to hockey both of them have now played in adult hockey matches at
UniMeets & (scarily) the late night BUC hockey match after the show &
beer! Although they haven't realised it, hockey is probably one of the
best ways of improving general riding and confidence, purely because you
forget the riding and concentrate on helping your team win.

I had a similar problem in February this year, I couldn't stay on the
Coker when a car was passing me. With perservence I got over it and
completed a 66mile ride at the weekend.

Keith

--
keg - Getting fitter
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DanDan said:

*And the other day I was doing a jump mount and I missed the pedal one
of my feet and it slid down the front of my pedal and the pegs ripped
up my calf. So I someone could post some like easy tricks that I
could do cause Im a little timmid right now. Something easy and
impressive?*

You're not going to like this:

WEAR

LEG

ARMOR

Plus wristguards, or gloves, a helmet, and whatever other areas you
think need cover. You'll be amazed at how your confidence improves!

During my early years of riding, I fell on my hands and knees a lot.
When I started practicing for my first unicycle competition, I bought
myself a pair of skateboard gloves and some volleyball-type kneepads. I
never fell when I was wearing them. I didn't wear them all the time, so
I still managed to fall plenty when they weren't on. But wearing them
always seemed to protect me.

--
johnfoss - More Moab Fun

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com

"Read the rules!" -- 'IUF Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/iuf/rulebook/) -- 'USA Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/usa/competition/)
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Hi Claire,

Quoted message said:

My next two questions are:
1. Will wobbling my way around a hockey pitch with a bunch of randoms
hefting big sticks at me really improve my confidence?

Absolutely. It'll help your riding no end because you're reacting to the
ball rather than what you want to do. You'll end up falling off lots
(more like stepping off) as the ball goes past and you try and turn and
all that malarkey.

Just choose who you play against. At Derby we've all played quite a lot
now. Rosie came to play once, you could ask her what we're like 🙂

You might be better off at a unimeet because they do beginner hockey
games. Not that you shouldn't come to Derby - we'd be more than happy to
have you come play.

On a related note, we are running a hockey tournament on the 2nd of July
- everyone is welcome! 6 hours of hockey with scratch teams. If you
want more details email [email hidden] or see
http://www.emunicyclists.info/

Cheers,

Roger

Quoted message said:

I had like a big sploch of blood in my shorts.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek: :eek:
:eek:

--
loosejello - Amanda gives me sunburn
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by wearing padding you're going through the process of homeostasis. the
protection makes you feel safe you so do more dangerous stuff that you
wouldn't do normally.

--
carsonpalooza

If at first you don't succeed , skydiving is not for you
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Roger Light said:

*Absolutely. It'll help your riding no end because you're reacting to
the
ball rather than what you want to do. You'll end up falling off lots
(more like stepping off) as the ball goes past and you try and turn
and
all that malarkey.

Just choose who you play against. At Derby we've all played quite a
lot now. Rosie came to play once, you could ask her what we're like
🙂

You might be better off at a unimeet because they do beginner hockey
games. Not that you shouldn't come to Derby - we'd be more than happy
to
have you come play.
*

I think whilst we've played a fair bit at Derby now, there's still a
good range of skill levels from relative beginner up to pretty okay.
It's also not a very competitive game, so you tend to not get hurt.

I started playing hockey when I could ride allright, but wasn't that
good at doing things like riding backwards, turning etc. and I found it
really improved that. I've seen a few people come along to hockey as
pretty much complete beginners who improved their riding really quickly
by playing hockey.

Joe

--
joemarshall - dumb blonde

my pics http://gallery.unicyclist.com/album483
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