How do you get the b*lls to do drops?

Kevin McMullin once said,

As for motivating yourself to do something scary, theres lots of stuff
I do. It's important to realize that if you're even realistically
thinking about doing it, then you probably have the skill to do it.
What I usually do is look at the obstacle (usually stairs or a handrail
for me) and start listening to a song in my head. Something that pumps
me up. And then you just get into and it start bouncing aorund and
stuff. Close your eyes and go through the trick. Do it in your head
until you land it in your head. Don't even think about falling. Think
about similar tricks you've done. And I always remember and tell myself
"You won't get hurt if you land it".
Kevin McMullin

--
James_Potter

i still believe that all you need is love...john
lennon
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trials_uni said:

Ive been riding my new hub(KH) for about 3 weeks now and when i first
got it i was really excited about being able to do big drops with
it...But when i finally tried a drop(bout 2 feet) I froze up...i just
couldnt seem to do it. Anyone got anytips for getting up the courage to
do these troublesome things?

Anytips would be great

-Phil

I initially had the same fear. So I just said to myself, "Just do it!
After I landed it, my reaction was, "that was easier than I thought it
would be". Just make sure that your feet are centered on the pedals and
NOT on the balls of your feet! If I'm doing drops, I also make it a
habit to wear my t-2 ankle supports.

--
terrybigwheel

Impotence: Nature's Way Of Saying "No Hard Feelings".

Uni is just a cycle I'm going through. 😎

You -can- "Tune a fish". You simply adjust their "scales"! 😄
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Just don't think about it. If you are scared of a drop just bring
yourself to go off it, once you are falling you should be able to bring
yourself to land it because most of the time you get more hurt if you
bail.

--
litldude2

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start small and work your way up, er... down

If you do a 6" drop until it's boring, a 7" drop isn't going to be
scary. Likewise if you build up to a 22" drop -- a 24" drop isn't far
outside your comfort zone. And along the way, you develop the
necessary skills for the larger drops. And with that skill and
experience and practice, you will not fear the drops that you -know-
you can handle. What's the rush?

Disclaimer: I don't do -big- drops (I can do two feet -- it's really
not so bad -- and I'm an old, crappy rider).

P.S. - Ah, I just saw James_Potter's post. Actually, I -do- think
about falling. I picture myself doing everything perfectly. Then I
think about various ways I might fall and hurt myself. This prepares
me for that possibility, so that if I do screw up, I can fall as
gracefully and safely as possible.

P.P.S. - Well, I'm still typing this stupid thing and terrybigwheel's
post came in. If you start small, you would have learned where to put
your feet on the pedals. If you just always "go for it" -- taking
yourself far beyond anything you've ever done so far, then you might be
surprised by such things -- and you will be limping around for a week
instead of riding.

Just my $0.02

--
uni57

-\"what's a troll?\"- - billythemountain

'8th Annual LBI Unithon' (http://jjuggle.unicyclist.com/lbiunithon) -
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well honnestly what I do is : look at it close my eyes and tell my self
that when I open em I gotta hop down..so u dont rlly get the time to
get scared..

--
maxisback

Quiters never win, winners never quit , the ones who never win and never
quit are just dumb
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Or you can go really fast so by the time you get scared it is too late😉
It doesn't help the landing part though.

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all of the said advice is really good, its mostly just all about being
really confident that you are going to land it, and then visualize it.
then just do it.

--
unisteez
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well its either being confident.. or being stupid (thats me !) I mean
the landing on a drop isnt that hard you roll out thats it.. anyone who
can gap a 5 stair should be able to do mostly any drop..

--
maxisback

Quiters never win, winners never quit , the ones who never win and never
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so honnestly hommie.. dont even make a thread about it.. just go do a
huge ass drop.. and if u snap something well BOUHOUHOUHOU ! its life

--
maxisback

Quiters never win, winners never quit , the ones who never win and never
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maxisback said:

if u snap something well BOUHOUHOUHOU ! its life

not sure if you are being serious, but...

Do you mean snapping a unicycle part or a bone? How many people have
injuries that have -never- fully healed right? Take calculated risks.
Start small and work your way up.

You are not indestructible. Life is long, so don't permanently screw
yourself up with a brief moment of foolishness. Life isn't an extreme
unicycling video.

(my voice of reason is getting hoarse, so I'm going to shut up now...)

--
uni57

-\"what's a troll?\"- - billythemountain

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start small

--
jake_amos

edsbelly said:

I Would say that your the best unicyclist i know with the exception of
every other unicyclist i know

mawesome said:

Pffffffft, I just make mine out of left over wrapping paper and orphan
bones.

i am the eggman
[email hidden] add me
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when doing a "big drop" such as 'this one' (http://tinyurl.com/nso6l)
(Ok, I show off:o ) there are 2 things that help:
-first: I drop it without the uni to estimate the fall speed and the
impact. I try to drop it in the position I will be when attempting it
on the uni. If I find it reasonnable (or if Unirene is filming:o tsk
tsk!...) then...
-second: If I hesitate, the mind process is
"ok, boy!" (I call myself "boy" because if I call me "honey", I get
excited and loose my mind focus 😄 - sorry, what was I saying?... Ah
yes!...)
"ok, boy! you know you gonna drop it! so come on, drop at "three"
you'll have time to be scared while flying. One... two... threeeeeee"
Actually I don't think when in flight, not enough time!:p

beside all the above, starting small is essential for the mind AND the
body.

[edit]On a side note, doing such big drops is quite pointless, but you
know the "group effect" tends to turn me into a jackass...:o :o and
the process was the same when I first tried a 2 feet drop.

--
Zzagg

Zzagg - Air Circus Team (Nantes)

Living easy, living free...
...Season ticket on a one wheel ride.

JJuggle said:

Zzagg, I'm struggling with your English.

:o 😉
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I find the best way to build confidence is to work your way up to it.
When I am doing a stair set that is bigger than I have done before I
jump from whatever stair I have done from before, then I jump from the
next step until I am at the top, once I have side hopped all the stairs
then I just giver and do the set.

Another trick for doign straight drops is to crouch down as low as you
can then when you are in the air falling, extend your body to
straighten it and when you land crouch down again to absorb the impact.
If you watch any of Ryan Atkins' videos then you will see what I mean.
I just started doing that the other day and it made the 4' drops I was
doing feel like 2' or 3' drops.

Hope it helps.

--
ntappin
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its allways the same deal with street/trials/muni/whatever
when it comes to unicycling all you have to do is commit.
when i was taken on my first muni ride ever with andrew carter and tony
melton etc i was doubted when i said i would drop off the 7.5ft
structure but i just climbed up there and went for it.
still standing on the edge and say "this is it" 1,2,3 and drop.
i dont know if its just me, but i just want to go BIG
and that drop seems somewhat piddley now, and a 10 stair gap (depending
on size) can seem not worth doing.
its not about having balls, its about commiting at that last moment and
sticking that drop with a nice roll out, and the high five that
follows.

if you wuss out you have achieved nothing. if you had a huge stack then
at least it will look good on film. and if you roll out of it then you
have achieved what you set out for. thats the attitude i live by daily
when i unicycle and i think it rubs off on the guys i ride with (well i
hope so).
Auckland Extreme! :P

--
muzzle

sig.
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uni57 said:

P.P.S. - Well, I'm still typing this stupid thing and terrybigwheel's
post came in.
_If_you_start_small,_you_would_have_learned_where_to_put_your_feet_on_the_pedals._
If you just always "go for it" -- taking yourself far beyond anything
you've ever done so far, then you might be surprised by such things --
and you will be limping around for a week instead of riding.

Just my $0.02

Not necessarily so! When I started doing small drops, like curbs, I
used to favor the balls of my feet on the pedals; it really didn't
cause a problem at the low drop heights; but then when I tried higher
drops, it became abundantly clear that I needed to put my feet more
forward, until my heel "locked" against the pedal. I found that on the
higher drops, there was more likelyhood of slipping off the pedals and
spraining my ankle(s) if my weight was not centered over the pedals,
i.e., balls of feet mainly on pedals. I could get away with this bad
technique on the really low drops simply because the "impact" of the
drop was negligible.😎

--
terrybigwheel

Impotence: Nature's Way Of Saying "No Hard Feelings".

Uni is just a cycle I'm going through. 😎

You -can- "Tune a fish". You simply adjust their "scales"! 😄
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I typically ride on the balls of my feet becuse that is how I ride a
bike. I have not done any drops higher than 5", but what you are
suggesting makes since.

When you say your heel 'locked' against the pedal, what exactly do you
mean? How close is the back of your foot to the back of the pedal?

--
Smeltz
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probably reitterating but....

this is what i did. i never even tried a drop until my friend did it. I
always had to one up him so i did. that was a long time ago, but what
we did we would jump off something into the grass. dont worry about
riding out even, just jump off something into the grass, hit, and step
off, and youll get the feel. my biggest drop may have been around 4 ft,
but i havent done one in over a year.

--
chosen
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Smeltz said:

I typically ride on the balls of my feet becuse that is how I ride a
bike. I have not done any drops higher than 5", but what you are
suggesting makes since.

When you say your heel 'locked' against the pedal, what exactly do you
mean? How close is the back of your foot to the back of the pedal?

I mean that my my weight is -evenly- centered on the pedals, by not
having most of my weight on the balls of my feet; This is also how I
always used to ride, because it just "felt" natural, but on bigger
drops, I found that there was not enough contact on the MIDDLE part of
my feet on the pedals, and on impact from a higher drop, my foot/feet
would tend to fall BACKwards, sometimes causing an ankle sprain. That
was an indication that my feet were not evenly balanced on the pedals.
As soon as I moved my feet forward a bit, and more -between -the balls
of my feet and my heels, like right over the arch, probelm solved, and
drops are now solid.

--
terrybigwheel

Impotence: Nature's Way Of Saying "No Hard Feelings".

Uni is just a cycle I'm going through. 😎

You -can- "Tune a fish". You simply adjust their "scales"! 😄
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Cool. That makes since.

Hopefully that will save me from an ankle sprain one day.

--
Smeltz
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