dropping to flat... any tips?

The biggest thing is to make sure you are standing and your legs are
locked when you land (for learning purposes, tech changes later). Your
butt shouldn't hit the seat.

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Unless your little brother is 7 feet tall, and you are riding a 29" uni
in that pic, that can't be a 3' drop. Looks more like a 1+ footer to me.
But it's alaska, so he could be 7' tall.

For dropping to flat, letting your front foot roll forward is nice, to
give you a roll-out. Try to absord all shock above your hips. This not
only absorbs shock, but will keep you on balance whn you land. You are
making some nice progress, just keep at it.

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Catboy said:

*Unless your little brother is 7 feet tall, and you are riding a 29"
uni in that pic, that can't be a 3' drop. Looks more like a 1+ footer
to me. But it's alaska, so he could be 7' tall.
*

2 footer, judging by wheelsize. Regardless, it took me a while to get a
1.5 footer down. I'll see if I have any movie clips of my drop
technique.

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scar_head187 said:

*P.S. oh yeah ive already looked at unicycle.2ya.com and taht hasnt
helped *

Are you rolling out instantly when you land? Doing that (by pivoting at
the hips as seen the the video) will get the seat right out of the way
for you...at least I thought it would. Any chance of seeing a video of
you dropping? Then maybe we could help a little better.

Andrew

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1. Bend at the knees
2. Bend at the waist
3. Roll out of landing

If you use these three techniques, you should be able to do 2 meter
drops to flat and have no problems.

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well, judging from your picture, it looks like your leaning back
abit..its hard to start rolling out of drops when your leaning
backwards...so try and lean forward alittle bit.

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I don't know if you're doing this, but -hop- off of it instead of riding
off. then your feet are already in landing position, and you're already
standing up. once you can do that well enough, you can try riding off
the drop.

--
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hecklar said:

*If you use these three techniques, you should be able to do 2 meter
drops to flat and have no problems. *

Uhh. I strongly disagree. I've been riding for around 3.5 years. I am
16, in excellent shape, and have been doing trials for around 1.5 years.
My record drop is around 8-10' (2-2.75m), and I can jump around 32-33"
(80-something cm). I *STILL* can't do 2m drops to flat no problem. To be
honest, I don't know anyone who can. The sheer amount of force involved
in a 2m drop to flat means that no matter how good your technique is,
there's no way to absorb that shock well enough to do it casually or
with "no problem." I would bet money that there's noone on this forum
who will say that they are sure they will land a 2 meter drop first
try.

Scar_Head187: You should just simply practice. Try it on a smaller drop
that is easier and more comfortable to do. Big drops to flat are
downright unhealthy, and there's no reason to go out and try to do a 3'
one your first try. Try practicing hopping, etc. and drops will come
naturally. Before my first 6' drop, my previous record was only 3'. But
by the time I found a 6 drop worth doing, my technique had advanced
enough that it was easy (note: not to contradict my previous paragraph.
The drop had an excellent rollout made of dirt and pine needles. It was
the perfect drop). Try getting a 12" drop down comfortably, then
procceed to 18". Once you get that, then you should go for 2'. But at
your current rate you are only going to break yourself and your
unicycles. Lead up to drops, don't bother trying to rush it.

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gerblefranklin said:

*I would bet money that there's noone on this forum who will say that
they are sure they will land a 2 meter drop first try.*

The technique I've been using to do my drops is working really well for
me. I've never done a 2m drop to flat, but plenty of smooth 1.8m drops.
I think there would be plenty of people here sure of landing a 2m drop
first time. I agree that dropping to flat isn't all that fun though.
The only time I will really do it these days is at demos (spectators
like to see it) or if a fun line includes a big drop.

Andrew

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gerblefranklin said:

*I would bet money that there's noone on this forum who will say that
they are sure they will land a 2 meter drop first try.*

I usually only land big drops on the first try. My first 8 footer was
landed fisrt try. Then it took 3 more to land it again.

But I think it's just initial adrenaline.

However, I do agree with alot of what you said Bevan.

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It looks like you're holding back in the photo. Commit to the drop and
get your weight forward. Holding back will make you lose it and you'll
also eat it in a worse way than if you commit.

Also, put the advice others have given into use. when you're dropping
put weight on the front pedal so when you hit the ground it will
immediately go down and roll you out of the drop.

--
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Compare this technique: http://tinyurl.com/5vhkc

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don't be too sad about what we think pdc. i'm still scared of stuff over
about 4 feet, and i'm a health 23 year old! i'm pretty sure i could do a
5 or 6 foot right now, but my 3-4 footers aren't really solid, but i
usually roll out relatively smoothly.

--
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