Pirouette

Practice, practice, practice. The forward one is simple compared to the
backward one in level 9. Took me like 7 years to get the bwd pirouette,
but finally got it! Yeah!!

I'll try to give you a couple hints to learning the fwd one. Get really
good at spining in a nice, small controlled circle. Then you want to
start making the circle smaller and smaller until you pull your arms in
toward your body and spin three times around on a dime. It's all about
getting the momentum and pulling in your arms fast to get enough to go
around 3 times. Also trying to control yourself whilst pirouetting.
Pretend your body is a straight line perpendicular to the ground and
don't hunch over cause this will cause you to wobble. That's about all I
can think of right now. Just keep on practicing it and you'll get it. As
for getting the bwd one, that's a whole nother story...

--
tuna6869 - Level 9 Rider (Almost 10!)

Jamey

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Is wheel diameter an issue? I hear that 20"'s are easier to
piruette...
Also, it looks like once you are able to, it would be easier to
piruette when standing on your unicycles "shoulders" -or when on an
impossible wheel! -does this ring true?

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I know the shorter the cranks the easier pirouttes are so buy some
really short cranks!

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tuna6869 - Level 9 Rider (Almost 10!)

Jamey

Smile! 🙂 It makes people wonder what you're up to!

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the
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Are you trying to do a pirouette on concrete or on a nice smooth gym
floor? From talking with people who can do pirouettes, it is easier on
a smooth slick gym floor and it helps to have the tire pumped up hard.

--
john_childs - Guinness Mojo

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I can't really pirouette yet, my best is about 1 rev. I have found
however, that it helps to have a really slick freestyle tire like the
Maxxis Hookworm.

--
jsm - Freestyling Traffic Evasionist

Jonathan Miersma - Unicyclist, Violinist, and Juggler
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If it isn't already obvious, don't use a trials uni. I have piroutted my
trials uni 2 revs, but that was a fluke and it was on a dusty painted
wood floor, which had almost no grip. I imagine gliding or standup
gliding into pirouette wouldn't be that hard as long as you were
comfortable standup gliding or normal gliding. Someone almost lands a
coastin piroutte in U2, but he seemes to make a sharp turn by accident
and had to 1fww out of it.

--
gerblefranklin - Trials Unicyclist

http://gallery.unicyclist.com/Trials-Muni

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the way i learnt to pirouette (it was the first trick i learnt...before
i could even idle or ride backwards) was through this random gypsy mate
teachin me how. basic gist of his method was

1. Start a lean turn, and slowly make the circle smaller and smaller.

2. DONT STOP PEDALLING, if you stop, you will lose the spin, and the
more you pedal, the easier it will be to get into the actual pirouette

3. Tuck your arms in, as you feel yourself spinning on one spot, and it
will give you more rotation speed to get the pirouette going.

4. Pirouette until you are out of spin, and then ride away. i found that
it was easier to come out of it riding backwards for some reason...

hope this random thing helps

--
unicyclistjoe - NZ's 2nd Best Trials Unicyclist

Well a MOPED or whatever you call it...yeah good one security

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Aw, yes how could I have forgotten the obvious things; pump your tire so
it's rock hard, practice inside on a smooth gym floor, small cranks, and
a non-grippy tire. These things will help drastically.

--
tuna6869 - Level 9 Rider (Almost 10!)

Jamey

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tuna6869 said:

*
I'll try to give you a couple hints to learning the fwd one. Get
really good at spining in a nice, small controlled circle. Then you
want to start making the circle smaller and smaller until you pull
your arms in toward your body and spin three times around on a dime.
It's all about getting the momentum and pulling in your arms fast to
get enough to go around 3 times. *

So the description says that the spinning momentum is obtained from
forward motion:
http://iunicycle.com/unicycle/skills/standard/128/

I've also read somewhere that you can't ride into a tight circle and
then do the pirouette. Is this incorrect?

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iunicycle - Old back, new cricks
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iunicycle said:

*

So the description says that the spinning momentum is obtained from
forward motion:
http://iunicycle.com/unicycle/skills/standard/128/

*

i dont think this is true, ive been practising these for a few weeks and
have managed three revs a few times. The spinning momentum comes from
how fast you are turning; you are turning so fast that the unicycle and
your body are rotating at some speed. (if u watch the bonus footage on
U2 u'll see the freestyle guy turning extremely fast and you'll notice
his body and unicycle are rotating extremely fast as well) this only
happens in the few moments before the piruette though, your arms should
be stretched out so when you pull them in it increases your spin
speed.

iain

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iunicycle said:

*

So the description says that the spinning momentum is obtained from
forward motion:
http://iunicycle.com/unicycle/skills/standard/128/

I've also read somewhere that you can't ride into a tight circle and
then do the pirouette. Is this incorrect? *

I think the "on momentum gained from forward movement" restriction is
there to prevent you from entering the pirouette by pushing off of a
wall or other object to start the spin. It's not too difficult to do a
pirouette style spin by pushing off of a wall or other object, and that
would be cheating.

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I only have a front porch or dirt to practice, nothing really slick. Is
it easier on a 24'' or a 20'' I had a little more luck on my 24'' but
dont know if its cause i had a hookworm, and my 20'' is a k-rad.

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caw89 - Level 7

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iunicycle said:

*So the description says that the spinning momentum is obtained from
forward motion:*

This is correct. The link you listed quotes the IUF Standard Skill List,
and that is the description of a Pirouteet. That description is intended
to describe what it looks like, but not necessarily how you do it.

Quoted message said:

*I've also read somewhere that you can't ride into a tight circle and
then do the pirouette. Is this incorrect? *

This is incorrect. I don't see any other way to get into a pirouette,
unless you cheat and use some outside object to set you spinning, such
as slapping a post as you ride by it. This works to set you spinning,
but of course would not be allowed in a Standard Skill competition (no
posts).

A pirouette is the fullest extension of a spin. You have to spin to be
able to pirouette. To practice either of these, it's best to use a
smooth surface. If you have access to a gym floor it's optimum. If not,
some smooth concrete, such as in a garage or other indoor place, works
well too. Next thing after that would be smooth, fresh pavement. The
best outdoor stuff I've ridden on was sealed asphalt, where they put a
coating on top? That's great for riding on. Rougher surfaces will raise
the friction, and also wear out your tires faster. If you spin a lot,
expect to eat through tires pretty fast. With a name like Uni-Cyclone, I
figured this out all by myself!

So pump up the tire real good, especially if you're outside. Then ride
in small circles, and gradually make them smaller. Whe you pirouette,
you can't be pedaling. A perfect pirouette is like a skater spinning on
point. Your pedals don't move, and everything is just rotating on one
spot. The hard part is getting into that pirouette position without
overshooting. This rotates you around backwards, so you're pedaling
backwards (and still spinning).

So in a best-case-scenario pirouette, your pedals are stopped and your
tire doesn't wander as it grinds around on one spot. I usually try to
pedal in and stop with my pedals level, so I can make some little
corrections as I rotate around. Then it's always nice if you come out
facing toward your audience and not the other way around...

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johnfoss - Walkin' on the edge

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
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"It's good to find something that makes boys into men and men into boys,
my opinion is that unicycling fits the bill." -- Lloyd Johnson

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caw89 said:

*I only have a front porch or dirt to practice, nothing really slick.*

Actually, a little dirt on top of some rough pavement makes a big
difference on tire wear and ability to spin longer. Sprinkle some dirt
or sand on there, or look for a dirty spot.

As for wheel size, you can actually crank into a faster spin with a
bigger wheel, or with any size wheel and shorter cranks. Since spinning
is mostly associated with Freestyle and/or performing, 20" wheels are
generally the rule. But larger or smaller wheels can still work. You can
really get spinning on a Coker, for example, especially on a gym floor!
The Japanese riders who do all that beautiful spinning generally use 20"
wheels with cranks in the 102mm range or shorter.

--
johnfoss - Walkin' on the edge

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

"It's good to find something that makes boys into men and men into boys,
my opinion is that unicycling fits the bill." -- Lloyd Johnson

"Read the rules!" -- 'IUF Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/iuf/rulebook/) -- 'USA Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/usa/competition/)
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Quoted message said:

I only have a front porch or dirt to practice, nothing really slick

You can always try it indoors, if you have room. I did my first
pirouette on the carpet in a somewhat open space in my basement.

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jsm - Freestyling Traffic Evasionist

Jonathan Miersma - Unicyclist, Violinist, and Juggler
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Thanks for all your help, now all I need to do is practice^3 and put all
of these tips together. Thanks

-------Cody

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