Static SIF hops

I've been doing trials for about 8 months now, and my SIF hopping has
never been what I felt it could be. I used to do a SIF sidehop like so:
hop, hop, hop, hop, slightly bigger hop, push the tire down, spring up,
fold, and land. Now, this was very hectic, and I was paying more
attention to my little hops then I was to the actual jump. Then I did
it like this: hop, hop, stand still, slight hop towards the object,
push the tire down, spring up, fold, and land. In short, just a SIF
with prehop. But now I found the static SIF hops. Hop, hop, stand
still, push the tire down, spring up, fold and land. Only these pose a
problem for me, because I've always used the little prehop to get
spring from my tire, and now I don't have that.

I just watched Ryan Atkins amazing video, and when he does a static
hop, he does a standstill, folds over, and then somehow magically folds
open again, pushing down the tire. Could anyone explain to me how I
should properly do a static hop, because atm I'm succeeding only very
sporidically (Though the times I do succeed, I can jump as high as I
can with a prehop (Slightly less then two feet)... Why is that?)


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Erant

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Just kick the ground and tuck. Other than that, just practice. If you
are landing even a few of them, then you already know how it's supposed
to feel.

If you aren't getting extra height from a prehop, it means you aren't
using it correctly. DO a search on them there's plenty of info out
there. A good prehop should add 2-6" to your hop height. Mine brings me
up from 32" to 36", to give you an idea.


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gerblefranklin

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Nick's main man.

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I'd like to add a little to what's been said...And I'm pretty sure that
I say it in every post related to this subject.

While I'm no authority on hopping, nor try to sound like I know
everything on the effin' subject, I do my fair share of hops by just
being a trials rider.


I'd add that timing is also a key issue to hopping/jumping. You'll
have to play with your own personal feels for timing to see what's best
for you. This also might be one of the reasons that when you pre-hop
you get as a jump without one...When, really, you're supposed to be
getting 4+ more inches than you normally would.

After you compress the tire, getting off the ground is just a quick
"snap"--(and this is something that Kris Holm mentions in the 2001 NUC
Trials Workshop Vids)--. So try doing that. You'll notice that it
conserves your energy too. Just pull up and tuck as quickly as
possible.

You might want to go look at a clip of Zack or Ryan doing a bigger
static sif jump onto something frame by frame...But what's best is to
practice, practice practice

Maybe take some video of your progress, so we can see what you're doing
that's either helping you, or holding you back. We'd be able to take a
good look at the technique you're using then.

Later,
Evan

PS...I'm trying to work on getting as high as I possibly can before I
need to use a pre-hop to get up something.


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TrialsUni
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TrialsUni wrote:
PS...I'm trying to work on getting as high as I possibly can before I
need to use a pre-hop to get up something.



I strongly reccomend that you don't do this. Prehops are really
difficult to re-learn. When you finally do need a prehop, you'll find
that you'll be so rusty that you have less control and actualyl jump
LESS high with them. When I go for more than 2 rides without using
prehops, I find it takes at least 30 minutes of frustration to get any
semblence of a good prehop back. Prehops are really useful, as Ryan's
video testifies to.

Also, it's just nice having a cheap way to add 4" to your hop height.
The other way to do this is ride trials on a muni for a month or two,
then go back. Bam! another 2-3", easily.


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gerblefranklin

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

Nick's main man.

"I love freedom dearly, ideally, in theory, but in reality we're not
there yet--Not nearly."--Cold Duck Complex
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gerblefranklin wrote:
I strongly reccomend that you don't do this. Prehops are really
difficult to re-learn.



Now it's winter in Michigan...and I re-sprained an ankle two weeks ago.
But, I was planning to work on more static skills indoors at school or
at home once I get back in the saddle 100%.

I haven't ever really "learned" pre-hops. I've been going up 30-32"+
without them so far.

I quit unicycling for six months, before I bought my trials unicycle
back in August 2004. So I've really learned how to do everything from
curbs on up again since last August. And this summer I went from
having a mental block with ledges that were higher than my tire, to
those higher than my seatpost clamp (which is about 30"). I think next
it will be a mental block with my seat (what else is left...haha),
which is near a meter high.

What I meant to say is that I practiced pre-hops a little...but I've
never done them on to anything near 30" high...Never!

When the Doc's give me the ok I'll have to give big pre-hops a go.

I would eventually like to hit a meter. I don't think that's asking
too much. I really don't. And it's not the most important thing in
the world...this business of hopping high. Judging by most, I can
already hop quite high. And even if I can learn to jump onto things a
meter high, I'd like to do it even on to more narrow objects, and start
getting better at the more technical aspects of large jumps.

I've been more concerned with evolving my style into largly seat-out
riding. From video footage, I've now realized what's possible with
sif-rolling-hops. I'd like to learn how to rail-ride (and I've been
getting near mounting and riding one...because I was playing with
mounting and riding narrow--and even curved/angled--edges...sometimes
even riding backwards along a narrow surface).

My main concern with my riding has been in taking somewhat of my own
personal 'manifesto' as it were. Unless I'm tired, you'll barely ever
see me corrective/recovery hop. If I do, and it was completely
avoidable (or especially during an easy line), I'll stop what I'm
doing, and go back to the beginning, to start all over, and fix the
problem. Does that sound like I'm being too hard on myself? There's
nothing more rewarding, to me, than knowing I just pulled a smooth,
quick, clean line like it was a piece of cake.

Thanks for the heads up!
Sorry for the long post...and all of this explaining of myself. I'm
psyched-up to unicycle thanks to Jess's new-old vids that he posted the
other day, and now Ryan's video...If I order Defect for Christmas I'll
only get more cabin fever than I currently am battling...But I'm going
to buy the movie anyway.

Can't wait until Spring and a healed ankle,
Evan


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It's good to eliminate corrective hops, but eliminating prehops is just
shooting yourself in the foot. I also prehop very little, except in
large pedalgrabs and natural lines. However, I DO do them enough to
retain the skill, which is what is important. No reason to let them go
to waste when 5 min of hopping per ride keeps them in good shape.


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gerblefranklin

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Nick's main man.

"I love freedom dearly, ideally, in theory, but in reality we're not
there yet--Not nearly."--Cold Duck Complex
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I know there has to be something wrong with my timing, because once
(about a month or two ago) I managed to land two 28" jumps with a
prehop, but that was only because I was in an ecstatic mood, having
landed something completly new for me at that time. Luckily, I think a
prehop is more or less baked into me, as I've been doing nothing else
to get my air. I'll make a vid (maybe today, if I can find that crappy
camera), and post it to here.


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Erant

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Well, I have two vids of me jumping both with, and without prehop (Both
not getting it exactly right, but I went out just to get the videos, as
it's wet and raining). I already noticed one big thing I'm doing wrong,
and that is that I'm not tucking enough. There is royal space between
my ass and the tire. (I'm talking 10 inches here). I'll upload the
videos later, because they need some editing.

I also noticed that I sometimes sneakily do a tiny prehop when I try
static jumps, is this bad, or acceptable?


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Erant

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you should put the vids up in the gallery, and post a link in this
thread so we can see them.


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TrialsUni wrote:

PS...I'm trying to work on getting as high as I possibly can before I
need to use a pre-hop to get up something.



I'd recommend against this, too. Unicycling, especially trials, just
isn't safe if you're not sober.


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Skippii

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