New to wheelchair - pushing tips?

Hey everyone,

I'm a part time wheelchair user, and now that I'm more than 12 weeks post emergency spinal surgery I'm allowed to push myself around. I'm finding it a bit tricky though and was wondering if anyone would mind sharing some tips for a newbie? I know practice makes perfect and I'll get better at it if I keep working out my upper body and core. I want to get good enough so that I can be independent in the chair when going out, also so that I can take up a wheelchair sport (hopefully some time next year).

I don't have a custom chair yet, so I'm using a basic folding chair and it can be difficult to reach the wheels because of the arm rests and wheel placement. I think the arm rests come off; would it be worth trying without them if they do? My only worry then is that I don't think there'd be anything to keep me and my comfy coccyx support cushion on the actual seat bit (I guess the seatbelt I use would keep me on it but probably not the cushion).

Gloves or no gloves? I've tried with both and gloves are annoying but I got friction burns the only time I tried without. Is it a case of the more I push the more my hands would get used to it?

Hills are a problem, as are uneven surfaces. How is best to push down a hill and stay in control of the chair? I know I'm not strong enough to push uphill yet, so I have to get someone to help with that. How do you keep your chair going straight on uneven surfaces e.g. going over the pavement where there's a dropped curve for a driveway? Also, how do you get up dropped curbs when crossing roads without tipping yourself up or getting stuck unable to get up the curb if it's not quite level with the road?

Does anyone have any links to good videos showing good pushing techniques?

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