My First Heavy Skateboard Fall
Karen's Diary

Well, I've just had my first hard skateboard fall and I wish I could tell you how to avoid it, but I can't.

To tell you the truth I don't even know how it happened.

One minute I was pushing along nicely and the next I was flat on the ground. I know I got my pushing foot back on the board but I suspect it was in totally the wrong position.

Anyway, the board shot out in front of me and I fell quite hard onto my right side.

I got up pretty fast but that was because I felt such a fool. Even though I was skating on a disused road and the only person for miles around was my friend Annemarie, I still felt really stupid.

I carried on skating and even decided to practice my falling techniques. But the way my right elbow feels now, it probably wasn't a good idea.

One thing I have learned from the experience is that it is important to practice falling safely.

It might sound ridiculous but I think the more you practice, the more likely it is that your body will instinctively react and fall in a way that will prevent injury.

I didn't even realise I was falling until I almost hit the ground, and by then all I did was stick my hand out in front of me to break the fall.

Luckily I was wearing full safety gear or I would have done a lot more damage.

As it happens, both wrist guards have some pretty nasty scape marks, I landed right on my elbow pad and I hit my head on the ground hard enough to mark my helmet.

I also have a huge bruise and quite a bit of missing skin from my right hip. Even though I was wearing fairly thick long trousers.

I got Annemarie to take a these videos of me practising my skateboard fall techniques so you can have a look. There are a couple of things to bear in mind though.

Firstly, I'm only a beginner, and secondly these videos were both taken after I had my fall, so I'm a little bit more tentative than I might otherwise have been.

The first video shows me just running off the board. If you lose your balance and know you are going to come off anyway, it's better to just bail and keep your momentum going.

It depends how fast you're going but there's a strong possibility that you will manage to stay on your feet.

Running off the Board

This next video shows me rolling out of a skateboard fall, or trying to.

I know it looks a bit stiff and staged but I'm not renowned for my stunts and I was really nervous about falling again so soon after getting splattered on the floor for real.

Rolling Out of a Skateboard Fall

A skateboard fall can really knock your confidence so I hope you'll practice these techniques before you wipe out for real.

I'm surprised at how nervous I feel about getting back on the board now.

I made myself ride again as soon as I fell. I know from horse riding that if you don't get straight back on after a fall it can take a lot of doing later.

But now I'm writing this I find myself hoping for a couple of wet days so I don't have to go out again tomorrow.

Well, we'll see what the next update brings.

Until then, stay safe and practice those falls.

Karen


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