Joined: 18 Jan 2007
Posts: 68
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
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OK, if it doesn't kill us, it makes us stronger!
We should start off this thread with a review of some safety items....
ALWAYS WEAR PROTECTIVE GEAR!
this includes:
A helmet
Elbow pads
Knee pads
Wrist Guards
I'm willing to bet that most injuries that get reported in this thread would've been PREVENTED or at least GREATLY lessened if safety precautions had been followed.
That said, I had my first real fall today.
I started heeling from a sprint. I was wearing my bookbag, which made me pretty top heavy, also. (I'm also 6'2, so my center of gravity is pretty high to begin with). In any event, sprinting is already risky(NEVER heel faster than you can run, right?) but with a bookbag on, it was just plain foolish. I must've hit a rock or crack that I didn't see(and I thought I checked! - FAMOUS LAST WORDS) and I went flying.
So in mid-fall, going FAST(I've got long legts, being 6'2, and I can sprint pretty quickly) I'm thinking to myself "this is REALLY gonna hurt." I WAS able to roll a bit, which very probably saved me from a broken wrist or losing a LOT of skin off my hands, not to mention a possible broken kneecap.
As it turns out, I got lucky... I ripped a small hole in my jeans and skinned my knee, as well as banged it up a bit... I got off easy compared to what COULD have happened.
http://josh.josh.name/heelys/holesized.jpg
http://josh.josh.name/heelys/kneesized.jpg
In order to keep this thread a positive thing, I'll review what would've happened I'd been wearing the PROPER safety equipment, as well as reviewing what I did wrong...
Things I did wrong:
I heeled as fast as I could run. As a result, when my weight shifted forward, I couldn't get my legs up under me and "caught up" to keep me upright.
I didn't wear protective equipment. I think it's pretty obvious my knee would be just find if I'd been wearing kneepads, and the sore wrists I had for a couple hours wouldn't have hurt either.
I wore a backpack. I don't want to overlook this one... I think that additional weight contributed to the accident... It also made it tougher to roll.
About the only thing I did RIGHT was to R O L L as I hit the ground, and I STRONGLY stress that.... Martial arts, gymastics, skaters, and all manner of sports all stress that if you're going to eat it, then ROLL to soften the impact as you go down. If you fall flat on your face, and catch yourself with your hands, you're taking ALL of the force on your hands and wrists. I managed to kinda "throw" myself onto my right hip after both hands hit, which deflected some of the impact. This made it less severe and probably saved me a broken wrist. If you're going to fall, THEN ROLL. Can't stress that enough, and I think that if even ONE person remembers that advice as they're falling, one day, and it flashes through their brain in the blink of an eye, it'll be worth posting this and me trying to drill it in to you.
OK... Next person to get pics of an injury, post it here and say what you did wrong if you broke a safety rule! |
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