”Falling is inevitable. It’s going to happen. Welcome to skateboarding.” says Aaron Kyro, sponsored skateboarder from the San Francisco Bay Area.
He’s not wrong, either. It’s part of the game. Although we all fall as skateboarders, not all of us know how to fall properly. Sure, falling isn’t exactly a controlled action that you initiate on purpose but, with some of the tips we’ll go over in the video below, you’ll learn what you can to do mitigate injury while falling and how to better prepare yourself for slamming in the future. 

How to Fall “Rag-doll” Style (Falling Forward)

1. When you know you’re going to fall forward, don’t tense up
2. Loosen up as much as possible, hit the ground, and use your arms to push yourself away from hitting your face. No one likes kissing the pavement!
3. Don’t outstretch your hand(s) to the ground. Instead, as you hit the ground, scoop to the side as much as possible with your arms to divert the impact

How to Fall “Parkour-roll” Style (Falling Fast)

1. When you fall while going fast (i.e. skating stairs or a gap), touch your fingers on the ground, tuck your shoulders in and try to roll it out
2. Avoid hitting your head by tucking your chin into your chest, and take the force of the impact on your shoulder.
3. Curl yourself into the fetal position to protect your head, your back, and your hips. Brace the impact quickly with your hands, tuck into your shoulder, curl up and roll. 

How to Fall “Butt-slide” Style (Falling Backward)

1. As you’re falling backward, take the impact on your backside (no pun intended), while pushing forward on the ground with your hands to initiate a backward slide.
2. Avoid hitting the ground directly on your tailbone. Rather than landing on directly on your butt, use the momentum to slide into the fall, pushing forward with your arms to divert some of the impact. Imagine a plane landing on a runway. Your backside is the plane, and your arms are the landing gears! Don’t nosedive into the ground, land that plane smoothly.

Check out the video above in which Aaron Kyro goes over all of these falls and more! You’ll learn some additional falling techniques and gain some valuable insight on protective gear.  We hope these tips help you skate injury-free for years to come. Remember, loosen up. Now get out there and SKATE! For further help learning to skate, check out Skateboarding Made Simple!