# Right Way to Fall?



## Guest (Dec 30, 2009)

Hi All, I'm new to the forum and snowboarding. I got a pretty nice deal on a used 1999 Burton Rippey 56. It's a bit older but I think was considered to be good at the time and probably fine for now. Anyway, I was working on my turns today on some small local hills and bit it. Not so bad, but I fell foward, the board twisted around, and really twisted my left knee and ankle pretty bad. As I'm laying there in the snow in pain I was thinking, "that's it, I'm packing it up for the day". But once I got up and walked it off it was better so just kept going. But it made me realize I could really mess up my knees. It's kind of sore now, and BTW my left ribs are still sore from a couple of days ago. I'm not even sure how I did that. So, is there a proper way to fall to reduce chances of knee injuries? Is falling backward better? I watched a bunch of videos online and I recall one mentioning it, but then never went into it.


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## seant46 (Dec 8, 2009)

I am not good at explaining stuff like this, but you will learn how to fall without getting injured over time. Snowolf will probably have some tips for you.


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## Deviant (Dec 22, 2009)

Dont fight the fall, sounds like you were twisting AS you were falling and that did it. You said you twisted your ankle bad, what kind of boots are you wearing?

Sometimes it's best to just let the fall happen, quick example, there was a girl yesterday at the local resort and she fell backwards onto the hill and managed to catch her toe edge right as she began to fall back. It wasn't pretty.

Falling backwards can get bad quick if you reach out with your arm to catch yourself. I broke my wrist in 3 places last year during a preseason rail event doing that, 2 or 3 years ago I bent my elbow 45 degrees the wrong way snowboarding because of trying to catch myself (it was alcohol induced). Granted, I'm not saying just fall backwards onto your head, but play it smart. Don't worry too much about being sore, especially while learning, its just part of the game.


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## seant46 (Dec 8, 2009)

BurtonX8 said:


> Dont fight the fall, sounds like you were twisting AS you were falling and that did it. You said you twisted your ankle bad, what kind of boots are you wearing?
> 
> Sometimes it's best to just let the fall happen, quick example, there was a girl yesterday at the local resort and she fell backwards onto the hill and managed to catch her toe edge right as she began to fall back. It wasn't pretty.
> 
> Falling backwards can get bad quick if you reach out with your arm to catch yourself. I broke my wrist in 3 places last year during a preseason rail event doing that, 2 or 3 years ago I bent my elbow 45 degrees the wrong way snowboarding because of trying to catch myself (it was alcohol induced). Granted, I'm not saying just fall backwards onto your head, but play it smart. Don't worry too much about being sore, especially while learning, its just part of the game.


I actually get what you mean when you say dont fight the fall, i was learning switch front boardslides last year on a pretty high rail and caught my edge but i just kind of let the fall happen keeping my muscles relaxed and i came out fine.


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## john doe (Nov 6, 2009)

As said, don't fight the fall. Use your arms only to direct how your body hit. Don't use them to stop the impact. Your body is very good at absorbing impact. When you fall be mindful of where your board is and get it away from the snow to keep from twisting your knees. Last thing is stay loose. Not just when falling but when riding. Being stiff while riding will make any mistake worse and make it harder to deal with any fall.


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## Guest (Dec 31, 2009)

All, thanks for the replies and advice. BurtonX8, I've read that before and definitely just go with the fall. I think that was part of the problem. I'm pretty sure what happened was once my board became parallel to the ground, it stopped and didn't rotate anymore. But my body just kept going and I was in a roll. I ended up with my legs twisted as my body was rolling and my feet were stuck because the board was lodged against the ground. Maybe if I would have fought the roll I wouldn't have ended up in a twisted mess. Limping kind of bad today.

It was mostly my knee that took the brunt of it. My ankle only a little. I dunno maybe my boots weren't laced tight enough but honestly I'm glad my ankle took part of the twist otherwise my knee would have really been f'ed up today.

J-Doe, I think you hit the nail on the head. That's what happened. I'll try to keep the board up next time but not sure how difficult that is or even possible once you're in a roll. Would like to hear any more advice on how to keep the knees safe. This was a pretty slow crash. I don't even want to think about a high speed crash.


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## Toecutter (Oct 11, 2009)

I don't know about you guys, but when I crash it's total ragdoll-tomahawk time. I'm in very little control of what's happening. I just try not to fight it and hope no little children end up flattened beneath my hurtling carcass.

Knee injuries are fairly infrequent in snowboarding, AFAIK. I believe wrists and ankles are the biggest casualties.


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## qsilvr99 (Dec 22, 2009)

I'm in the same position as OP. I think it has to do with mtb background of trying to roll onto shoulder. My right knee has a messed up MCL due to a weird fall where my upper-body and my board didn't slide together.


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## Deviant (Dec 22, 2009)

> I don't know about you guys, but when I crash it's total ragdoll-tomahawk time. I'm in very little control of what's happening. I just try not to fight it and hope no little children end up flattened beneath my hurtling carcass.


Cracks me up, for some reason I'm thinking homer simpson tumbling down a mountain 

To the OP, if I'm falling forward, I "try" to take it to my forearms, if you're worried about it you can buy wrist braces pretty cheap too, and yes wrist injuries are very common.


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## binarypie (Nov 29, 2009)

My girlfriend has been asking the same questions lately and I've been going over in my head exactly what I do when I fall.

- I don't land on my wrists. I always try to land on my forearms, thighs, or shoulders. Basically the same places I took hits while playing lacrosse in highschool (10 years ago lol).
- I haven't really caught my front edge in a way that makes me totally out of control in a while but I remember learning and to soften the blow I'd kind of superman onto my chest with my arms in front in L shape. Although I don't have boobs so I'm not sure how they will affect such a maneuver. 
- Backside I usually lift my board off the snow to gain some control over positioning then dig the edge back in slowly to come to a stop.
- Ragdoll. I kind of just hope I don't get hurt. If I'm falling that hard the best thing I can do is stay calm, not flail my arms, and hope I don't hit anything really hard.
- In the air. When I know I'm going to bail off a park jump I usually try to land on something that isn't a belly/back flop. Although it is really hard to have control over this depending on the speed and trick attempted.
- Rails. Well I don't really do anything except the easy park ones that have little penalty for failure.
- Powder. I always make sure my skirt is tucked in and the hatches are zipped up tight. Nothing sucks more than ice cold powder in places it shouldn't be. Other than that, this is about as an enjoyable experience as it gets when it comes to falling.

If you are older and/or doing things that could jeopardize other facets of your life (other than dying) such as your career. You may want to look into some safety equipment. But remember while it does cut some of the pain it wont eliminate the risk of serious injury.


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## snowjeeper (Nov 11, 2008)

when i fell yesterday i luckily didn't throw my arms out to catch it, which was good. i caught the toe edge, and kind of tucked my arms in and landed on my forearms. problem is the ground hitting my forearms pushed into my coat, which caught my cell phone in my front pocket and ran it up my rib cage like it was playing the xylophone. it hurts alot today lol.


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## Toecutter (Oct 11, 2009)

snowjeeper said:


> when i fell yesterday i luckily didn't throw my arms out to catch it, which was good. i caught the toe edge, and kind of tucked my arms in and landed on my forearms. problem is the ground hitting my forearms pushed into my coat, which caught my cell phone in my front pocket and *ran it up my rib cage like it was playing the xylophone.* it hurts alot today lol.


I'm sorry, but that image is funny as sh*t!


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## snowjeeper (Nov 11, 2008)

it probably was pretty funny looking. still hurts like fuck tho, i don't think i cracked any ribs, but those are some of the few bones i haven't broken yet, so i'm not sure how much it's supposed to hurt.


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## Toecutter (Oct 11, 2009)

snowjeeper said:


> it probably was pretty funny looking. still hurts like fuck tho, i don't think i cracked any ribs, but those are some of the few bones i haven't broken yet, so i'm not sure how much it's supposed to hurt.


I'm sure the crash wasn't fun to watch, but the image of hearing ascending musical notes as with a xylophone across your ribs is cracking me up. Maybe you can work on playing a few notes from Mary Had A Little Lamb next crash...


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## Toecutter (Oct 11, 2009)

BurtonX8 said:


> Cracks me up, for some reason I'm thinking homer simpson tumbling down a mountain


Ha ha ha! I probably look like Homer during a tumble! "Oof...oww...ohh...d'oh...hey look, a ham sandwich!"


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## G2309 (Oct 22, 2009)

If you can fall then get back up withput stopping that always looks good, especially if you go over the nose of the board. Just don't do it when in a crowded spot.

Don't try to stop too soon unless your about to hit something. Just hit the ground and glide a bit rather than forcing a stop with the arms. It will lessen the impact on your body.


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## Frozen208 (Dec 27, 2008)

Don't know how accurate it is, so correct me if I am wrong. I have heard when falling that you should loosely ball your hands to keep from putting your palms out helping to avoid hurting your wrists some.


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## binarypie (Nov 29, 2009)

Frozen208 said:


> Don't know how accurate it is, so correct me if I am wrong. I have heard when falling that you should loosely ball your hands to keep from putting your palms out helping to avoid hurting your wrists some.


Sounds like a good mental trick.


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## Guest (Jan 3, 2010)

Not on your face! :thumbsup:


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## stillz (Jan 5, 2010)

I'm convinced that learning break falls for jiu-jitsu way back in the day got me through my first day of snowboarding unscathed. I had some epic fails that day, and drew much concern and laughter from the chairlifts.


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## bostonboarder (Nov 25, 2008)

clenching your fists as you fall or just like that the whole time is great for a beginer that way if you fall there will be less force put into the bend of your wrist i know how you injured guys feel I broke my upper arm last year on a metal bar near a jump slammed into it good so watch for them too


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