How to Fall Safely when Skateboarding

Learn from Christian [VIDEO], Nigel [VIDEO], or Sarah [VIDEO].

There are a lot of things you can do to improve your balance and make getting on your board feel more natural. The biggest thing is to build up the muscles that control the fine movements you need to stay centered on the board. The first thing to do is to just practice standing on the board. I usually recommend doing this over carpet, but you could also use those trainers over pavement, or just tighten down the wheels. You can build up those stabilizer muscles you need this way without worrying about it shooting out and ejecting you if you slip up a bit. Put your dominant foot (whichever one feels easier to balance on, it should be apparent pretty much immediately) facing forward on the board, on top of / just behind the front bolts - this is the position you want to have it in while mounting and pushing the board. Put all of your weight on that front foot, and then just practice balancing on that one foot for as long as you can, trying to balance as still / steady on that foot as you can. Once you're feeling pretty comfortable standing stationary on your dominant/front foot, practice lowering your non-dominant/back foot to the ground next to your board and see if you can rest that…

And here’s another good one. This woman is really good at breaking things down explaining them well. [VIDEO]

Yeah, bending your knees is surprisingly helpful. The big thing is trying to be “light” on your feet and soft on falls, which takes lots of practice. The best advice I’ve heard on this is that it is often helpful to do a tiny hop to bail out of tricks that are slipping out or going badly: [VIDEO] Another helpful thing, I think, is to try to never end a session on a fall. Like, if you fall and aren’t hurt too much, it can be good to try one more thing before you call it a day, just to end on a good note. Obviously, though, be smart about this. If you roll your ankle or really slam hard, it obviously won’t help to try another thing before a bit of rest. It can be a bit scary to hurt yourself, for sure. I feel that sometimes! But, if you keep at it, I think you’ll get your confidence back and be glad you kept going.

I recommend taking time to practice falling! There are a number of videos on YouTube about this. Try to find a spot where you can ride up to a patch of grass and fall on it. [VIDEO] [VIDEO] [VIDEO] The first time I tried a rolling ollie I dislocated my shoulder because I had my back hand fully extended when i stopped the fall. I decided I will make the pain worth it and got back on the board as soon as I gained back some mobility. I practiced falling and now I don’t even register my falls. Also, doing slow push ups and weighted squats can help keep those muscles and tendons prepared to take the impact, and will let you have more fun on the board! Hope this helps!

monotone delivery but she is a great teacher [VIDEO]

Take your time and know your limits. Skateboarding can go sideways VERY quickly, so don't try to push harder than you're comfortable with. Also, wear padding, especially a helmet and wrist guards. Knowing how to fall is incredibly important, so try to watch videos of pros to see how they handle falling. Many are ready to go to the ground, but they also know how to go to ground. If you can roll out of falls, that's great, but that's not always feasible. You'll also see many try to roll over onto their backs. This takes practice, and shouldn't be done without a helmet, as you will hit your head at some point. Check out this video by Sarah Park-Mattot; I think she does great tutorials for beginners: [VIDEO] There's also this amazing clip of Daewon Song falling a lot. Watch closely to see how prepared he is to go down: [VIDEO]

[VIDEO] - Some alternative versions to most regular falls which are quite useful (overall I quite recommend this channel, she's incredibly good at explaining in detail how tricks work and gives a lot of options especially as a beginner) [VIDEO] this one seems good also. There are tons of videos on YouTube in terms of falling, some are a bit longer so you can check those out when you have time. Either way, good luck! Have fun! If you are worried about balance, you can do certain things to build up your confidence, like making a diy balance board with your skateboard. Anyway just go for it!