Tips please--- How to fall and avoid injury.

Joseppi;1152966 wrote:
Honestly, I'd say the best way to eat it without breaking it is to eat
it........a lot. I feel that I have pretty great reflexes when falling,
but I've taken my share of injury to get me to that point. Falling
properly comes from experience in falling, as unfortunate as that may
be. I would recommend practicing tricks that are only marginally above
your ability; learn to fall as you go.

If you want super reflexes, you might take up freerunning . The
extra dexterity might help.



...uhh i usually try not to catch myself if its anything that involves
landing lower than i left the ground, or high(er) speed falls, i find
that you have time to roll up or do something to diffuse your fall
better from higher places, and i have a tendency to ditch the unicycle
and land on my feet if i'm not going to make a jump, i know my limits
very well tho, and can tell when i'm going to make or break a jump.


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Jerrick;1152874 wrote:
Take a few martial arts classes. A lot of them will have classes just on
learning how to fall and roll. Doesnt take years of classes either.


I second this, and would particularly recommend MAs that focus on
throws and takedowns: shuai jiao, judo, aikido, some types of jiu
jutsu.


skrobo;1153015 wrote:
...uhh i usually try not to catch myself if its anything that involves
landing lower than i left the ground, or high(er) speed falls, i find
that you have time to roll up or do something to diffuse your fall
better from higher places


Agreed. IME, tucking up is always better than trying to catch yourself,
unless you're specifically trying to keep your torso from being impaled
on some jagged branch or spiky rock.


--
Tak

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Six weeks and my broken fingers are just starting to be usable, though
it hasn't stopped me from riding

Hand injuries are common if you fall on your hands, the same could be
said if you fall on your head

I wear full gloves with wrist splints on both sides, but there's no
good way to protect your fingers other than don't fall with
oiutstretched hands.

Think of it this way: If you fall, you're gonna land on some part of
your anatomy, so which one do you prefer, your face?

Get some leather gloves and tape your fingers together in pairs, so
you'll have a thumb and two sets of double fingers, it still works for
muni, and the two finger combos are stronger and more injury resistant
than the individual fingers. I leave my gloves taped and just slip them
on and off.


--
Nurse Ben
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Nurse Ben;1153211 wrote:
Get some leather gloves and tape your fingers together in pairs, so
you'll have a thumb and two sets of double fingers, it still works for
muni, and the two finger combos are stronger and more injury resistant
than the individual fingers. I leave my gloves taped and just slip them
on and off.



[making ET noise] loook at my hands, i am an alien! ... ... ...
mmrooowwww... ... ...

really tho, that seems like it would get to you after a while, and
fingers would become very sore very quickly.


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Buddy taping your fingers like Nurse Ben suggests might help. I agree
with others though the best way to get good at falling is to fall a
lot.

Martial arts like Judo or Jujutsu would be great training.

Also if you are falling on your hands try not to spread your fingers
but do not make a fist. have your hands in a nice neutral position
(fingers close slightly curled etc)


--
saskatchewanian
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I dont know about the uni yet so thanks for this thread! but I've
fallen a million+ times skating. Forwards is safest. I find its best
to impact multiple places so I hit knees, elbows and wrist guards. More
areas disperses the impact I find. Odd falls, collapse (keep body
loose), get small, roll it out. Worst thing is outstretched arm. Even
with wrist guards, the force travels to your forearm. I wish I knew how
to fall sideways with my head going towards the ground. Natural
instinct is put arm out. So thats how I shattered my arm! I guess to
tuck arm around head to hit many places and roll it out?


--
cbs
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I think its a good thing to learn to dive and roll, and be able to tuck
up and break roll out of bails. It spreads the force out more in a hard
fall. Other than that wear protection lol, it's simple.


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zogola;1152890 wrote:
Does it take a long time for the lessons to become ingrained enough to
be second nature when you are about to eat it? Do the lessons still
help with the sometimes awkward (and FAST) ways a person falls from a
uni?

Yes. No. Meaning: probably it doesn't take a long time for those lessons
to become sufficiently ingrained, so they still would help in a
practical case.

Before I started riding 36" unicycles I had never had a fall while I
was going faster than I could run. After some practice on a 36", going
faster than you can run is not uncommon. Knowing that I would fall, I
rehearsed mentally what I should do when I would lose it and fall
forward: tuck my head and roll over my (right) shoulder. Mind you, I had
never actually done this, but I did read about this technique. I've had
a couple of such falls now, and much to my relief I was successfully
able to do such a roll without much thinking. Like you say, when you
fall everything happens so fast that you don't have time to think.

Now in your case, riding off an 8" step, you're not going faster than
you can run, so in principle there no need for a roll. Remember that the
uni will save itself, but you have to save yourself. That means: bail
out early enough that you can land on your feet. But if you can't (e.g.
because you try too long to correct and stay on the wheel) and are about
to eat it, that same tuck-and-roll technique might help.

Back to the case described in your initial post: better is avoiding to
fall in the first place. If you ride off an 8" step, you could absorb
the landing by bending forward. Also, don't put your weight on the seat,
or you'll bounce off of it.


--
Klaas Bil
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Thanks everybody, your input has been really helpful. I'm taking notes
here... Better gloves, wrist protection, taping paired fingers, basic
martial arts, don't make a fist, stay relaxed, avoid outstretched arms,
improve technique to avoid falling in the first place, fall more,
etc. It all makes sense, and I'll look into it all. Any further tips
on technique to avoid injury or equipment recommendations are
appreciated.

Oh and Klaas Bil... I think you probably found the cause of my wipeout-
too much weight in the seat. Thanks for the suggestions.

Kurt


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zogola
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I can't help you, so for I have broken my back and torn my meniscus in
my knee! I suck!


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Munivision

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