edp773

Hit the ground. Laugh out loud and get back on bike.

cryptid01

Example forms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl4B8...elated&search=

Hyper

Since I dislocated my shoulder doing some wild BMX (stupid) stuff, I now proceed with the following

1. Put body in fetus position
2. Let muscles + helmet + shin/knee pads absorb the ground
3. Pray
4. Suck thumb for additional points

Seriously ... the fetus fall position is great if your mtbing .. youre less likely to dislocate a shoulder


Therapy for this is costs more than your fork!

albyhellscream

here's one way....

the moment you start to crash or have that feeling in the pit of ye stomach that you are gonna fall, close your eyes and for it to end.

pun intended

jtfind

Practice, practice, practice

Dirt-Jumper

Basically.. if you fall just roll.

Lazerus_Shade

Best fall training i could have had came in the form of a jujitsu class. First year of it they basically teach you to fall down on diffrent surfaces, and under diffrent typs of throws. The theory being you will get your butt kicked, and fall a lot before you actually get good enough to kick some ones butt.

At any rate they all ways suggested slapping the ground before your body hits. Arms streight out make finger tip contact and easy your self to the ground. This works both when landing on your back arms straight to the sides and back so you slapp the ground first as well as doing a roll. It gives better controll to the rest of your body. The catch to this do not lock your arms keep them loose so that you do not break them.

If doing a roll try to pick either the left or right shoulder (prefrence is normally dominate hand, and try both to make sure) and roll to that hand..up the arm and across the shoulder.)


All of this takes practice.. you can do this by throwing yourself into rolls in the yard, or doing like i did by going to a class with an instructor to guide you. It may feel funny throwing yourself, but it lets you get practice time, and all the aches, and pain you will get that night are a sure fire way to tell you what you did wrong.

newguy_124234

i try and cross my arms across my chest. i broke my arm in a crash so i try and protect that. i also tuck my chin to my chest. try and land on your shoulder and roll. i've had alot of expierence in this sorta thing (i think my bike may hate me, haha)

seosamh

that's great advice, laughter is a fantastic cure for pain!

kokomo

What he said.

Shiva

I second this. I took judo for years, and it has saved me so many broken bones that I cannot begin to count. Plus if you fall right, I often roll and end up on my feet. It tends to shock the other riders. They ask how I do it, but falling/rolling is such instinct at this point, I don't even know how I'm doing it - it's just habit by now.

seosamh

see i don't get this? do you ride where there's always a nice soft grassy landing or something? cause generally if i don't use my arms and legs there's a strong chance i'll break an arm/back/leg on a big boulder or impale myself on a branch or something....

ps trying to land on your feet as the boy above says is good advice too...getting to your feet as soon as possible is probably up there with the best advice on here. imho.

ChuckO

Just don't lead with your face. I'd say that's the most important one. Remember Christopher Reeve? That's a prime example of going in face first.
Good advice about the martial arts classes too, also wrestling training puts a lot of focus on falling.

jibi

+1 for don't lead with the face


george