As much as I love ice skating, I really do, I'm terrified of falling. The first time I fell properly I sprained my wrist, which has made it worse. I would really love to get over my fear of falling and be able to put more oomph into my jumps, knowing that if I fall, so what, but I can't bring myself to actually fall over and get it done with. How did you people get over fears of falling? (if you had any!)

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In order to overcome a fear of falling, you must fall.

Sorry, but that's the only way I've ever seen work.

Pad yourself up to the gills, heck wear full hockey gear if you want--then throw on a nylon (slippery) jogging suit, go out on a quiet public sesion, and go SLIDING. Skate a little ways, very slowly, & slowly let yourself down (like we teach the kids--dip & hug your knees, then tilt over onto your hip) until you're sliding on the ice. Get up & do it again (& again & again). It may take awhile, but it will get you into the ho-hum down again, up again mindset that you need in order to be willing to push yourself into trying new/scarier/faster things.

And the kids will love you! Guaranteed they'll join in on the slide-fest!

I am actually with you. Since I began skating I have been terrified on falling and landing on my head. Until today I am very cautious.

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I used to be a competitive jumper (horses) and could fall like a champ. Now that I am older and am on ice, I have the same problem you do. Falling hurts. These old bones don't bounce back like they used to. Can't help but I can empathize.

Im going to have to agree, the only way to stop being afraid of falling is to fall. Just let yourself. Its like to get over your fear of flying you have to fly, or to get over your fear of heights you have to look out thewindow of a tall building...
Just let yourself fall so that you can get over it. It might take time but at least you wont be afraid again.

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Theres lots of new kinds of padding (designed for skaters) that you can wear relativley discretly. Including butt, knee, and hand pads. I used to have the same prob;em as you but ive foudn wearing these diffrent types of padding really helped me get over my fear of falling.

It's natural to be afraid of falling. People who have no fear of falling kill themselves rather early with falls off cliffs, houses, etc. The kind of falling we do when skating is unlikely to seriously hurt us, but we still have that natural fear. I do my best to keep it out of my mind. Certain kinds of music help me relax and move better also. Sometimes I bring a small MP3 player with me and listen to what I know works best for me. Lots of time, other skaters' program music works too. I would stop skating if I couldn't skate without fear at least some of the time.

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I agree with the others, just fall. Don't think about it, just skate. And if you should fall, then get up. Stay nice and relaxed so you won't hurt yourself. Thats why drunk drivers rarely get seriously hurt, they're usually so relaxed when they impact, they just don't get hurt. Just don't think about, that's what I've always found to be easiest. If I think about not falling, that's when I usually end up falling, and akwardly also. But, if I just focus on the skating, when I fall, half the time I don't even notice falling until I find myself on the ice.

When I first get out onto the ice each time I practice I skate slowly then fall over in a controlled manner on purpose so that I get that fear out of my head because I tell myself that my fall for the day has already been done.

It is unfortunatelly true that in the sport of figure skating and especially freeskating -- the only way to get better is to fall. You need to learn how to fall and yes you need to get used to it. I personally have fallen so hard and so often that I have seriously bruised bones or even stress fractured (both elbows). Over the years as I have learned how to jump better and gotten better core strength the falls have become less severe. I have also learned how to relax when I fall, if I feel things going badly I just go limp. Mind this is what works for me. I am very tall and very slender and when I go down it is very hard. It has taken years (3) to get used to it.

The worse falls are edge falls,especially w/ regards to field moves, those are very hard to anticipate and the most scary. Just keep on skating, pad yourself up and unfortunately, get used to it.

la

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Someone once told me when I was a kid that if you don't fall, you aren't trying hard enough. As an adult now working on my Axel, my coach INSISTS I fall. It is understood that if I am not falling on the Axel I am not putting forth enough effort.

Some people think falling as a skater is the worst thing you can do. But it's not. Skaters fall all the time. I usually fall several times a session.

So go ahead ...fall!!!

Lara

At first, I was terrified of falling-wouldn't learn any jumps or anything that might make me fall. I didn't move away from the wall for jumps and moves until I started wearing crash pads. It helped a lot. At first, I wore them every time I was on the ice (along with knee and elbow pads). They were my 'training wheels' for a while. After a while, I found I didn't need them as much and found that sometimes they even got in the way!

There are times that I hurt myself more by trying not to fall-pulled muscles, strained back, etc. I've 'let go' a few times and ended up not too terribly hurt. Although it seems that the falls that really hurt are the ones from out of nowhere-evil back progressive -(or that just happen when you are doing nothing worth falling about-like standing around on the ice!)

I always manage to land on my left hip more than I care to count so I will be getting a gel pad for that (they are thinner than crash pads). I'm 43 and don't want a hip replacement just yet! You might want to get some of those for your hips and tailbone, and possibly knees and elbows as they are thinner than the foam pads and more 'discreet'.

It's all about knowing how to fall without getting seriously hurt, and like everyone else says, core strength to help prevent falling in the first place. After a few falls it will get easier to deal with. I am almost a 'jumper' and am able to work on more stuff. Go for it!

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Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Wow, it's funny. Me and my coach were talking about this very subject today. He said you should just go with the fall and not try to fight it. When you try to fight it, you end up getting hurt worse than if you just went with it. He said your body naturally will disperse the energy as it's sliding.

I know that's logic, but I still don't really want to fall, LOL.

Suz

In thinking about this, I realize that I'm not really afraid of falling per se -- bruises, although not welcome, don't frighten me all that much. It's more a fear of something really bizarre happening; in particular: slicing open a leg with a blade; breaking a bone; hitting my head on a backwards fall and getting a concussion. Especially the broken bone thing: I don't want to be one of those "little old ladies" (I just turned 58) who breaks her hip and never recovers but instead withers away in a nursing home

I wonder, though: in your experience, are these kind of things the exception rather than the rule? Maybe if I could convince myself that they are truly rare, and that most falls will not be so dire, I could loosen up a bit and, yes, let myself fall. (Ah, to be 30 again and blissfully fearless!)

Ellen

I had one fall that landed me with a concussion. Not sure what exactly I was doing, I think it maybe was a crossover, or a spin and lost my edge, I really don't remember (funny how those concussions are). Fortunatly, my concussion wasn't too severe, but they told me not to do any physical activity until I've had 2 weeks of concussion free symptoms. Most people only have to wait a week, but I have various other neurological problems, so better safe than sorry. Although, I didn't listen to them and went back after a week. I had symptoms for a couple of days.

But most of my other falls were not anywhere near as serious. And I've fallen plenty. That's fortunatly hte only time I've ever seriously injured myself. My worst injuries tend to come from stupid things like walking down stairs or playing with my 15 pound dog. I think it's actually safer for me to be on the ice.

I dunno, I guess while serious injuries do happen, it's not very common. And, if you're skating at whatever age, that's gotta make you physically younger than your age really says.

Well, I'm 40 and I've been skating for 8 years and fallen a gazillion times without a major injury, if that's any consolatoin. The most big falls I've had have been on the axel, but I've learned that falls on jumps are better than other falls. You have time to right yourself and choose how to fall because you're in the air. Also, on a fall from a jump, you just roll and get back up and keep going. The worst falls I've had have been when I've caught an edge and the rest of me kept going and hit the ice. No way to save those ones! So jumping is less dangerous in a way than a lot of other things you could be doing. The one thing to remember is that it is impossible to have a bad fall while you're straight upright in the air with the toes of both feet pointed. Really! The worst that can happens is you hop off of your toepick onto a comfortable edge if you aren't quite backwards on the landing.

Man, I am probably one of the BIGGEST chickens here on this skatingforums!!! I was so afraid of falling at one time that my coach starts CHEERING when I DO fall... THEN ask if I was okay!
There was one time where I screwed up a good three turn for the umpteen millionth time and he comes up to me, holds my shoulders, shakes me (gently) and says "That's it!!! I'm gonna make you fall! I'm gonna make you fall!!!"

The point of all this is... I have fallen before and I can tell you the majority of the falls I've taken at worst is a really bad bruise on the knees. My worst skating related injuries are NOT falls but overuse of muscles actually!!! (Those are the ones that will take me out for a couple of months.)

One thing I've also realized is that I bend my knees not JUST b/c I want to be on the entire blade, but also b/c when I do fall, I'm already lower to the ground, so the impact won't be as bad. (Sneaky, huh?)

I still have a ways to go through when it comes to learning to push myself and risk falling though, but I'm better now.

Hope this gives you some perspective to chomp on...

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11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

There's a woman who I used to see quite often, and I could always tell she was much better than she showed. I loved her skating(and I'll always consider her my greater), but I also found I was doing the same things she had been practicing in years. Personally I would have rather seen her pushing herself, and getting a little embarrased rather than holding back and trying to be perfect.

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I am not regret.

I am 59 and also a little leery of taking falls. I have already dislocated my shoulder and have gotten some nasty bruises on my hip and elbows.

Part of the fear cause is that the older you get, the longer it takes to heal. It took me almost a year to finally get rid of all the pain in my shoulder and the bruises take weeks to go away.

Part and parcel with falls is mid ice collisions. I got smacked by a female skater 4 years ago who though only 17, weighed almost as much as me..she was about 5" 11" and muscular. I felt sore for weeks after that, like being in a car crash.

As someone above already stated, to be 20, 30, 40 years younger!!

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I hear what you're saying. I once pulled a muscle in my leg saving myself from falling out of a backspin. I'm really good at saving myself but I can feel my stomach churning when I'm off balance.

I just wanna to go on the ice and throw myself on it. I remember having a few slight falls, and it didn't hurt which really pleased me, almost made me excited at the fact I'd fallen without pain and gotten up again.

If I could get over my fear, I could put more speed and effort into my jumps, and have more confidence which I'm constantly being nagged at for....it's just getting out there and doing it, isn't it?

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Absolutely. It sounds crazy, but the more momentum you have when you fall, the LESS likely you are to get hurt. Jump falls don't hurt me at all--seriously. Once you learn how and where to fall (on the padded side of your butt), all you do is slide and hop back up. You don't even get bruised (unless maybe you fall on exactly the same place like, 50 or 100 times in an hour--and that's still a maybe).

My worst falls have been when I've just been standing around chatting, and suddenly my weight shifts for no reason, and I've found myself on my butt. I don't know how it happens (especially since I'm not exactly a newbie), but it does sometimes! Also bad are the 'click-of-death' ones---you know, when you're doing crossovers and you click your blades. But even those are often 'recoverable'. I once fell doing a spin--somehow caught an edge mid-spin, and came straight down on my tailbone. Ouch...that hurt. But that was because there was no lateral movement or momentum. When there is, the risk of pain or injury is very small.


To get used to falling, try doing shoot-the-ducks. Really, it works! They're a basic skill you'll need to learn anyway, and they put you down close to the ice, slowly, with movement, so that when you're down there, just let go and 'fall', and get used to sliding. (Wearing slippery pants helps a lot, here! Lots more distance. )

After that---you just need to "snap out of it" and put some oomph into your jumps, regardless of the fear. It's not the 'oomph' that causes falls---it's the timidness. More 'oomph' = less painful falls. Seriously. It's one of those things that seems contradictory, but you've just got to do it to see.

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I nominate this for "Best SkatingForums Thread Ever."

Like jazzpants, I am very timid and get cheering & high-fives from my coach when I fall. I read this thread before I went to the rink this morning and purposely did a bunch of shoot-the-ducks and lunges so I could practice toppling over. I am not sure it'll ever be possible for me to "snap out of it" all at once but I want to keep pushing the boundaries. I don't like looking tentative and I know I do!

I can vouch that it doesn't usually hurt when a fall catches me unawares--I don't have time to tense up. I did a "click of death" one time (going pretty slowly, probably my first mistake), heard the click, and found myself sitting on the ice (in no pain at all) thinking, David Byrne-style, "How did I get here?"

Hi,
When I get spooked about falling while practicing doubles, I take a moment and watch the kids. I watch them fall and I watch them get up. I know I'm much older and am doing this with an adult body, but I also see the adults I skate with fall, then get up. I think something that helps is to realize that you are going to fall, it's just a part of skating.

good thread!

first i like to tell myself "the ice is my friend" and definately I agree with a lot of you, you need to fall to not be scared to fall, even if you fall on purpose. Personally i find if I'm skating and not falling or almost falling at all I'm prob not trying my hardest. the worst falls Ive taken gave really bad bruises on my knee (swollen and tender and all that) which last maybe like 3 weeks...but with some advil and icing the bruise they are ok now. usually my bad falls come from those nasty crossovers when one blade kicks the other blade out or even worse in a fwd crossover my foot hits toepick first in the ice-ouch! lol But hey this is part of skating its fun and a great learning experience!

Ah yes, the dreaded "click of death".

When you hear that sound, especially when doing cross-overs, you know your butt is about to do some serious ice time!!

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