Land Safely After Falling off of a BMX
Everyone falls off their BMX bike, it happens. The only difference is, some people break bones, others roll away with nothing but a few scratches. Here's how to land safely after a big, or small, fall.
Steps
- Come to terms with the fact that in BMX you will pick up some injuries. BMX is one of the most dangerous sports in the world today and if you want to get good at it you will have to practice different tricks, some harder than others. Because of the nature of the sport these tricks can be very dangerous and involve lots of different elements like speed, height and flips. So don't be surprised if you pick up a few injuries here and there, this article will not teach you how to become invincible but it will teach you to land as safe as possible when falling from a BMX.
- Avoid putting out your hands first. Although your hands will absorb impact quite well, a big fall can break your wrists. If it's only a tumble, you might be able to get away with a sprain. However, to avoid either of these injuries, keep your hands tucked in.
- Save your head. The most important thing to protect is your head. If you fall on your hands, you'll break your wrists but if you fall on your head, you can suffer a much more serious injury. To protect your head, pull the same arm up as the side you're falling. For example, if you're falling to the left, pull your left arm up and put your hand in between your left ear and left eye. Tuck your head into your chest.
- Save your arm. Now that you're falling straight on to your arm, you have to save it. To do that, pull up your free and (in this case, the right hand) and place it on your opposite shoulder (in this case, the left shoulder). Now try to fall on to that hand.
- Roll through. Once you've safely protected your head and you've hit the floor with your hand, roll it out. Trying to stop yourself will just hurt you more. Rolling it our will spread out the impact. Keep in position, just roll. You'll probably roll when you hit the floor anyway, just continue to roll until you can stop.
- Landing on your back. If you are going to land on your back try to relax your muscles and spread out your arms, creating a larger surface area to absorb the impact more evenly rather that one part of your back, also land flat to avoid pulling a muscle.
- Landing on your belly. If you are going to land on your stomach try to relax your muscles and let your hands hit the floor first using your arm strength to lower yourself down onto your upper chest and then slowly flop down onto the rest of your body, like doing the worm.
Tips
- Practice landing safely at home from jumping off of your bed or something or just jump in the air from the floor and do it. Practice is the key to everything.
- If you seriously injure yourself anyway take a few days out to chill and recover, if you feel really awful don't just get back on the bike take a time out or go home, it might start out as a sprain but keep on working it and it could turn into a rip.
Warnings
- This is not a substitute for wearing a helmet!
- This is not an official guide on how to land safely this is just some tips on the subject taking into account some experiences.
Things You'll Need
- BMX bike
- Safety gear
- Somewhere to practise
