How To Fall

Winter is fast approaching, and with it comes wet slippery leaves and puddle soaked floors. Unless you are out practicing your Parkour, you probably have only tried to be more careful in potentially treacherous conditions. 

As I’ve gotten older, I notice that most people seem to have an increased fear of falling. I am personally over it, as I get tripped up by what I will dub “carpet sharks” that jump up and grab my ankles on low pile carpet with a perfectly flat surface. UGH! Further, I get tackled hard in soccer games and go down. Finally, I have been known to trip on a tree root on a trail run in the mud and superman it down the path. 

Big deal. It happens!

Practice that fall!

However, have you ever considered the benefits of actually practicing falling down, in case you hit a hidden banana peel or loose gravel?

If you don’t get attacked by carpet sharks, or tackled in soccer games, or go on trail runs, you might consider practicing falling down. Just like any sport, the more you practice, the easier and less fearful you are about hitting the ground.  

One day, I happened to see my friend Lori Jorgenson teaching her group of seniors (dubbed the Forever Young crew at Club Sport Oregon) how to fall in the rock gym on a nice big padded crash pads. It looked like fun, so I stopped to watch. 

What were the tips she conveyed to her group?

Watch the video here of the group lined up and throwing themselves down…on purpose! (Lori is to the left of center in a red shirt). 

Practice tips

The highlights of falling and things to practice are as follows:

1. Turn your head to the side.
2. Breathe OUT as you go down. 
3. Have your palms straight down or make fists with elbows bent to ninety degrees.
4. Relax as you fall like a cat.
5. Practice falling from a kneeling position, and then plan on using your knees to break your fall. Utilize the powerful tool of visualizing the perfect fall and landing as light as a feather. If you don’t have a big crash pad try a couch or mattress! 

Let me know in the comments below if it has:

1. ever occurred to you to practice falling or 
2. if you have and how it went, or if it came in handy. 

Keep moving

I once played soccer with a girl who had done gymnastics all of her life, and then taken up soccer later on. She was tackled hard, but as she fell her gymnastics training took over, and she instantly tucked into a somersault and popped right up again, completely unharmed and unruffled.  It was remarkable, and speaks again to the concept of practicing that tumble. It takes away the fear!