Falling

When I first started skating, I didn't use any safety equipment. No wrist guards, elbow or knee pads. Albeit, at that point, most of my falling was onto my backside. However, I think I could have pushed myself harder if I'd had those pieces of equipment. To know how far you can go, you have to push past that point. When pushing past that point means falling, you're less likely to try it.

At the end of March I finally got all of my gear. The difference was amazing. I could fall and it didn't hurt! It's not perfect but I could fall on my knees and not really feel it. I decided to buy 187 knee pads which have a lot of padding on them. To quote one derby lady I know, it's like "falling on baby Jesus kittens." In a way, it's pretty much like that. It also gave me more confidence. I was willing to push harder and found that I was much more likely to fall forward than I had been.

Monday was a brutally hot day. A large group of us showed up for the NSRG clinic. I don't know if it was just one of those days or if the hot weather had anything to do with it but I didn't seem to be able to do anything properly, even falling. I had a couple of "good" falls (forward, on my knees, pulling myself in) but then I just started to fall. I actually had to adjust my knee pads as I fell hard enough to knock it off center. I fell when people passed me, when I tried to work on crossovers and once I think I just fell while standing still. The place that the clinics are held is outdoors. This is not as nice of a surface to fall on and I'm even more grateful that I got the 187's with their extra big padding. The ground doesn't give as much as the skating floors. I left Monday feeling rather sore from all the falling, even with my "Baby Jesus Kittens" knee pads. I went home and iced my knee.

Today I still managed to fall (knee taps are harder than they appear; I need to work on control and not just let myself fall to my knee) but they were better falls. I feel once on my backside but it didn't feel as bad as the multiple times I did that on Monday. The really encouraging thing is not only do people check with you to see if you're alright (which makes me a little embarrassed especially when it's something really stupid that caused me to fall) but they also tell you that you're trying.

Sometimes falling means you're not balanced right or you're spending too much time looking at your feet. Sometimes it's just a sign that it's an off day. The times that I like falling are when it's because I'm pushing myself. I'm working on a new skill or trying harder to master one that I've been introduced to. This sort of falling is almost encouraged because it means you are trying. It's not the reckless showing off that some members of society like to do (I'm currently reminded of a group of young men who tried to out do each other on rental skates at one of the local rinks).

It'll be interesting to see what it's like to fall because someone got a good check on me...