3rd Day and my first fall

[Ice Man]

3rd Day and at last my first falls, blow to the confidence but I feel better for getting the first one out of the way and it wasn't that bad. (thank god for wrist guards)

I'm having problems running, has anyone got any suggestions. I keep stumbling forward and catching the foot on the floor.

And I have to say thank god for railings, otherwise I'd still be sitting on Brighton Seafront trying to get up - DOH

[Charlie B]

Running is not really runnimng at all more like bounding, you need to power down on the leading leg, this will give you a high stride. Also most people run with feet slightly splayed out which means on bocks you catch the springs together and fall. Try to point your toes forward to correct.

[jono]

It could be worse, breaking your collar bone in the first 2 months

[Bill C.]

Keep lifting your feet.  As you get tired, you'll tend to lift them less and less until you accidentally clip the ground with a hoof as you swing your leg forward.

[joe23002]

Hey, im gonne try and go a bit more in-depth for you. hope you read it  (keep in mind i am only 3 weeks into these)

Starting the run.
Starting off the motion is the hardest part i find because i am always worried that my legs will clack together and i will have another nasty fall like before. To start make sure that both your feet are facing straight forward. As if they are not the floor will come towards you at an alarming rate.
To start running lift your preferred leg up and forward and then kinda hop off your other leg. Bring your preferred leg down and bounce off it.

Keeping the running going
When i first started running i tried to run like normal except with my powerisers on... doesn't work. You need to bring each leg up further than normal so that when you bring the other one down again it takes less effort to bounce right back up. Its kind of like leaping off every step, may feel strange or stupid but when someone sees that each of your strides is about as long as their car they are soon gobsmacked

Stopping the run
Now this is a pain. If you have a big stretch of road or field or whatever in front of you then you can gradually slow down. Thats what i do as i live on a quiet road Im learning to stop quickly and i hear that the best way is to go straight into a 2 footed bounce with a bent back to ruin the jump. I havent got it perfected yet but i will do soon, trust me

Congrats on getting the Bocks, have fun

Joe

[zipp]

Ice man,
when running, you need to lift your knees up a little more than normal, to avoid snagging the front of the leading hoof.
glad to hear nothing serious from your falls.

[XarnuSonci]

The hard part about running, is the faster you go, the more you compress the spring, and therefore the higher you have to lift your other foot.  Initially this doesn't make any sense so you clip a hoof and fall, you'll adjust rather quickly now that you know it happens though.

[Ice Man]

Cheers guys, it’s so awsome to have a responsive forum to talk to.

I'm going to put all these suggestion into action; hopefully I'll be leaving less skin on the pavement in future.

[MattHardwick]

Very helpful topic, guys. Thanks for answering the questions so thoroughly.

[XDvandalDJ]

So I finally had my first accidental fall today. I was bounding back and forth down my driveway, when coming to the edge of the road on a turn back. I slipped on a lose rock. But I was able to get up unaided. So I'm rather proud of myself, getting that first fall out of the way and getting up without the aid of a thing or person.

I broke a wristguard in half though. But they were cheap, so it's cool.

[XarnuSonci]

better the wrist guard than your wrist

[XDvandalDJ]

You're very right. I'm really glad to have taken the time to buy some safety gear.

[darfgarf]

wow, evryone here's been so lucky on their first falls, mine was on a wet day in southampton, with a few of the jj's.

jumped up to do a pike/toe touch or whatever you call it, and didn't bend forward enough, fell onto my wrist and ass...without guards.

...luckily it was only a sprain, but my violin teacher didn't like it very much xD

[XDvandalDJ]

Well, I'm sure if I was doing this with other people. I'd end up being more reckless with learning. The whole competition of learning faster thing would eventually get to me. Not in a bad way mind you, it'd be in all good fun.

But right now being the only bocker in my area. It's easy to go at my own pace. Probally smarter too. 

[Madon]

just try to bound.. bounce hard on one spring, then the other... You get longer strides and the hooves dont catch on the ground