HOW TO TAKE A HIT
Whatever sport you play, you will eventually take a fall. You will crash, or get popped. Whether you are about to do an endo over the handlebars, trip on a curb or slide out on snow, instant preparation is the way to minimize the damage and keep from getting hurt.
Hockey players learn this quickly. They get smashed into the boards, bashed by other players and fall onto rock hard ice. They learn how to instantly prepare to take a hit. Kelly Froerer, the hockey director for Weber County Ice Sheet in Ogden, Utah, is a former hockey player, coach, and a professional power skating instructor. He teaches players how to minimize the damage of an impact.
Froerer says, "The first and most important thing is to be aware, so you can see it coming. When you don't see it coming, that's when you can get hurt."
He says that in any athletic event, even hiking, "You never want your legs to be locked, or stiffly straight. That takes away your balance and power. Like, if you try to jump with your legs locked, you have no power. Keep your knees slightly bent."
Froerer advises that with any athletic move, all your joints should be slightly flexed, especially the knees. "The lower you are to the ground, the less likely you'll get hurt if you get hit. For example, if you're standing straight up on the pedals of a bike and you fall, it's going to hurt you more than if you're on the seat or have your leg bent and out, ready to get off the bike."
An athletic stance is good protection in any activity. Rather than have your feet together, which limits your balance, keep your feet apart, a little wider than your shoulders. Froerer compares a straight-legged, narrow stance to an unrooted tree trunk, easy to knock over. But a position of flexed knees and feet shoulder width apart gives you resilience, allowing you to flex back into place if you get knocked off balance.
"Sometimes people panic if they get off balance and stiffen up. That makes it much more likely that you'll fall and get hurt. If you see someone or something coming towards you, flex down below their level so that you have more leverage. You will then have the power in your bent knees to hit back or resist the hit. The lower you are, the more power you have. Even on skis, get low so you have less likelihood of tumbling," Froerer says.
But there is a method to holding an athletic stance. Knees should be bent slightly ahead of the toes. Your butt should be down in what hockey players call the "toilet" position, not sticking out backwards. Lean slightly forward, with your head up. That's a "neutral" athletic stance. You want to be slightly forward; otherwise all your weight will be on your heels and you will be off balance.
All good athletes learn to keep their heads up. Froerer explains, "Your head is the heaviest part of your body, so if you look down at your feet, all your balance goes down, and balance is the most important thing. It all starts with your head, and that's true of hockey, golf, skiing, snowboarding and all sports."
In fact, whether you're hitting a golf ball or taking a hit, the advice to an athlete is the same: keep your joints flexed, your head up, don't stiffen, stay relaxed. The ball will go further, and the hit will hurt a lot less.