timidness

not really a question or anything, just wondering what people have to say or maybe give me some input..over the 5 years i've been wakeboarding i've busted up both knees, busted my heard open, suffered a million head slaps, and last summer broke my ankle. i thought i was done after the ankle break but just started riding again about a month ago. i just couldnt let it go. im still riding good and hard but it seems like i cant get out of my comfort zone and just go out and let it rip and try new tricks..feels kidna like im timid and worried bout gettin hurt..i know i just need to let it go and say f it and quit bein a vagina..that's the only way im gonna progress i guess..anyways just wondering if im the only one this has happened to?

that's what has happened to me after my longboarding accident this summer. i've been back on a longboard only once since it happened and i was literally shaking really badly and went so frickin' slow on a totally flat street because i was scared to death to be on it again. and every day i look at my skateboard (gave away the longboard, but kept the sk8board) but i haven't taken it out. most i've done on it are a few tic-tocs in my living room on the rug.

i've had a couple of longboarding crashes that were crucial....one took all the skin on one side of my arm, both palms of my hands, and a patch on my hip. I literally bounced off the ground during the accident....didn't know that you could bounce off the pavement like that but it is possible. The other took off the skin on half of my back but wasn't nearly as hard as the first one. I never had a confidence issue when it came to that but that was before i was even 25. They say the part of the brain that induces fear as a defense mechanism isn't fully developed until your 25.

HOWEVER, after my surgery on my shoulder in 2004, I have never been right. My riding kept degrading, I wasn't having fun. So as of the last couple of months or so.....I RETIRED THE WAKEBOARD. I am now dedicating my time to wakeskating and have never been happier. I am not saying thats what you should do, but more so just relaying that there is a huge mental factor to overcoming injuries. You may overcome the physical part of the injury but its hard to overcome the mental side of things. But maybe I would suggest trying some other things such as wakesurfing or wakeskating just for a while to get your mind off things for a bit. Then switch back when you have had more time to numb out that lingering "defense mechanism" reminding you of your injuries. Just a thought.