tired of getting worked?

Took a neck snapper today on a 3 attempt and snapped my neck, smashed my backside, causing short term memory loss, headache, feeling like I should give up wakeboarding... Worse part is after the fall I was in the water and was actually "out" for short time. Never happened before! Scary feeling when you're not a kid anymore and can't recoup as soon or heal as soon as a teen anymore, and have more to loose! When do you know when to hang it up?

Hang it up? You need to get back on the horse dood. Concussions happen. Unless you've taken a lot of them, I wouldn't let it stop me from riding. Just have fun for a while and throw what you can land comfortably. Last time I had a concussion, I just chilled out for a few months by not pushing myself.

Never!! You may not be a kid anymore but you can always take a nice slash session behind the boat, or or do some wakesurfing or wakeskating. Easier falls, good times!!

Thats what I'm talking 'bout! Although I've had 4 or 5? Don't remember anymore!

Helmet??

Don't let a few times scary you off. Your not going to learn to pull the big moves if you don't try.

I wore one after I had several in a row...(it seems when you have one you are more easily susceptable to others) and got another while wearing the helmut! More surface area to slow down. I haven't had one in 3 years and haven't missed them at all!

4 or 5 pfffft! Thats nothing. I have had 15 concussions and I am only 20! Ill ride till I kill myself.

Holy crap! You seem to be able to type without any difficulty. I'm ready to get back on the water!

i think staying healthy is a combination of things. im 36 (37 in august), and last year was my worst year for injuries, none were of the kind that made me think it was time to hang it up - and i bounced back from them with no problem.

there are many things you can to do ameliorate the effects of (and the iternances of) debilitating crashes (i use the 3 as an example since you mentioned it - but i believe these ideas apply to any trick):


1) don't try anything you're not ready for. although it's often tempting, learn the progressive tricks that lead up to that trick you really want. can you do ollie bs 180s to blind in the flats? can you do them inside/out? then maybe you shouldn't be trying 3s. do all the land training you can do as well. have you done a hundred handle pass 3s on the ground with a rope tied off to a tree? or on a trampoline?

2) don't go big at first. 3s are easiest w2w. don't be afraid to take a loop in off the rope, slow the boat down, take some weight out or just take an easier cut into the wake.

3) be healthy. are you overweight? do you stretch and loosen up before and after riding? do you do any off-water exercise to build and strengthen the muscles you'll use on the water? do you eat right?

i've started taking showers in the morning before i ride. i didn't use to since i figured i was hitting the lake and would just need to take another afterwards anyways, but it helps wake me up and warms up my muscles. i do some light stretching right there in the shower.

im also now a vegan. it's not for everyone, but i highly recommend at least looking into taking vitamin supplements and fitting some more raw veggies and fruit into your diet. the better you take care of your body now when it's not injured, the faster it can heal when it is. and the better the quality of the food you eat, the better the quality of what your body is made of (since that's where it comes from!)

4) be prepared. don't show up for a set with only a few hours of sleep and a residual amount of alcohol in your bloodstream (a mistake i made at the last canyon comp!). you may think you're doing fine, but your reactions, proprioception and overall mental faculties are diminished.

5) wear protective gear. just because you sustained an injury with a helmet doesn't mean you shouldn't use one. i wear a helment and ski pants under my shorts. makes those bangers a lot easier to handle.


as we get older we can't be as abusive of our bodies as we were as teenagers and young adults. the smarter you can be about living in general, the better off you'll be and the better your wakeboarding experience will be. please don't follow the advice of a 20 year old with 15 concussions under his belt.

im no advocate of just playing it safe. you have to go for it, have fun, take chances. but there's no reason to be reckless or stupid about how we do that.

(Message edited by deepstructure on April 16, 2004)

I think J-Rod said it best. Come back slowly and dont push yourself to ride at the same level right away. Its only time to hang it up when your not having fun. Other than that, keep riding!

shawn,
my best friend died last fall on folsom lake from hitting his head a few too many times working on whirly birds. He was a 24 year old firefighter/paramedic who saved lives, and he couldnt save his own, no one is invincible,please rethink your comment

I'm 14 and I have had 9 concussions. 2football, 2wakeboarding, 1diving, 2trampoline, 1hammer, and 1baseball.

The weird thing is that Rob nails his switch 3 all the time - it was strange to see him take a huge fall on something that is a pretty normal part of his routine. It definitely wasn't out of his realm of ability.

Chris Stack - I think Rob is about your age and he's in pretty good shape - actually, he's probably in better shape than anyone I know 30-40 years old. Here's a video I made of some of his riding in March.
http://www.wakepics.com/view_single.php?medid=10228

Don't worry about it man, just take it easy for a while. I'll just have to go bigger to take up your slack!! lol

ah the good ole switch 3. that's what my last injury was on. popped out a rib when i came up a bit short on the rotation. fun.

nice vid. that first switch roll was huge! lol. nice riding.

Chris- You forgot rule #6
6) when riding doubles be aware of where the land is. ecspecialy when riding without your helmet for one of the few times that year.

But seriously Rob, Your only old if you make yourself feel that way.

In the larger scheme of things, wakeboarding's not that bad. Try bullriding! Went to a rodeo on saturday night. Don't remember calling for my bull, but OH what a wreck. I woke up tuesday night in critical care. Seems I had 2 seizures brought on by severe head trauma and been in a coma for three days. A good crash on a wakeboard almost seems fun after that!

BTY
8 months later, after being released from a doctors care, I started bullrinding again. Didn't stop until my wife got pregnant; had to change my priorities!

cuncussions are serious and I have not had any yet (thank god) I only know of one guy in real life who got 3 and his forth, he died, all from wakeboarding. Dont push yourself that hard, just have fun.

I personally have slowed my wakeboarding way way down and sky ski way more, I havnt been injured but 1 time although I'm not saying it cant happen, its just a lot easier on the body than wakeboarding.

Parkgirl - I remember reading about that in the newspaper. I’m sorry that you lost a close friend. And I do understand that no one is invincible, I also have lost family and friends. But I don’t need to rethink my comment cause for one I was be sarcastic, and two, well; you never know when your time will be so why not live life to the fullest(check my personal quote as well). Again I am deeply sorry for your loss, I know what it feels like.

Also I guess I could have mentioned this earlier, that only one of me concussions has come from wakeboarding. I have gotten 2 while snowboarding, 3 while playing basketball, 1 cause I feel through a roof, and the rest well from an assortment of different things. So it seems as though wakeboarding is the safest thing I can do!!!

how does getting a concussion qualify as living life to the fullest?

lol jeremy. good point. keeping an eye out for large obstructing land masses is a good idea too.

proprioception? say what?

Because I push myself as hard as I can in everything I do. And if I am injured in the process oh well thats part of life.

Im sorry that we see life differently chris, but hey •••••••••••••

shawn we don't see life so differently in that respect. im all about pushing myself - but the leap from "being all you can be" to "i've had 15 concussions," is where i see the difference.

it's definitely possible to get concussions being smart while you push yourself, but it's also possible to get them being absolutely stupid or careless.

im not saying which ones you've had, im just saying that living life to its fullest doesn't automatically equal concussions, thus having sustained concussions doesn't automatically equal living life to the fullest. i doubt you'd contend that you've lived a more full life than others here so far simply because you've had 15 concussions.

i completely agree that if you're injured in the process that's part of life - to what degree and how often i believe are aspects you can influence.

thane my man - proprioception:

"The unconscious perception of movement and spatial orientation arising from stimuli within the body itself.

Muscles, tendons, joints and the inner ear contain proprioceptors, also known as stretch receptors, which relay positional information to our brains. Our brains then analyze this information and provide us with a sense of body orientation and movement."

an word i learned many moons ago reading dr. oliver sacks "the man who mistook his wife for a hat." - an excellent book about what happens when the neurological functioning of the brain goes awry.

Chris - I agree with what you are saying. I’m not trying to say that the only way to live life is to get hurt, by any means. What my thoughts were is that if you are always thinking that you are going to be injured while doing something you are limiting you potential.

"but the leap from "being all you can be" to "i've had 15 concussions," is where i see the difference."

When I said I had gotten 15 concussions I was merely stating that being injured shouldn’t stop you from doing what you love to do. This message got lost when I jokingly said “Ill ride till I kill myself” and someone took offense to it(which I can totally understand). I have broken my ankle twice and received 2 concussions while playing basketball, but I still play every day cause I love to do it. Call me stupid, cause I know I do.

Rob, just keep rollin', rollin', rollin'...

Sorry shawn, I dont buy it, I think 15 concussions is BS and if you really had 15 concussions you wouldnt be able to remember how many you actually had because you would be so flooked in the head!

Ron - Are you a doctor? If not please don’t talk to me about how "flooked" in the head I should be. And if you really want me to break it down how I got every single one I will.

BTW - its not really that crazy, there have been football players that have had 20-30 concussions over their careers. They are still "normal".

I just call them how I see them bro. You couldnt even name where half of them came from. Your only 20 years old so lets just say........ you started getting these when you were 15, thats 15 in 5 years, 3 a year, one every 4 Months for 5 years straight, yeah ok bro.

3 from basketball? You sure your not playing football or hockey? I think your at greater risk of getting one from ping pong than you are of getting 3 by the age of 20 playing basketball.

You should really start wearing your helmet when playing basketball
(Message edited by simba on April 17, 2004)

(Message edited by simba on April 17, 2004)

Way to make assumptions, I actually received my first when I was 7 years old. Also I said I had gotten 2 from basketball (one my brother kneed me the side of the head while I was driving to the basket, and the other I got my legs taken out from under me). And I never said I couldn’t remember how the others happened I just chose not to type it all out. So again thanks for commenting on something you know nothing about.

Sorry to hear about the concussion, I know that they are pretty scary and painful. Two summers ago my brother was going for the same 360 and landed facing the boat...toe edge went into the water and his head followed in a whipping motion. He definately blacked out and was "stupid" for the rest of the day. When we pulled in from drive home his buddy and I looked at him and he was like "What did we do today?"

What an idea, but after that we both started riding with a helmet. It may not be macho, but you feel more safe riding with it and more willing to try more tricks.

Kyle Dillingham

THe first tiem I tried an invert I wore a helmet, but after a few goes I tossed it in the boat. Only time I ever wear one now is when I'm hitting stuff at the cable park. All of my concusiions have been mild except the diving one in which I hit the cement head first underwater after jumping 10ft in the air. I could see straight, my vision was fading in and out and I wanted to sleep incredibly bad but no one would let me sleep. Yea but when it gets to the point were I feel a threat to my life or limb I'll slow down not stop but slow down.

sorry shawn, you said 3 from basketball, go read your own message. Like I said, you need to just wear a helmet every where you go.

I thank everyone for posting their experiences with injuries and wakeboarding. It helps to hear that someone else other than me has gotten hurt and had concussions before. I just don't wanna be 60 years old and using a walker to get around and don't know who my kids are and wear a brief! I wanna live life to the fullest until I check out without being debilitated!