Safe Fall with surfskates, learn to fall and avoid getting injured

The World Health Organization points to falls as a significant global public health problem, which is " the second leading cause of death worldwide due to accidental or unintentional injuries " (WHO, 2018).

In our current society this phenomenon has generated a programmed collective fear, it is known that many people do not practice certain sports to avoid falling and getting hurt , surfskate is one of them. Many surfers know very well the benefits of a Surfskate, but they do not dare to use them thinking that they could fall, injure themselves, and thus harm the practice of Surfing.

Similarly, people who have never skated before are afraid to start surfskate for the same fear of getting injured.

At Carving Social Club, we are aware of the importance that this problem has for the population, and how it can affect the practice of our sports activity. For this reason, in collaboration with University Research Groups , from the University of Seville and the University of Jaén, we have decided to get involved in the research and development of a program designed to study the motor response , when faced with a fall produced in the practice of Surfskate , thus trying to obtain a protection response against falls. The implementation of a program of these characteristics supposes the possibility of strengthening prevention and contributing to reduce the harmful consequences associated with falls.

We are already immersed in this new adventure, we are in the first phase of collecting information, and for this, we wanted to count on your help, and we wanted to know if you could please answer this questionnaire with the greatest precision and sincerity about the falls you have suffered , this will allow us to know the incidence of falls in the population practicing Surfskate. Of course we assure you that the data provided will be completely anonymous. In addition, your answers will help us to adapt and design a program that contributes to increasing personal protection and safety in the event of a fall, whether in the practice of sports or an unexpected fall.

In a second phase, it is proposed to develop the Safe fall program applied specifically to Surfskate, to be implemented by our monitors in each class . It is an educational, preventive and health program that, based on the falls of Judo and other martial arts, allows teaching how to act in the event of a fall. Assimilation exercises are carried out, designed with the aim that students automate the protective gestures necessary to reduce the consequences of a fall in sports practice. These gestures also present a clear utilitarian transfer to other situations in daily life.

We can conclude by saying that the Safe Fall with Surfskate program that we propose is in line with the recommendation made by the WHO on the need to develop effective fall prevention programs. It is a program that provides a novel vision that can complement existing preventive programs, acting actively on the subject who falls and the response to that fall.

We want to ensure that the fear of falling is not an impediment to practicing such a fun and functional sport, such as Surfskate, and to avoid injuries as much as possible.

Do you dare to contribute and fill in the questionnaire please?

Thank you!