Topic: 10-15 foot Drops....

[Todd Santee]

If you look at a drop and say 'wow, thats a long ways down.' and jump, youre an idiot.

I agree.  The only time I jump when thinking, "Wow, that's a long ways down" is when I'm jumping over a gap.  Fear is an important feeling that is within us.  We need to respect it.  We want to overcome our fears, not ignore them.

[Matt Stick]

fear is what keeps us alive.

[Jon Fox]

BAD idea at least make sure you have a buddy that can call for help if anything goes wrong
best of luck if you decide to pursue this further

[Grayson]

BAD idea at least make sure you have a buddy that can call for help if anything goes wrong
best of luck if you decide to pursue this further

Did you just reply to the OP?

[Jon Fox]

just general advice
(i sprained my ankle off of a 6 foot drop today so i was so pissed off that anbody of four weeks of training would consider this)
my bad for some reason i completely didnt notice that this was already like 11 pages long

[David Johnson]

I've been jumping down my stairs for as long as I remember...after reading this thread, I'm starting to get worried that my knees are screwed up.

[Grayson]

Speaking of the OP I train with him moderately and he now is actually very highly fitness focused and progressing very well .

[swap01]

well even though this thread should be dead and locked up I'm still gunna comment.

I don't take drops unless I have too. I'm 14, 5'8 and around 150 pound mainly muscle. could you imagine the force on my knees from over 100 pounds hitting the ground. runing puts like 2000 pounds of stress on your knees, drops (shudders) u mine as well just say goodbye to good knees in your 30's. My advice is DON'T DO DROPS

[MrChris]

Rule of thumb I learned from a USAF Pararescue Sgt.

Take your height, double it. What ever number you get, mine is 12' 6" because I am 6' 3", is your critical fall height. Anything higher than your critical fall height is not only stupid to jump off of, its down right stupid because the stress on your body would be to much ending up with broken limbs, torn ligaments, death, etc... Anyway, stick to the rule of thumb, he’s been a pararecuse guy for 9 years he’s got to be doing something right.

But, its your body/life do whatever.

[Cody Goodman]

Rule of thumb I learned from a USAF Pararescue Sgt.

Take your height, double it. What ever number you get, mine is 12' 6" because I am 6' 3", is your critical fall height. Anything higher than your critical fall height is not only stupid to jump off of, its down right stupid because the stress on your body would be to much ending up with broken limbs, torn ligaments, death, etc... Anyway, stick to the rule of thumb, he’s been a pararecuse guy for 9 years he’s got to be doing something right.

But, its your body/life do whatever.

Notice he says "CRITICAL"

(1) : relating to or being the stage of a disease at which an abrupt change for better or worse may be expected; also : being or relating to an illness or condition involving danger of death

That means, you shouldn't be taking jumps near that, even with a few years training.

[Spencer B]

I guess I'll reply to this... Again! 

I know I could take about a 18-20 foot drop without hurting myself short-term... But I would never, ever, ever, ever, ever, not-in-a-million-years, not if-you-payed-me-a-billion-dollars, would I do it. Because it's simply not safe. My form is solid, and my leg strength is great, and like I said before I took drops before (). But there are some things you need to leave to the possible and not the already done.

[Hazim Salem]

Rule of thumb I learned from a USAF Pararescue Sgt.

Take your height, double it. What ever number you get, mine is 12' 6" because I am 6' 3", is your critical fall height. Anything higher than your critical fall height is not only stupid to jump off of, its down right stupid because the stress on your body would be to much ending up with broken limbs, torn ligaments, death, etc... Anyway, stick to the rule of thumb, he’s been a pararecuse guy for 9 years he’s got to be doing something right.

But, its your body/life do whatever.

If that is always true, David Belle would be at least 9 feet tall. If you mean jumping and landing WITHOUT rolling, you (or the Srgt.) may be right.

[Jon Fox]

Notice he says "CRITICAL"

[Hazim Salem]

Notice he says "CRITICAL"

ok, my bad

[Clint Walker]

My math probably isn't perfect, but I'm going to give it a shot.

A 7 foot drop for some one like me at about 6' 2" 140lbs would generate in the ball park of 4Gs, roughly equivalent to a killer roller coaster. This is a common drop for me, and is an obtainable drop to most (with proper conditioning of course). However, as the size as the drop increases, so do the G's, right up until we reach terminal velocity. At 14 feet, you could see 8-9Gs. If I remember rightly, 9Gs is enough to do damage if it's not properly displaced. A well executed roll can potentially displace the g load as much as 40%, IF it's done correctly, and a perfect roll is a long time in the making. As a rule I don't do anything more then 9' unless I'm getting shot at, and even the 7' isn't done every time I go out. And I've never taken a drop where I had to roll on a paved surface except for one three foot drop, which the roll just sort of happened.

[theguy126]

I actually wasted my time reading this entire thread (all 12 pages) and I feel obligated to comment:

1. This was highly informative because before this thread, I had never seen the "other viewpoint" where it's bad to take high drops; I'd been immersed in that "youtube" community, and the other parkour threads did not address this problem either. So this was actually quite enlightening and probably saved me long-term injury.

2. Props to Dan Frank for posting a CORRECT explanation of why vaults put less force on knees than jumps. I'm just the average smart college student (not particularly into physics, but high-school physics is all you need) and I was going crazy reading all those dumb explanations and was afraid I'd have to explain it myself but he made me day.

[Brandan Mendenhall]

I actually wasted my time reading this entire thread (all 12 pages) and I feel obligated to comment:

1. This was highly informative because before this thread, I had never seen the "other viewpoint" where it's bad to take high drops; I'd been immersed in that "youtube" community, and the other parkour threads did not address this problem either. So this was actually quite enlightening and probably saved me long-term injury.

Spread the word, man.

[zayn]

My math probably isn't perfect, but I'm going to give it a shot.

A 7 foot drop for some one like me at about 6' 2" 140lbs would generate in the ball park of 4Gs, roughly equivalent to a killer roller coaster. This is a common drop for me, and is an obtainable drop to most (with proper conditioning of course). However, as the size as the drop increases, so do the G's, right up until we reach terminal velocity. At 14 feet, you could see 8-9Gs. If I remember rightly, 9Gs is enough to do damage if it's not properly displaced. A well executed roll can potentially displace the g load as much as 40%, IF it's done correctly, and a perfect roll is a long time in the making. As a rule I don't do anything more then 9' unless I'm getting shot at, and even the 7' isn't done every time I go out. And I've never taken a drop where I had to roll on a paved surface except for one three foot drop, which the roll just sort of happened.

140x9.8m/s squared would be the formula you'd use to find the speed in which relates to g's. anyways i know its "bad" to take high drops but i find that i can do about a 20' +/- a ft (no im not exagerating) with relative ease...its not a problem for me, now i dont go out of my way to do stupid shit but i do go out my way to practice high-impact falls. i cant do it upon cement only a 13' i tried and i was ok but i hit my shoulder so i try to advoid hard ground on rolls. we should practice rolls from decent enough height so if we're ever in that situation you can be ready and know what to do.
-this is my tid-bit im not telling anyone to do anything at all, exspecially if your uncomfortable with them. if you do, do these high-impact falls wear like 2shirts and a decently thick hoody for cushion and safety.

[Adam McC]

Oh God.


2 shirts will not help the ridiculous amount of damage those kinds of drops are doing to your knees, ankles, hips, back, and so on.

Please. Zayn, do what you like, and no offense meant to you, but if anybody is reading that, do not train like that. Its simply a bad idea.

[Meshach]

Oh God.


2 shirts will not help the ridiculous amount of damage those kinds of drops are doing to your knees, ankles, hips, back, and so on.

Please. Zayn, do what you like, and no offense meant to you, but if anybody is reading that, do not train like that. Its simply a bad idea.

+1

IMHO you should be able to do all your drops in bare feet. If it gives you pain in bare feet, you aren't doing it right.