Topic: Diving rolls..... or supermans

[Jerald Donald Konkel]

I've been doin alot of these now.... Its become my favorite thing to do. and I can find a bunch of spots to do them over too.... like over benches, snow banks, for rent signs, low fences, over the gaps between sidewalks, onto tables.... and even over my friend LOL.

But I have a question though, am I doin them correctly or should I be worried about hurting myself?.... I ask my buddy if they look right, u know, if it looks smooth. well my buddy can't do them.... so all he says is, "yeah, they look ok" ..... so once I get time I'll try to get some footage of me doing them and post it in the Pics and vids forum, right now I have none....But right now I will try my best to describe How it feels.....

ok, so when I dive over the obstacle...like a kong.... but then when my hands meet the ground I try to absob the impact with my arms and tuck my head in at the same time.... it works for me and it feels good, but sometimes my arms cant take it and I get a pain in the arm I absorb the most impact with.... it is mostly when I dive over something longer and I have more momentum. If I dive over something high I go almost vertical but it is different in pain since the momentum is not really there....

ok, so I guess my question to you all would be........ in a diving roll? are my arms supposed to absorb the impact like how my legs absorb the impact in a drop? or am I supposed to tuck right before my hands touch the ground?, leaving my arms with little or no impact resistance...... idk, like I said I need to find time to get out there and film myself so I can show you all what I mean.... and btw, I kinda tought myself how to do a dive roll, so I am unsure if my way of doinf them or if my technique is correct and safe....
 

[Hazim Salem]

Sounds like my dive rolls what I did was roll fast. That will put less force on shoulder. Also, try not to dive too horizontally with the ground, because that makes it harder to get into a circular shape to roll.

Wait for experts though, we both might be doing it wrong

[Jacob Giles]

I too have been trying out some dive rolls on softer surfaces, and you're technique sounds like what my friend does. I find my technique to be a bit more efficient and less painful. I dive starting like a kong, and as soon as my hands hit the ground, I tuck my legs in and start to collapse one of my arms. Doing this lets the ground travle up my arm and onto my back, so the whole thing ends looking like a normal roll: going from shoulder to opposite hip. Maybe you can try it out and see if it helps more than tucking your head under and rolling straight down your back.

[Jerald Donald Konkel]

yea, that does sound like a good way to do them, maybe I'll switch it up and try your style...

[Ryan]

I used to be like you dive rolling over everything haha. I have the same dilema, but I've been experimenting a lot with them.

When I land a dive roll I tend to not actually place my hands on the ground, rather, I start with the arm sideways, on the forearm and then roll like Jerald said, like a normal roll. With dive rolls you're not coming from a great height so I wouldn't worry about trying to absorb impact with the arms first, rolling through the back should be fine enough.

[Jerald Donald Konkel]

thanks ryan... that makes alot of sense.... But I dived over some Tall Snow banks a couple times and almost ended up Breaking my face cause of how high it was... hah but I still rolled, it was all fine... lol

But the arm sidways? I'm going to have to try that

[Ryan]

Kind of like you're putting it down, i think I put it there mostly for head protection. I was doing dive rolls long before I started training for Parkour, so it might not actually be that beneficial, it'd be more of a lead into rolling. 

On a different note, once, a while ago, I tried to dive roll over something a little higher than waist-height and and ended up rolling in mid-air and landing on my back. Not fun, and its been a while since I've done dive rolls over anything above waist-height. Not sure I'd be up to trying to do that again, for I now have better ways of getting over said objects, vaults!

[Matthew Wang]

The short answer: If there's pain or discomfort, it's wrong.

As for your specific question. I slow myself very slightly when I dive into it. My arms don't really absorb much impact. They just slow my body down just a wee bit so I can readjust my body and begin the roll.

So really, I don't think you're suppose to absorb too much of the impact with your arms. Use the arms as a guide to your shoulder.

[Jerald Donald Konkel]

yeah, thats what I kinda do, Just slow myself down enough to roll... in a way that is absorbing some impact but not much... Thanks Matt

[Adam McC]

yeah, thats what I kinda do, Just slow myself down enough to roll... in a way that is absorbing some impact but not much... Thanks Matt

That's about right, bro. Unless you're Livewire, in which case you simply do what you want, the arms only slow the body down enough to control yourself down to the shoulder. Also, over-rotating slightly, so that you are starting to go head over heels as you land, will help you make the roll fast and fluid (so long as your technique is solid)