Want to Snowboard, Worried About Injury (Northampton: insurance, employment, buy)

[waxwolf]

Hi all,

I'm feeling on the fence about winter sports. I took a snowboarding lesson once as a kid (about 12 years old, I think), had a good time, and then sprained my wrist the next time I went out (playing on the bunny hill before the next lesson began). Fast forward about 10 years - my fiancee and I bought snowboards about 3 years ago in Western NY with the intention of learning to love winter. After a few trips to the slopes and a few trips landing on my hands, I was too discouraged and frightened to keep it up, and the snowboard has been gathering dust since.

The main issue is that I am a dentist, and a sprain of the wrist could potentially put me out of work for weeks (dentists do not typically get paid when they are out sick). I really don't want this to happen, but I also start getting some serious cabin fever in the winter, and watching more experienced snowboarders and skiers on TV - it looks like a lot of fun I'm missing out on.

So my questions are: How concerned about upper limb injury should I be with snowboarding? Should I try skiing instead even though I already have the snowboarding equipment? Should I cough up the cash, take more lessons, and hope for the best? And if lessons are the way to go - where would you recommend? I'm living in Western MA - Northampton, to be specific.

Thanks!

[waxwolf]

Oh, one more thing - I've tried skiing once, and found that I could turn more easily, but couldn't stop nearly as well. This concluded, logically, with a crash into the bushes.

[NewfieMama]

I realize this is New England and people love winter sports. I actually love winter sports, too, but I'll probably be in the minority by saying that if you're concerned about your safety and the impact an injury could have on your career (being a dentist), I would probably just shy away from it.

I grew up in the Midwest and my family would go skiing in the Rocky mountains as often as we could afford it. We all loved skiing, but I think most of us suffered a broken thumb or broken wrist at some point. Maybe we're just unlucky or have brittle bones. But when you're learning to ski or snowboard, you fall. And when you fall, you tend to put your hands out in front of you to break your fall. I broke my thumb doing just that.

Maybe snowboarding is a little safer? I don't know. I surprised my husband (then boyfriend) with a weekend in NH with snowboarding lessons. He didn't want to go--he was worried about getting injured. But he went anyway and ended up tearing his ACL on the bunny hill. It was awful! But at least he's not a dentist and he didn't suffer an arm/wrist/hand injury, right?

Sorry to be all Debbie Downer about it, but I honestly would probably just skip the winter sports and do something safer...like snow tubing!

[breezy1]

You have to put the learning time in and takes your "bumps" - if you're too nervous and scared about getting hurt, then then will just make it harder for you to learn. Both skiing and snowboarding have a learning curve, with skiing having a longer learning curve. You really need to just get out there and take a lesson every time you go in the beginning, esp as an adult learner.

That being said, the chance for "face plants" and wrist injuries is higher with snowboarding, so perhaps skiing may be a better fit for you. It may take a few years before you get to a point that you feel comfortable skiing. I was an adult learner at skiing and it took many, many times, lots of lessons and quite a few years till I really felt comfortable skiing. However, now I absolutely love skiing and cannot imagine living in a cold weather climate and not skiing.

[brent s]

If you are concerned about your wrists, you can buy wrist guards to wear while you are snowboarding. They even make them that are built into gloves. Do a search on amazon for them, you'll see a bunch of options. They also make relatively low profile butt pads and knee pads that are meant for snowboarding/skiing as well.

[skinnayyy]

On top of the wrist guards, if you really want to get out of the habit of putting your hands forward when falling and learning just to... "eat it", ride with your hands at your side, or even in your pockets. Not only will you not put your hands out to stop your fall, but you will get a greater sense of balance.

One thing you'll learn, is that turning to your shoulder is the best way to fall. They're a lot stronger than your wrists are.

Also, you're a dentist so dental work will be cheap if you go face first and chip a tooth or something

[bler144]

While I'm not often an advocate for insurance companies, this is exactly the sort of scenario a product like AFLAC is designed to address - short-to-mid term unemployment where disability doesn't kick in. So if you're motivated to do it, look at insuring your wrists or your employment health more generally (my prior dentist retired young because of a lingering sports back injury).

Personally I'd find something enjoyable bit still safer for the winter, even ice skating or certainly snow shoeing are generally less likely to result in serious wrist injury.

[Beachcomber4]

Snowboarding is a sport that takes a certain mindset. The fact that you are apprehensive will make you more likely to be injured. The poster who suggested the best way to "eat it" is right. But someone who is nervous about falling will tense up, often causing greater injury.

Have you considered cross country seeing. While it lacks that adrenaline rush of riding and skiing it will get your outside and is great exercise.

[waxwolf]

Thanks everyone,

If I decide to give it a go again, I'll invest in those wrist guards and a few more lessons. But if I don't see much improvement, I'll just cut my losses and call it a day.

Also, for the record skinnayyy's face planting/tooth chipping suggestion is my favorite XD

[skinnayyy]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber4

Snowboarding is a sport that takes a certain mindset. The fact that you are apprehensive will make you more likely to be injured. The poster who suggested the best way to "eat it" is right. But someone who is nervous about falling will tense up, often causing greater injury.

Have you considered cross country seeing. While it lacks that adrenaline rush of riding and skiing it will get your outside and is great exercise.

This is going to probably be a little counter intuitive sounding, but for someone in the OP's case, you should probably drink a little bit and get a good buzz going. This will loosen your whole body up which I think will honestly help out more than lessons. You need to be free flowing in your movements so if you're stiff, you're going to fall regardless of how many lessons you've had.

I always find that after drinking some liquid courage I'm always more inclined to go bigger on the jumps I've been hitting.