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I had a friend in 2nd or 3rd grade who would stand on the swing seat to use his legs to assist with gaining height and then eventually do a backflip with the ch
by kirse 3y ago
I had a friend in 2nd or 3rd grade who would stand on the swing seat to use his legs to assist with gaining height and then eventually do a backflip with the chains near parallel.
Of course we always begged him to show off this trick every recess. Looking back now I have no idea where he got the idea or how he practiced his way into it, but he was always a playground daredevil who routinely made teachers come sprinting over the tarmac.
I will say you knew you jumped far when that playground mulch embedded itself in your hands and knees.
- pak9rabid 3y agoHeh, I remember a group of us doing that as well. Also "penny drops" off the monkey bars, where you'd hang upside-down with your legs, swing back and forth, release and essentially do a flip and land on your feet. God we were fearless back in the day.
- Fricken 3y agoWe called those "baby drops", and flipping back off the swing seat as it comes forward we called "cherry pickers". I'm 46 now, I can still do both. Once you've learned them, they're easy.
- dylan604 3y agocan and do are two different things. things heal a lot faster when the landings are wrong in playground days than they do at 46. i have personal experience with the healing slower bit if not from a cherry picker move.
- macintux 3y agoAt 50 I strained my shoulder doing just a few simple push-ups, and it took nearly a year for the pain to (mostly) go away. Getting old sucks.
- dylan604 3y agoI tore a rotator cuff when convinced that riding a long board down the street while not in a sober state would be easy. Going downhill of not an impressive hill, and the speed wobble on a board I had been on for 3 minutes suggested time to bail. I didn't roll nearly as well as a younger me would have. Nearly a year sounds about right.
- Obscurity4340 3y agoSkateboards are a mortal enemy of vertebrae
- Fricken 3y agoYeah, You're way off your game when you're drunk. I learned that lesson the hard way a few times over in my early 20s (though not so hard that I needed a trip to the hospital).
- grecy 3y ago> God we were fearless back in the day. I have a rule on myself to stay young. Every time I see a swing rope into water I must do a back flip, and every time I see a 1m diving board, I must do a gainer (run forward, back flip). I'm 41 now, I'm really curious how old I'll be when I can't do them anymore.
- chiefbucket 3y agoWe always say “a backie a day keeps the doctor away”. It’s entirely incorrect but it keeps life fun!
- lampshades 3y ago[dead]
- chowells 3y agoWhen I was a kid, lots of us learned to do a backflip off the swing without even bothering to stand up. It isn't that hard to just lean back at the apex, roll out of the seat, and land on your feet. I mean... It's not that hard when you're small, light weight, and heal quickly.
- twodave 3y agoI had a classmate that bit off his own tongue landing one of these. Crazy stuff.
- cheese_van 3y agoProbably my worst memory of around 3rd grade was when I left the swing in such a high and terrifying arc, that I shat myself when I landed. Also my first introduction to Mother's Logic after I explained why I propelled myself into the air: "If the other boys jump off a cliff, are you going to do that too?"
- bagels 3y agoThe only answer to that is: of course I would
- JumpCrisscross 3y agoCliff diving is a thing.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- bee_rider 3y agoMy friends are pretty level-headed, if they are all jumping off the cliff, I bet there’s something really bad chasing them, I should jump too.
- bcraven 3y ago'Bridge' https://xkcd.com/1170/ https://xkcd.com/1170/
- bryanrasmussen 3y agoI'm jumping first, they have to follow me!
- thedanbob 3y agoAs a kid I once tried to jump off a swing that was much taller than I was used to and instead of landing on my feet I hit flat on my back. Thankfully the ground was relatively soft. That was the day I learned that the phrase "knocked the wind out of me" can be literal: I couldn't breathe right for a few minutes after.
- plandis 3y agoMy friends and I used to do the same thing. Even without drawing your body in while spinning the momentum and height make it possible to pretty easily flip off the swing. Thanks for reminding me of this memory :)
- jimmyed 3y agoIf you want to see how it looks; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoJpVre8JHw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoJpVre8JHw
- wingerlang 3y agoOriginal commenter mentions he did it standing up.
- probably_wrong 3y agoThat video is peak educational content. Easy to follow, straight to the point, good difficulty progression. If only all tutorials were like that...