ELI5, When you see skateboarders ollie off of tall places(such as a small building), and successfully land on their board, they walk away without any injuries whatsoever, but if I were to jump off these places without a board, I would almost certainly break my legs. How is this possible.?

Question

Heres a clip of the tricks I’m talking about: [https://youtu.be/YZ1WtHigD54](https://youtu.be/YZ1WtHigD54)

In: Physics

Answer 1

My guess is the forward speed. It takes a certain amount of energy applied on your legs bones to break them. The skateboarder transfers the energy built up from the fall into the forward speed. The wheels of the skateboard allow it to be pushed forward quickly with less friction than your feet, so the skate board speeds up where as your feet stick, absorbing all that energy, which could break the bones. You’ve got a better chance at making the jump from a running start and trying to transfer energy forward by rolling. There’s a technique called a PLF or parachute landing fall, that was designed specifically to do this.

[PLF](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachute_landing_fall)