137 Sliding Practice (2/2)

I felt awkward in my movements, trying to imitate what Drew was saying.

”Good. Now, you're going to want to keep your head facing forward to the base, with your chin tucked close to the chest. Your arms should be bent at the elbows, and keep your hands up in the air so they don't get scratched up in the dirt.”

I no longer felt awkward. I felt dumb. I held my hands up like I was being robbed, and my chin touched my chest so I could only see my foot stretched out.

”Can you memorize these steps?” I nodded slowly. I guess I could. ”Excellent. Now stand up so we can start practicing.”

Uh. What. I slowly got up and looked at him. ”How?”

He tapped the cardboard with his foot. ”You're going to slide on this. It'll be easier on your body so we can avoid unnecessary injuries. You remember the positioning right? Well give it a try and let's see how it looks.” He nudged me along. ”Just sprint a couple of steps and slide on the cardboard.”

I backed up a few more feet and took a deep breath. I could do this. I took a deep breath and started my run. Once on the cardboard, I started my slide, tucking my left leg under my right and made sure that my heel wouldn't touch the ground. I tucked my head down, looking at my own foot and then threw up my hands so they wouldn't get in the way. With the last movement, I suddenly fell all the way on my back and my head bounced off the cardboard. ”Ow.” I mumbled, forced to look up at the clouds in the sky.

Drew laughed. He walked over to me and looked down at me. ”Ok. Not bad. You were right to go with your momentum, but then you ruined it in the end. When you toss your hands up, don't throw your chest up and back, otherwise you'll hit your head on the ground every time. Good thing Miller found this cardboard for you to practice on.” He pulled me up to my feet. ”Now this time, keep your core strong. Use those abdominal muscles to keep you up.” He advised.

I dragged my feet back to where I started my run last time. I tried to tighten my abs to make sure I even had any. Then I started my run, my slide and this time I didn't fall back. I got my hands up, but made sure to put them together and stayed upright.

Drew laughed again. ”Oh no. You can't do that. That's awful and awkward. Just no.” He helped me back up.

And so we followed this pattern where I would try a slide, he'd laugh and then give me something new to fix, help me up and repeat.