Yoga guide
Skateboarding is pushing, popping, landing and falling, and the injuries follow the falls: wrists and forearms from landing on your hands, ankle sprains that keep coming back, and head injuries, which cause most of the serious harm. Yoga can add what those numbers point to: one-leg balance, ankle and calf strength, wrists brought back to taking weight in stages, hips and a strong back, and a calm end to a session. No study has tested yoga in skaters, so it sits beside your helmet, wrist guards and the skate strength and landing workout, never in place of them.
This guide covers where skaters get hurt, what balance training does for ankles, why wrist guards (not stretches) protect wrists, learning to fall, the lower back, and what to change after a broken wrist, a sprained ankle or a concussion.
It ends with a free 25-minute class with a 3D demo of every move, and the warning signs, from a head injury to a fall on the hand. It's general information, not a diagnosis, and it doesn't replace coaching, medical care or rehabilitation for an injury.
We found no trial of yoga, stretching or flexibility training in skateboarders, and no exercise trial in any board sport that counted injuries. The only training trial in skaters is 8 weeks of surf skateboarding in 22 young adults. Treat yoga as balance, ankle, wrist, hip and back work beside skating, not as injury prevention.
Half of Swedish skateboarding fractures were in the forearm (64% in children), adults most often broke a wrist or an ankle, and head injuries cause most of the serious harm. Helmet wearers had about half the odds of a severe brain injury, yet only about 1 in 20 skaters treated at US trauma centres wore one.
A sprained ankle was the commonest injury skaters reported in one survey, and the likeliest to come back. In other sports, balance training after a sprain cut repeat sprains from 33% to 22%. Our reading: one-leg balance work that gets harder is the core of a skater's class.
Wrist guards cut wrist injuries by about three-quarters in snowboarders (there's no skateboard trial), and in filmed skateboard falls the wrist bent back about 80 degrees on impact. Yoga can bring a healed wrist back to taking weight in stages; it can't prevent the break.
Squatting, bending the elbows and rolling cut the impact of a fall in the laboratory, and RoSPA (the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) advises learning how to fall. Practise on grass or a mat in the skate warm-up, never on a hard floor.
Holds of a minute or more just before activity cost a little power, and stretching programmes haven't prevented sports injuries. Use the skate warm-up before you ride, and save yoga for after skating or a day off.
In the lab, landing an ollie loaded the feet at about 4.7 times body weight. A review of competitive skateboarding found landings of 4.5 to 8 times body weight and deliberate bails of up to 12, and in small studies more bend at the front ankle went with a higher ollie. Our skateboarding guide covers the training, kit and falls.
After skating or on a day off, yoga can add what the injury figures point to:
Skateboard GB recommends a helmet, and pads and guards while you're learning. World Skate requires helmets for all park skaters and for street skaters under 18 in competition and practice, and RoSPA says never ride in the road. Yoga sits beside these, beside our skate strength and landing workout and the sprained ankle guide's programme, and beside a staged return after a broken wrist or a concussion.
Our yoga for surfers guide is built around paddling, the pop-up and the upper back, and our yoga for skiers guide covers snowboarders' wrists and knees. This guide uses skating's own data: wrists and ankles after falls, landings and heads.
Each study counted injuries its own way (per skater, per hospital visit or per fracture), so figures in different notes aren't comparable.
In the US in 1998, there were 8.9 emergency-treated injuries per 1,000 skaters a year, about twice the rate for in-line skating and well under half that for basketball, and ankle sprains and wrist fractures were the commonest. From 1990 to 2008, about 1.2 million US children and teenagers aged 5 to 19 were treated in emergency departments after skateboarding: 44.1% of injuries were to the arms, 31.7% to the legs, and 96.9% went home without being admitted.
In Sweden's fracture register (2015 to 2023), the forearm made up 49.7% of skateboarding fractures (64.0% in children, 40.9% in adults) and the ankle 9.3% (14.5% in adults); the spine and pelvis were 0.5%. At one children's clinic, 48.2% of skateboarding fractures were in the forearm, and 94% of those were at the wrist end. In US adults (2018 to 2022), the wrist (20.2%) and ankle (12.4%) were the commonest fractures, and the skaters averaged 27.8 years old.
In an online survey of 197 Spanish skaters, a sprained ankle was the commonest injury (39.3%) and the one most likely to come back (70.1%). The skaters chose to answer, so the figures may not hold for everyone.
Source 6
Among skaters admitted to US trauma centres, 24.1% of those under 10, 32.6% of those aged 10 to 16 and 45.5% of those over 16 had a brain injury. In admitted skaters aged 15 and over at one centre, 75% had a head injury, mostly from the back of the head hitting the ground. Helmet wearers had about half the odds of a severe brain injury, yet only about 5.5% wore one, and across 17 studies helmet use ranged from 0% to 41.7%.
In 139 injured skaters at a Swedish hospital, 37% of injuries came from losing balance and 26% from a failed trick. RoSPA says over half of skaters' injuries are due to uneven surfaces, and advises checking for holes, bumps and loose debris.
At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, there were about 21 injuries per 100 skateboarders over the 17 days of the Games, among the highest rates of any sport there.
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We found no trial of yoga, stretching or flexibility training in skaters (searches on 1 November 2026), so the balance and wrist evidence is borrowed from other sports.
PubMed, Europe PMC and ClinicalTrials.gov searches found no trial of yoga, Pilates, stretching or flexibility training in skateboarders, and no exercise trial in any board sport that counted injuries.
Source 1
The nearest yoga study gave 15 elite short-track speed skaters yoga during an 8-week block of heavy training, with no comparison group. It shows that yoga fitted into their training, not that it prevented anything, and ice skating isn't skateboarding.
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In 22 young adults aged 18 to 24, three 60-minute sessions a week of surf skateboarding for 8 weeks improved leg strength, endurance and a reaching balance test against no training; flexibility improved only against the start. It's small, at one centre, lost 4 people, and counted no injuries.
Source 2
Across 25 trials of sports injury prevention (26,610 people), stretching programmes made no difference, while strength training cut injuries to under a third and balance training to about half. A 2025 consensus of 20 stretching researchers doesn't recommend stretching for injury prevention in general.
In 522 athletes who had sprained an ankle, an 8-week home balance programme cut repeat sprains over a year from 33% to 22%; 9 athletes needed to do it to prevent one sprain. Across 7 trials (3,726 people), balance training cut ankle sprains by about a third, and a newer review agrees. None of these trials included skaters.
In 45 Malaysian skaters, balance, leg strength and endurance went with skill, in a model that is probably overfitted. In 32 skaters in Taiwan, professionals had better ankle control and balance than amateurs, but the paper contradicts itself on whether injured skaters balanced worse. Our reading: balance work for skaters rests on evidence borrowed from other sports.
Across 94 randomised trials, yoga was about as safe as usual care and exercise. In a survey of 1,702 German practitioners, hand, shoulder and head stands caused the most short-term harms, and practising alone without guidance raised the risk.
Balance training has the best support of anything in this guide for ankles, though from other sports. Our editorial starting point, from our class:
Ollie landings load the feet at several times body weight, and front-ankle bend may matter for ollie height (small studies). Our reading: slow calf raises, ankle circles and the knee-to-wall rock train the calves and ankle range for pushing and landing, beside the skate strength and landing workout, which does the heavier work.
Most skaters' sprains came back in one survey. Start with our sprained ankle guide's balance programme and our yoga for ankle sprain class before going back to tricks, keep a hand near a wall in the one-leg poses, and step, never jump, between poses.
Landings load the legs at 4.5 to 8 times body weight in competitive skating, and Skateboard GB's learn to skate guide says to keep your knees bent to absorb the impact. Our reading: chair pose practises the same soft shape, knees over the toes and weight through the whole foot, at low load.
No study links hip or knee range, or yoga, to skating injuries or skill. Warrior II rehearses the sideways riding stance, and the low lunge and 90/90 switch keep the hips moving after long sessions crouched on a board.
No trial has tested wrist guards in skateboarders. In-line skaters without them had about 10 times the odds of a wrist injury. In snowboarders, guards cut wrist injuries by about three-quarters, one injury prevented for every 50 wearers; in one trial of 5,029 snowboarders, there were 8 wrist injuries with braces against 29 without, while a second trial's result was uncertain. Skateboard GB says to always wear a helmet when learning, and that pads can help too, especially wrist guards.
In 50 filmed skateboard falls, the wrist bent back about 80 degrees at impact, and falls onto one wrist bent it further than falls onto both. No stretch makes a wrist strong enough to take that.
Source 9
Across 13 laboratory studies, squatting cut impact in backward falls and bending the elbows cut it in forward falls; in 5 young men, a better arm strategy cut wrist force by 27%. No study of fall training has counted injuries. RoSPA advises learning how to fall, landing on the fleshy parts of the body and rolling, rather than taking the force with your arms. Practise on grass or a mat, as in our skate warm-up, never on a hard floor.
Only once a break has healed and your fracture team says you can take weight through the hand: wall push-ups first, then forearms, then fists, then flat hands, as our yoga for wrists class builds up. Until then, no downward dog, plank, side plank on the hand or cat-cow on flat hands. If your wrists hurt in yoga without a fall, our wrist pain from yoga guide covers what to change.
We found no study of low back pain, stress fractures in the spine or tailbone injuries in skaters. Back injuries were 6 of 323 injuries (1.9%) skaters reported in Spain and 0.5% of Swedish skateboarding fractures (spine and pelvis), but in 64 Brazilian skaters the lower back was the third commonest place for current pain (16.5%), after the knee and ankle.
In the same 64 skaters, doing something they thought was preventive, which for some was stretching, went with no less pain or injury. It's one small survey.
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Back endurance poses such as bird dog, the glute bridge and side plank, and gentle hip mobility, are reasonable, untested additions. A backward fall can land on the bottom: our tailbone pain guide covers a sore tailbone, and sitting on a cushion or skipping seated poses helps while it settles (our suggestion). If your lower back is sore after a class, our back pain after yoga guide covers what to change.
Static holds of 60 seconds or more per muscle just before activity cut performance by about 4.6%, against about 1.1% for shorter holds. Skateboard GB says a warm-up and warm-down can help you skate for longer. Use our moving skate warm-up before you ride, and save longer holds for afterwards.
Our editorial starting point:
Source 41
Slow breathing, 2 minutes lying with knees bent, in for about 4 and out for about 6, with no holds (our yoga for surfers class; adapted from the move page's dose). Cat-cow: "8 waves, slower than feels natural" (the move page's dose), on fists or forearms if a wrist is sore or healing.
Ankle circles: "5 slow circles each way with each ankle" (the move page's dose), only the ankle moving. Knee to wall: "10 slow rocks per side" (the move page's dose), heel down. Slow calf raises, 2 sets of 10, up for 2 and down for 3, hands on the wall (our yoga for volleyball players class).
Doses are in the balance section above. After a sprain, do the injured leg second, next to a wall; keep your foot off the side of your knee in tree pose.
Warrior II, 5 breaths each side, soft knees, eyes over the front hand (our yoga for surfers class). Chair pose, 2 holds of 30 seconds, knees over your toes, weight through the whole foot (our yoga for volleyball players class); keep it shallow with a sore knee.
Only once any break has healed and your team says you can take weight. Wrist and forearm flow, 60 seconds; wrist flexor stretch, 30 seconds each side, fingers back against a wall; wall push-ups, 2 sets of 10; wrist rocks, 10 slow rocks in each hand position (all our yoga for wrists class).
Low lunge, 45 seconds each side, back knee padded (our yoga for surfers class). 90/90 switch: "10 slow switches, pause at the ends" (the move page's dose). Bird dog, 2 sets of 6 each side, on fists or forearms if your wrists are sore (our yoga for gymnasts class). Side plank, 2 holds of 20 to 30 seconds each side, on your forearm, knees down to start (our yoga for skiers class).
Reclined figure four, 45 seconds each side, never pressing on the crossed knee (our yoga for surfers class). Corpse pose, 2 minutes (our yoga for surfers class; adapted from the move page's dose).
After a broken wrist or a scaphoid fracture, no downward dog, plank, side plank on the hand, cat-cow on flat hands, crow or handstands until your fracture team allows it. After a head knock, headstands, shoulder stands, plough and long downward dog holds wait until you're cleared. After a sprained ankle, step rather than jump between poses. No long holds just before you skate, and never practise falls on a hard floor.
3D demoDownward-facing dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoSide plankIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoCat-cowBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSupported headstand (Salamba Sirsasana)Expert · A wall
3D demoSupported shoulderstand (Salamba Sarvangasana)Advanced · No equipment
3D demoPlow pose (Halasana)Advanced · No equipmentAfter skating or on a day off, our 25-minute class: our own selection, untested in a trial. Before you skate, the skateboarding warm-up, which includes falling practice on grass or a mat; twice a week, the skate strength and landing workout. After a sprain or a broken wrist, the ankle sprain and wrists classes build up one area at a time.
A 25-minute yoga class for skateboarders: ankles and calves, one-leg balance, the riding stance, wrists in stages, hips and the back, and a short rest.
25 minBeginner20 movesWallA 12-minute skateboarding warm-up: skipping, ankle circles, knee-to-wall rocks, hip circles, a wrist flow, single-leg balance, soft landings and fall practice.
12 minBeginner10 movesWallA 45-minute session for skaters: jump squats, drop landings, hops and bounds, squats, split squats and single-leg hinges, ankle balance, wrist work and trunk.
45 minIntermediate20 movesStep, dumbbellA 25-minute yoga class for surfers: upper-back turning, the back of the shoulder, pop-up and stance shapes, hips and slow breathing on land, with no breath holds.
25 minBeginner18 movesWallTwenty-five minutes of yoga for skiers and snowboarders: stretches for after the slopes, one-leg balance on both legs, leg and trunk holds, then rest.
25 minBeginner16 movesWallThirty minutes of standing yoga for balance: strong standing poses, one-leg poses at the wall, and side steps, backward steps, reaches and sit-to-stands.
30 minBeginner16 movesWall, bench or boxA 20-minute yoga class for wrists: a gentle warm-up, poses with the hands free, then weight through the hands in stages, from a wall to all fours to the forearms.
20 minBeginner18 movesWall, other / check instructionsA 25-minute yoga class after an ankle sprain: ankle range, calf and ankle strength, short standing poses and a one-leg balance progression, with no jumping.
25 minBeginner16 movesBench or box, wallA 12-minute routine to improve how far your ankle bends: test it against a wall, rock it, stretch both calf muscles, strengthen through the full range, then use it.
12 minBeginner8 movesWall, stepA 15-minute barefoot routine for stronger toes, arches, calves and ankles, finishing with balance. You need only a towel, a wall and a resistance band.
15 minBeginner11 movesWall, other / check instructionsA 15-minute head-up yoga class after a concussion: seated breathing and spine moves, then gentle standing poses at a counter, with a symptom check.
15 minBeginner12 movesBench or box, wallA 6-minute breathing routine: slow breathing, crocodile breathing, alternate nostril breathing, box breathing and 4-7-8 breathing.
6 minBeginner5 movesNo equipmentThese are the warning signs from our skateboarding, scaphoid fracture, ankle, back and yoga guides, word for word. This is general information, not a diagnosis. A&E means accident and emergency; in the US, call 911 for 999.
The NHS says to call 999 if someone has hit their head and:
Source 42
Off the board: if in doubt, sit them out. No return that day, and an assessment within 24 hours by a healthcare professional or NHS 111. Neck pain, double vision, weakness or tingling in the arms or legs, a severe or worsening headache, a fit, getting drowsier, being sick, or growing restless or aggressive need urgent medical help. Contact NHS 111 straight away if they feel dizzy or take medicine that thins the blood.
With a suspected concussion, if in doubt, sit them out. The UK's grassroots guidelines say no sport for at least 24 hours, get checked by a healthcare professional or NHS 111 within 24 hours, follow a staged return, and no competition before day 21; if symptoms last beyond 28 days, stay out of sport and see a doctor. Yoga waits too: gentle breathing fits the early, light-activity stages, and no head-down poses or inversions until you're cleared (our reading). Our concussion guide has the stages.
A second knock before the brain has recovered risks a more serious injury. No skating until you're cleared under the UK guidelines' graduated return.
Go to A&E (accident and emergency) or call 999 if the arm or wrist is numb or tingling, there's a bad cut that's bleeding heavily, a bone is sticking out, or it has changed colour or shape or is at an odd angle. Get help from NHS 111 if it's very painful, badly swollen or bruised, or stiff. Pain in the hollow at the base of the thumb needs an X-ray, even if the wrist moves: see our scaphoid fracture guide.
Same day: after a fall onto an outstretched hand, pain or tenderness at the base of the thumb on the back of the wrist (the hollow called the snuffbox), even if the wrist moves well or the first X-ray was normal. A broken scaphoid can hide on the first X-ray and is slow to heal if it's missed, so ask what follow-up is planned.
Wrists take most of skateboarding's fractures. Wear wrist guards, and see our broken wrist, scaphoid fracture and wrist sprain guides if it still hurts.
Go to A&E if the ankle is at an odd angle, a bone is sticking out, there's a bad wound, the pain is severe, or your toes look blue or white or feel numb. Get help from NHS 111 if it's very painful, badly swollen or bruised, or it hurts to put weight on it.
Same day (NHS 111 or an urgent treatment centre): after an injury, you can't put weight on it or walk more than a few steps, the pain is very bad or getting worse, there is a lot of swelling or bruising or it is getting worse, it feels very stiff, or it's not feeling any better after treating it yourself. Get the same help if you also have a very high temperature, or feel hot, cold or shivery: this could be an infection. If you think it's broken, don't treat it yourself.
Most skaters' ankle sprains came back. Do the balance programme in our sprained ankle guide first; a brace or tape helps while it settles, as the guide explains.
Call 999 or go to A&E for back pain after a serious accident, with pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs, or with changes in your bladder or bowels.
Call 999 or go to A&E: loss of feeling or numbness around the genitals or bottom, new trouble peeing or controlling your bladder or bowels, changes in genital sensation during sex or problems with erections or orgasm, or pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs. These are signs of cauda equina syndrome, which needs treating in hospital urgently. Don't drive yourself.
Source 48
Call 999 if:
Call 999 or go to A&E (accident and emergency) straight away for severe difficulty breathing (gasping, choking or not able to get words out), a chest that feels tight or heavy, pain that spreads to your arms, back, neck and jaw, lips or skin turning very pale, blue or grey, or sudden confusion. If you're more short of breath than usual, or your heart is racing, fluttering or skipping beats, contact NHS 111.
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If you're hypermobile, don't use mobility work to push further: the NHS says "do not overextend your joints just because you can". See a GP if you think you have joint hypermobility syndrome: for example, your joints keep dislocating, or you keep getting sprains, strains, pain or stiffness.
Source 52
A joint pain that is sharp, gets worse during a session, lingers into the next day or changes how you move is a reason to use an easier version, and to see a GP or physiotherapist if it keeps happening (the rule in our plans). Muscle soreness for a day or two after something new is normal. In a hot class, stop if you feel dizzy, sick or unwell; our hot yoga guide lists the signs of heat illness.
With glaucoma, or high blood pressure that isn't under control, skip headstands, shoulder stands and long head-down holds. With osteoporosis, swap deep forward folds for a flat-back hinge from the hips, and twist smoothly. In pregnancy, our yoga in pregnancy guide covers the changes. NCCIH advises beginners to avoid headstands, shoulder stands, the lotus position and forceful breathing.
You can say no to any hands-on adjustment, and a teacher registered with Yoga Alliance must get your explicit consent each time.
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The PAR-Q+ (Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone) asks about a heart condition or high blood pressure, chest pain, dizziness or losing consciousness, other long-term conditions and their medicines, a bone or joint problem that activity could make worse, and being told to exercise only under supervision. If you answer yes to any, check with your doctor or a qualified exercise professional first. If you're over 45 and not used to hard exercise, ask a qualified exercise professional before the hardest sessions, and delay if you're ill.
Source 54
The NHS advises getting advice from a healthcare professional first if you have a health problem, an injury or symptoms, or have recently had a heart attack or an operation.
No trial of yoga or stretching exists in skaters, and none in any board sport has counted injuries. The protective evidence is for helmets and wrist guards. An instructor's page on Skateboard GB's site says yoga can help you avoid injury; that's an opinion, not something a study in skaters has shown.
Skaters fall from losing balance, failed tricks and uneven surfaces, not from stiffness, and in one survey skaters who did something they thought was preventive, some of them stretching, had no less pain or injury.
No study shows that long passive holds protect ankles. Balance training, standing on one leg in ways that get harder, cut repeat sprains from 33% to 22% and cut sprains by about a third across trials.
In filmed falls the wrist bent back about 80 degrees on impact, and in children nearly all forearm fractures from skating were at the wrist end. Wrist guards cut wrist injuries by about three-quarters in snowboarders; yoga can help a healed wrist take weight again, not prevent the break.
Stretching programmes didn't prevent sports injuries across 25 trials, and long holds just before activity cost a little power. Use a moving warm-up, and save holds for afterwards.
The small study behind this idea contradicts itself: its abstract says injured skaters balanced worse, but its results found no difference in stability scores between healthy and injured skaters.
Source 31
It can add one-leg balance, ankle and calf strength, careful wrist loading, hips and back endurance, and a calm end to a session. No study has tested yoga in skaters, so treat it as a sensible extra, not a way to prevent injuries.
One-leg poses (tree, warrior III and one-leg reaches), ankle circles and calf raises, warrior II for the riding stance, chair pose for soft landings, wrist work in stages, low lunge and 90/90 for the hips, and bird dog and side plank for the back. Our 25-minute class puts them together.
It hasn't been shown to. Most injuries come from falls: losing balance, failed tricks and bumpy surfaces. A helmet, wrist guards and pads, never skating in the road, and learning to fall on soft ground do the protecting.
Use a moving warm-up instead, like our skateboarding warm-up: long holds just before activity cost a little power, and stretching hasn't been shown to prevent injuries. Save longer holds for after skating.
Long, quiet holds can feel good after a session or on a day off. There's no evidence they strengthen ankle ligaments or prevent sprains; balance training is what cut repeat ankle sprains in trials.
Better skaters have better balance and ankle control, though the studies are small and flawed. One-leg balance practice that gets harder is reasonable, and it has the best support for ankles, but no study has measured whether it makes you skate better.
Not straight after one: pain in the hollow at the base of the thumb needs an X-ray even if the wrist moves. Once a break has healed and your team says you can take weight, yoga can rebuild wrist loading in stages, wall first, then forearms and fists, then flat hands, as our yoga for wrists class does.
Back endurance poses such as bird dog, the glute bridge and side plank, and gentle hip mobility, are reasonable, untested additions. No study has looked at back pain in skaters, though in one small survey the lower back was the third commonest place for current pain. Back pain after a hard fall, or with numbness or weakness in the legs, needs urgent help.
Yes, gently, and the balance part can help: balance training after a sprain cut repeat sprains from 33% to 22% in athletes. Start with our ankle sprain class and the sprained ankle guide's programme before going back to tricks, because most skaters' sprains came back in one survey.
Only at the stage you're cleared for: gentle breathing fits the early stages, and nothing head-down until you're cleared. World Skate keeps competitors out for 14 days, and the UK grassroots guidelines put competition no earlier than day 21.
Once or twice a week, about 25 minutes, after skating or on a day off, is our suggestion. Keep the skate strength and landing workout twice a week alongside it.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. If you are pregnant, have a health condition such as glaucoma, high blood pressure or osteoporosis, or have had recent surgery, check with a doctor, midwife or physiotherapist before starting, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
