My boyfriend wants to take me skating...but?

Be honest, tell him you are nervous about it because you broke your wrist doing it.

Other than breaking your wrist, how did you feel on the skates? We don't know the details to know if the wrist accident was a freak accident or likely to happen again.

Wrist breaks usually happen because a person falls backwards and trys to break their fall by putting their hands down (a natural tendency). The arm and wrist are not strong enough to support your weight so you break something.

The usual reason for beginners to fall backwards is that they are stiff and trying to stand straight up. That puts too much weight directly over the heels and a tendency to fall over backwards.

You want to be bent at the knees and waist so that your nose, knees, and toes are in a vertical line. If you bend your elbows so that your hands are forward, you are in the "ready position". If you look at athletes that are standing, ready to move in any direction, that is their pose except that their feet are wider apart. This moves your balance over the center of the skates and lets you shift your weight to balance.

This all works for either type of skates, ice or inlines (which mimic ice skates).

If you are going to fall on inlines, you want to fall forward. If you are wearing wrist guards and knee pads, fall on your knees with the hands stretched far forward. If you are not wearing knee pads (I don't) try to hold your legs straight so your toes take the abuse and you will be sliding on your body but it spreads out the hit.

On ice, you can also fall feet first but twist your body to land on the side.

I know it sounds like it would be impossible to think about this while falling. Think about it ahead of time and follow through in your mind what you would do if you fell. This patterns your mind so that you don't need to think while falling, just do it by reaction. Once you learn to not panic, it is amazing how long it actually takes to fall and you have time to position yourself not to get hurt.