New Jumper Seeking Advice

[skydivelove 0]

Hello everyone,

I just started jumping this year at the end of april. .I have 1 Tandem Jump, and 3 solo aff, 4 total. I have my 5th jump coming this weekend. Everytime i schedual a jump my mind is scrambling and i overthink it every time, How do you expierenced jumpers go about being relaxed and not overwelming myself about the skydive. I feel like every jump is my first time because im jumping once a month because of aff prices.

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

You just breathe and go to your happy place or whatever works for you. I found making multiple jumps in one day helps -- you remember more and are less tense on the second and third jump. As you said it is expensive. Maybe put your skydiving budget in savings until you can afford to pay for the entire series of training jumps up front.

Also if you have a vertical wind tunnel nearby, those are a good way to learn to fly your body and are way less expensive per minute than AFF. It's still pricey, but if tunnel time prevents you from having to repeat an AFF level or two, it's probably worth it.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[rsb5267 0]

Just keep jumping. Truth be told being terrified your first few jumps is simply a phase that 99% of jumpers experience. Youl'll notice as you progress through AFF that your nervousness goes down and your freefall awareness/comfortableness will go up. As you get better at maneuvering during freefall, you'll gain more confidence in yourself

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

Yeah, I was pretty terrified for the first few jumps. Then I realized that the worst possible thing I could imagine was falling out of the plane early, that I was planning on falling out of the plane anyway and had a parachute on. I was also a bit worried about screwing up my AFF jump but once I started to build some skills I wasn't so worried about that either.

I have all my wind tunnel video up on youtube, and you can see a pretty clear progression. Actually being able to see your skills improve with your own eyes makes a big difference, too. This is the first one I did, between my AFF levels 2 and 3. Here is a fairly recent one where I went down there with no objectives just to fly around in the tunnel and have a good time. I was completely relaxed that day, and being relaxed like that made a HUGE difference in my flying. The next time I went in there I was paying attention to the instructor again, and you can tell I'm a little more tense because of it.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[mrubin 0]

I think your problem is that you're only jumping once a month. I get a little extra nervous before my first jump after not jumping for a month or so. The best way to learn and progress is to stay current and one jump a month is usually not enough to do that. You might want to consider taking a couple months off until you can save up enough to do more than one jump a month. Or learn to pack and try to make some extra money at the dz doing that.

If you do decide to keep making one jump a month, the key to relaxing is to breath. Visualize the jump on the ride to altitude and before exit, take some slow, deep breaths to help you relax.

"I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

[Boomerdog 0]

As you can see, I'm a new licensed jumper and memories of training are still fresh in my mind. Remember the four:

Altitude
Arch
Legs
Relax

i certainly experienced a hefty amount of sensory overload in the first few jumps and I had similar anxieties about performing on each training jump. I'm afraid I can't help with the butterflies but I can provide some observations and conclusions based upon my jumps so far. I did a lot of over thinking as well. My instructors told me not to over think and I'll bet your instructors will tell you the same...keep it simple.

I found relaxing to be the hardest and yet, when you are completely relaxed in free fall and let gravity and the wind be welcome "partners in the process," this where free fall takes on that inexplainable fun our land locked brothers and sisters will never understand.

Be compassionate with yourself. If you have to repeat a jump, take it in stride. I had to repeat four jumps. Your instructors just want you to be safe, trained and confident once your licensed and on your own.

Last thing...the training never stops...but it's fun!

[popsjumper 2]

I like your attitude. Pass it on to others, eh?

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239