Arching

[willski52 0]

I am going thru Military Free Fall (MFF) right now and am having a hard time getting a good arch. Besides practicing my arch, from my pelvis and so on, is there any excercises or anything specific I can do to improve my arch? Thanks for any advice. BTW, I can't believe they are paying me to do this!

[labrys 0]

Make sure you're also practicing being relaxed while you arch. Staying loose and relaxed will help a lot.

Owned by Remi #?

[wildman2231 0]

I got a good tip. I was told(and have) put a big pillow under your chest, pelvis to the floor, with feet
propped up on the couch, Belly down of course.
Then place a tennis ball in the small of your back
and do practice rip cord pulls. If you roll to 1 side or roll a hip the ball rolls off, thus no touch. Or try a golf ball,being smaller puts hand exactly there,BUT,
tennis ball rolls off easier, thus better for good form.
The object of course is to stay in form to a visual
(minds eye) horizon. I think it helped a little. I am much more aware of my cg and stability at pull time.
Good luck and Blue skies

I'm fine...crazy people don't know they're crazy...No,Really!

[airtimebabe24 0]

One word- YOGA. seriously, just make your body as limber as possible by doing yoga stretches. I do yoga and also used to dance, so my arch is pretty good. But by flexing your back muscles it will make it easier to arch in the air. Build up those muscles, stretch them out.
Let me know how it goes!

"The most wasted day of all is that upon which we have not laughed..." Nicholas Chamfort.

[Guest]

Yea, make sure to relax, and smile!

• Quote

[steveorino 7]

relax ...


and follow your MFF instructor's advice.

steveOrino

[DougH 270]

It needs repeating 25 times, lol: but try to relax. Fast is slow, smooth is fast. The less tense you are the better your arch, they less your going to be imitating a flying piece of plywood.

You will get it I promise!!!

"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

[DrewEckhardt 0]

Quote

I am going thru Military Free Fall (MFF) right now and am having a hard time getting a good arch. Besides practicing my arch, from my pelvis and so on, is there any excercises or anything specific I can do to improve my arch?

When you relax in a belly to earth orientation the wind will blow you into an arch.

[NickDG 23]

Boy - that old "relax" thing is never going away as long as Instructors don't learn how to teach skydiving . . .

First of all no student is going to be relaxed on any student dive. A student like that would scare me.

But think about what happens when you tell them over and over to relax. First off they think its good advice because you are an authority figure and every other student must be doing do it, so there must be something wrong with them. The biggest problem is they'll tend to "lock" into an arch position and they don't fly. Stable freefall means constantly altering your position to stay where you want in the air. Even experienced jumpers do this but they do it with smaller control inputs and most probably forget, or don’t realize, they are even doing it.

So now because so many Instructors use the relax answer as a crutch the problem students get sent to the wind tunnel (the new bowling alley where the DZO still gets a cut).

Tell your students that can't hold a heading to "Fly Wide" Get them to spread their wings and fly like an eagle. They need these exaggerated motions to counter the forces that are trying to turn them and as they get more experienced they can close up and these motions will become smaller.

Take a dummy fashioned into the perfect arch position and drop it from a plane. It's going to spin like a top because you need a brain to hold a heading and that brain is working moving your limbs and center of gravity around. Relaxing is what you do with a beer in your hand . . .

NickD BASE 194

[wmw999 2,558]

I used to get decent relaxing by telling the students to arch their bodies, and let the wind blow their arms and legs back. That gave them something to DO, as opposed to NOT DO.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[steveorino 7]

Quote

Boy - that old "relax" thing is never going away as long as Instructors don't learn how to teach skydiving . .

While I defer to your experience and numbers I think you are over simplfying both statements; mine and yours. I never said relax is a fix all. Notice I said listen to your instructors. However, I do jump video with highly experience instructors (Greg Gerondale, Brad Smith, Eric Hadley, Mel Tilley -- all are either record holders or medalists and they are outstanding instructors) who know how to teach. They do on a regular basis, attempt to get the student to relax. Maybe you can't, but they seem to be able to do it.

Your statement to "fly wide" can easily be misunderstood in an internet forum by a newbie. If only to "first do no harm", I stand by my statement over yours any day.

steveOrino