Skydiving And Athleticism

[Morcyk 0]

Ditto on getting in on that deal... would sure make it less expensive and not take me a year to get to 10

[Peej 0]

There's nothing like a well placed tiger roll to save your ass
But ditto over here, Tonto found out i was a martial artist on the day i arrived to do my first AFF jump and also managed to find quite a few metaphors to help me understand certain things.

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[hungarianchick 0]

While I agree that it pays off to have some flexibility and muscle tone in this sport it doesn't automatically guarantee more success, faster progression. I strongly believe that skydiving is more about mental fitness.
I'm 5'5", 120 lbs, athletic, pretty flexible, yet I faced challenges during my progression not because of physical issues, but because my perfectionism wouldn't let me relax! I was scared of failing!
So, I guess you could say I was mentally unfit which in skydiving is by far the bigger challenge.

"I love cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food."

[mustard 0]

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I strongly believe that skydiving is more about mental fitness. I'm 5'5", 120 lbs, athletic, pretty flexible, yet I faced challenges during my progression not because of physical issues, but because my perfectionism wouldn't let me relax! I was scared of failing! So, I guess you could say I was mentally unfit which in skydiving is by far the bigger challenge.

Well put. I've been reading this thread with a lot of interest, because I've wondered too what makes one person excel in skydiving and another one become discouraged and stop. As an instructor, I've noticed that it depends a lot on what kind of attitude the student has: willing to learn, motivated to succeed, or proving something to him/herself or another.

I had a guy once in my FJC who was determined to succeed. He was very fit, in fact his upper body was so overdeveloped that I asked him if he worked out. He said proudly that he did. We talked about the need to relax, especially with those overdeveloped biceps that if he didn't relax it would be very hard for me to help him find the PC if he couldn't locate it himself.

He didn't relax on the skydive, felt that he could muscle himself through anything -- and of course he didn't do well. Rather than continue on to try again, he never came back. Many times I've wondered what I could have done differently.

I've learned that if I tell someone that the "relax" signal means letting their wrists go limp, it helps, and so I learned something from that student.

Athletes who are not mentally fit (i.e., mentally flexible) have a harder time. I've seen that proverbial "overweight housewife" come back every weekend and become a no-longer-overweight absolutely outstanding skydiver!

In my opinion, the biggest variable is the connection of trainer to student.

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DJan

[skybytch 273]

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but that contributed little to my abilities as a skydiver

I'd disagree. The mental aspect of training for and competing (ie finishing) those events did contribute to your abilities as a skydiver whether you recognize it or not, and they will continue to if you stay in the sport.

imho skydiving is far less dependent on physical skills/traits than it is on mental skills/traits.

[Remster 30]

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imho skydiving is far less dependent on physical skills/traits than it is on mental skills/traits.

I agree... and maybe I wasnt clear about what I meant by athletes. I dont mean some one in good shape... I mean an athlete on the world level (an exemple that comes to my mind was a short track speed skater that learned to jump to do a big practical joke on one of her team mates... I still kick myself for loosing the VHS of that show). These gals and guys know how to train and learn, and that is a mental ability that is part of being an athlete. Also, they know how to work with a coacg/trainer/instructor.

Remster

[kelpdiver 2]

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He didn't relax on the skydive, felt that he could muscle himself through anything -- and of course he didn't do well. Rather than continue on to try again, he never came back. Many times I've wondered what I could have done differently.

Probably nothing in a one shot deal like that. In that case you had someone that had probably managed to suceed with muscle over skill in other sports. (If you ever saw my skiing...)

And some athletes are used to success, and aren't so good in dealing with failure. I'm fine so long as I see improvement, but I paused last year when it looked like I was hitting a road block.

[Cayce 0]

You can see my jump numbers so take this for what it's worth
I've been training Kung Fu practitioners for 15 years and studying myself for almost 20. I know how to work with an instructor and self monitor for increased proficiency. I am very good at walking into a new environment and being a student, taking constructive criticism and building proper muscle memory. All that being said, skydiving is damn hard! I haven't experienced anything like this since I first started surfing about six years ago.

The thing is that there is very little similar muscle memory activities that can equate to freefall. About the only thing that even comes close is body surfing. As for canopy control it's a pretty singular skill somewhat like being a pilot. The only thing that comes to mind that's similar is maybe controllable kites, but that's a stretch.

So anyway there seems to be no practice sports for skydiving other than actually skydiving. That being said the best advantage, beyond generally being fit, is the ability to learn and evaluate, take direction, and create a better performance next time.

The one personal caveat I have is that I certainly appreciated my Kung Fu and concentration skills when I had a line over on my second jump and did a cuttaway. Once I decided to cut I went into a quick-time mode. Basically everything speeds up so fast is appears slow. I've only ever experienced that modality when in a challenging sparring match or actual fight. The speed and concentration allows longer processing time and precise execution in a shorter timespan. Anyway, that was one time that I can say a crossover value from another sport certainly helped.