Scottyb 0 #1 April 18, 2003 Well it's said the family that plays together stays together, and the students that don't pass level 4 together stay on level 4 together. My wife Teri & I both had a little trouble on AFP level 4 last time up. Teri went up a few loads before me and was in tears when I meet her at the landing zone, She flew her canopy great and flared perfectly for her first stand up landing! She had tumbled a little on our second JM release jump and went a little unstable during freefall but her jumpmaster said it was not as bad as she thought and she got herself stable and pulled when she needed to. I also did a couple of tumbles and got stable again before pull time and had a great canopy flight & good landing.Our Jm's gave us both the same "homework" to help us with our leg positioning in freefall. I hope it works because at $350. a jump for the 2 of us we can't fail any more of our jumps. How did everyone else learn to soar in freefall and do you have any pointers for us so we can move on with our training? Any input would be welcome. Scott & Teri Sorry all, we are newbies but this should be posted in the general questions section. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pilotdave 0 #2 April 19, 2003 Best advice I know is to HAVE FUN. There's no reason to ever be in tears after any skydive, unless you get hurt or something. My AFF level 4 was pretty disasterous (for a skydive in which nobody gets hurt, anyway), but it was still the funnest jump I had done to that point. Just relax and enjoy each jump even when they don't go perfectly. As for as getting the skills and getting off student status, that'll all come in time. Staying stable and all that isn't something you're gonna learn online. Listen to your instructors for that, but just don't worry about it. Stick with it and it's just going to "click." Dave Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tasadin 0 #3 April 19, 2003 I only finished AFF about 4 weeks ago and I found the easiest way isto just relax and chill. Your not jumping because your being forced to do something you dont like, your doing it through choice and becasue you want to have fun. SO just keep ur boxman position, smile, breath deep and relax! "If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brisco 0 #4 April 19, 2003 In a word, RELAX! In my case that was the hardest thing to do. First off I was tense just from the very idea of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, but I was also trying to arch with my belly and not my hips. My 7th & 8th jumps were disasters!! (I still had fun though!)While practicing on the ground one day I noticed that it was much easier to relax my entire body when I arched from my hips. Try squeezing your butt cheeks together. My next and most subsequent jumps have been great - at least from a stability standpoint. I won't get into all the other problems I've had and am having. Good luck and have fun! Brisco Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZoneRat 0 #5 April 19, 2003 Don't forget...you and your wife are doing this to HAVE FUN! And it is fun!!!! Even when a dive doesn't go as planned! Don't forget to claim your victories. Hey, you and your sweetie not only pulled when you needed to and flared a beutimis landing (her first...ahem...beer!), but yall probably did a whole lot of other good stuff too! How was the launch? How was your altitude awareness? How well did you follow your JM's hand signals? You got stable!!! (Maybe a couple of times...lol)! How was your practice flares up high? Did you remember to look before you turned? Your other canopy drills? You found the dropzone ok way up there? Excellent! Cut yourselves some serious slack! It's mind bogglingly freaky up there when you're first starting out. It takes a while to turn freefall into a comfortable, if exciting experience. Goofy, imperfect things will continue to happen for a very long while (I hope they stop...someday...). Forget the money. You don't go into this sport to save money. It's ONLY money...you'll make more. If you have to take a few levels over...and most people do, it's worth it to safely fly. Skydiving remains pricey until you get your own gear. Then...it remains pricey... but it also remains amazing. Relax, have fun, recognize your areas of challenge, and claim your victories!“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.” Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slotperfect 7 #6 April 19, 2003 I work very hard at keeping my students focused on what went well in the skydive. Despite my efforts, most of them look at it as "what did I do wrong" and grab the old baseball bat and start beating themselves up. Remember the first time you dove off a diving board into a pool? You were instantly surrounded by a totally foreign environment, and if you were like me, you swam like mad for the safety of the surface - familiar territory. That sensation is called "sensory overload." It's what you experienced on your first jump. As you make more jumps, you experience less sensory overload, and eventually become very aware of what is going on around you. For me this has never stopped improving and I've been at it a while. The trick is not to get complacent! Repeating dives is sometimes necessary because some important skills must be learned before your Instructors pile on more or different ones. Don't focus on BAD stuff, just be clear about what you want to improve, retrain, and put yourself back in the air and do it! Arrive Safely John Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldnewbie 0 #7 April 20, 2003 Hi Scotty. I'm only a little bit further than you are (35 jumps), but i can remember the feeling well. What helped me most, was when i was getting coaching. After my first jump with the coach, he looked at me and asked me if I was having fun. Of course i said YES Then he said *then why don't you LOOK like your having fun. You never have a smile on your face, and you never laugh*. He was doing all kinds of funny things on our first jump together, and i never once cracked a smile. (I can't believe that people can fly circles around me that fast, on his back , head first etc) He told me to smile and laugh, you will be shocked at how it relaxes you. Well, on the next jump, in the plane he would look at me and *make* me laugh. We left together and it wasn't going that great until I laughed at my mistake. I was actually laughing and smiling up THERE. i noticed everytime i smiled, i relaxed. Now everytime something isn't going well, i smile/laugh and somehow I start doing things easily and correctly. Try smiling and laughing. Hope this helps Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mjasantos 0 #8 April 20, 2003 Quote I work very hard at keeping my students focused on what went well in the skydive. Despite my efforts, most of them look at it as "what did I do wrong" and grab the old baseball bat and start beating themselves up. (...) Don't focus on BAD stuff, just be clear about what you want to improve, retrain, and put yourself back in the air and do it! Right on target! There's a good article on "Debriefing Structure" here http://www.dropzone.com/safety/articles/DebriefingStructure.shtml This article is specially addressed to Formation Skydiving Teams, but has a lot of stuff that can be applied while debriefing any skydive, including students ones. Blue Skies! ----------------------------- Mario Santos Portugal Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scottyb 0 #9 April 21, 2003 We are having the most fun! My Jm said he had a great time watching me laugh as I tumbled and recovered and said he would jump with me anytime. Teri is also having a great time but she is a little too hard on herself for little set backs. We were just looking for some friendly advice and some fellow skydivers to bounce our experience off of. Thanks to everyone who gave suggestions and next time we just have to relax a little more. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
