Nickkk 0 #1 May 11, 2006 Hello, I did some searching but couldnt really find anything related to this specific question. Basically, i was fortunate enough to have some great instruction and that has inspired me to one day be able to teach new jumpers. I would just like to know what skills I should be working on in order to prepare myself for the coach course, and then later on the aff course. Mainly for now the coach course since that will happen alot sooner, and i am aiming to have it done by March 2007. I could not really find a breakdown of what exactly the in air evaluation jumps consist of and what one should be working on to get up to those standards. I would assume things like fall rate, tracking, docking but what do i know? Any and all help is appreciated and keep instructing! Im sure there are people out there you have touched, like myself What do you do when someone throws a big planet at you? Throw your pilot chute in defense! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wmw999 2,587 #2 May 11, 2006 More than anything, don't treat skydiving like a procedure where if you just follow the instruction book everything will be OK. As a background, learn about the variety of gear, and why and how it works; think about it, think about the dynamics in the air. Listen to how people at all experience levels describe their movements in the air. You'll have to be able to describe and teach to all kinds of people. Having a variety of approaches is good. Prevention is the best way to recover from a bad student situation. You can't always avoid them, but if you dirt dive plenty with your student, giving them plenty of time to internalize what's going to happen and think about the consequences of any mess-up that might happen, you're less likely to end up with a big problem in the long run. You have to be able to fly naturally while sliding around, while varying speed up and down, and you have to be able to keep track of and remember what's going on in freefall so that you can talk about it with your student later. That includes being comfortable watching them track away and open. It has to be automatic. You also have to be able (particularly as a coach) to design a dive that will take what the student learns and let them build on that, while learning something (not too much at once), and have a successful experience. Because if they leave with a smile on their face, they're more likely to come back. The student will almost never appreciate how great your flying skills are if you do it right. But it's up to you to make them work, within their capability. 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) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riddler 0 #3 May 11, 2006 There's what you need to pass the coach course, then there's what you need to be a good coach. To pass - two things: belly flying and ground teaching. On the belly flying - I gave up freeflying just because I wanted to be an instructor, like you. Plan on doing tunnel camps - two hour camps if you can get them, with a good belly instructor. Get an RW suit with booties and learn to use it. In the sky, practice swooping in to take a dock, and four-way as much as you can. Learn to hold your fall rate and heading. On the ground teaching - get to know the people that teach the AFF ground school. Ask them if you can sit in on the course, as often as you can, and help with the training aids. Practice teaching the course at home, to nobody, but as if you were teaching new jumpers yourself. Remember the questions the students ask - and the proper way to answer them. One thing you will have to teach that is probably not in the first jump course - how to spot. Come up with a good lesson plan for that and practice it until it's routine. Then there's what it takes to be a good coach. I've been coaching for three years, and I still don't think I'm at the level of good yet. I would recommend taking a canopy course if you haven't already. Canopy skills are probably the most important thing you can impart to a pre-A license student. Once you are a coach, keep helping out with the first jump course - at this point you can even teach the non-method specific parts of the course. And keep working at the 4-way and tunnel camps to get ready for your AFFI.Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tdog 0 #4 May 12, 2006 I am a novice skydiver, and even more novice coach in the big picture... I have 10-20 or so hours of tunnel time where I was coached by world class coaches - and another 20 hours in the last few months where I have coached in the tunnel, trying to share what I have learned with others. The tunnel has been so wonderful for my learning of how to fly and how to coach... I have learned the most, personally, by watching world class coaches in the tunnel solve problems, and internalize what they were doing, then trying to apply that to people I am working with. These coaching skills transfer to the sky.... So far I have faced the extremes of someone so tense they could crush the sweat in their palms into diamonds, and people that are such naturals that we were spinning two way blocks in their first 10 minutes of tunnel time. Adapting in seconds to the progression of the student is hard, but fun. For an example, the second I see a student tense up and struggle with a skill, I throw in something they are good at to build confidence - but you have to remember what they are good at for this trick to work... Example - a student is asked to side slide but they struggle with heading or fall rate... The second the learning stops - move back to turns to distract them, then come back to the slide without giving them time to think they can't do it... Little things like that, which I am still wanting to perfect. As it was said by wmw999, when the student "fails" - you still have to somehow make them feel like they passed so they gain confidence... I have picked my coaches for the ones that make me feel wonderful at the end of the session. The skill I am currently working on, is mastering the "relax, everything is a-ok, lets have some fun" face, while what my brain is really thinking is, "oh s*&t, this is bad"... It is amazing how much the coach's non-verbal communication changes the outcome of the student... If you don't have confidence in your face, the student will struggle to have confidence in their own ability... I learned this from analyzing my own personal progression, and remembering, for an example, when a coach was helping me backfly, how I suddenly got much better when the smile and thumbs up came... DiabloPilot being that coach, and my roll model for positive expressions in non-verbal communication.... That is my workon for this month.... There are pages, upon pages of things I still need to learn, and want to learn, and that is why I am having so much fun right now! If you can afford a 4way jump/tunnel camp with Airspeed or Perris Performance Plus, you will be more than ready for your coach rating in terms of raw flying skills - so as long as you have passion towards seeing others learn and can work on the teaching part.... If you have any specific questions, I have gone thru the AFF-I evaluation and Coach evaluation dives both in the last year, and if you PM me specific questions I can give you some of my experiences... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #5 May 13, 2006 Altitude awareness Recall Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BIGUN 1,483 #6 May 13, 2006 Review/Purchase the Instructor Rating Manual (IRM). Work with those who have Coach and Instructor ratings. Do lots of 4-ways.Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nickkk 0 #7 May 14, 2006 Thanks everyone for all the replies! What do you do when someone throws a big planet at you? Throw your pilot chute in defense! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
