Freefly Tip Of The Day

[freeflybella 0]

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Then , I heard that chuck taylors(shoes) had freefly skill enhancing properties

Be very careful! Chuck's have a tendency to take you back in time and keep you at the same skill level for eternity!!

Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

[AntiPinkChrissy 0]

finally!! the secret to freeflying!!

~La La Gang Member #2~

[Patman 0]

I have a sit down to the point I feel good about moving where I need to when needed. I jumped watching a new guy from a distance who was told to "go into a ball" if he feels he'll cork. He was all over and never recovered for many reasons I think most can imagine from their own learning jumps. I think at first you're better off corking and flailing so you can get more of a feel of what the relative wind is doing to your body. I'm a youngster at all this myself, but I found flailing was easier then going into a ball and then trying to get back to a sit. Maybe I'm an odd-ball (of course I am, but..) but that's my 2 cents.

Don't tell me I can't! I already know that! Haven't you seen my x-rays?

[ianmdrennan 2]

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think at first you're better off corking and flailing so you can get more of a feel of what the relative wind is doing to your body.

If you're in the air with anyone else it is NEVER acceptable to cork. Corking Kills. If you don't want to "ball up" when corking - do solos until you can fly without corking at all.

I can't stress enough just how dangerous corking is.

Blue skies
Ian

Performance Designs Factory Team

[Patman 0]

Agreed. I didn't let in we were the only two in the air at all, and I left first to stay at or below his altitude. Big tid-bit to leave out. If you're jumping with many others in the same pass, I don't believe that's the time to be learning free flying. Do it when it's not so busy in the air. And like I said, I agree that corking is not the thing to do if others are in the air with you.

Don't tell me I can't! I already know that! Haven't you seen my x-rays?

[OzoneJunkie 0]

I think it's advantageous to learn flying on your back, with your feet and arms up in the air (sometimes called the "dead dog"). You can keep the speed up, and don't drift (back/forward slide). Additionally, you can rotate it, and get a good 360 view of the situation. Balling up, while keeping the speed up, allows less movement.

[SkydiveNFlorida 0]

I was also told to go into a ball it/when I got unstable and was gonna cork seeing as though I was flying with others. I did just that, and it worked well for me and was easy to get back into a sit from that position rather than from flat. jme. Now i'm practicing my stand and my recovery is my sit:)

Angela.

[Patman 0]

I'm going to venture a guess that it is different with each new student and with each person's coaching skills as to how you go about balling up and recovering. I don't even have to think about recovery (in terms of thinking "sit" if I mess up) anymore, it's natural just as arching in RW. I was in the situation that I didn't know what the guy that was "coaching" him told him. He went into a ball and never tried to recover because he was told that if he feels like he is starting to spin, the ball will stop that. I found out he had talked with this guy a week earlier, only after the jump. Another lesson learned, new guys won't always give you the whole story. He and I did a lot of ground work, and he's on his way to a pretty decent sit. Not group material yet, but it's a start.

Don't tell me I can't! I already know that! Haven't you seen my x-rays?

[WrongWay 0]

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I think it's advantageous to learn flying on your back, with your feet and arms up in the air (sometimes called the "dead dog"). You can keep the speed up, and don't drift (back/forward slide). Additionally, you can rotate it, and get a good 360 view of the situation. Balling up, while keeping the speed up, allows less movement.

I couldn't agree more!! It's pretty much impossible to cork out of a relaxed backfly (quoted from pat works....). Besides, if you learn it well, you can fly it between your sit and hd, and IMHO it really helps you learn to fly half/full eagles.

Wrong Way
D #27371 Mal Manera Rodriguez Cajun Chicken Ø Hellfish #451
The wiser wolf prevails.

[ianmdrennan 2]

That is definately another good technique as long as the student stays small and doesn't try to flatten out on their back. More than one way to achieve the same result - and that (as we both know) is to prevent unexpected dramatic changes in speed.

Blue skies
Ian

Performance Designs Factory Team

[ianmdrennan 2]

I think I may have not explained my concerns correctly. I actually don't see any problem (other than developing bad habits) is corking on solos - even if there are other groups behind you. Think about a freefly group leaving after a flat fly group - that's perfectly acceptable even though the first group is going much slower.

My concerns were more with corking when on a dive with someone else.

Either way it sounds like you guys have your eyes on safety so keep it up
Sorry for any confusion.

Blue skies
Ian

Performance Designs Factory Team

[freeflybella 0]

None of the responses here are conflicting - they seem to be because they are coming from different posters. Just to be completely clear:

-Do solos until you learn NOT to cork.

-Practice flailing and getting stable on solos.

-Practice balling up to maintain relative speed on solos.

-Do 2-ways with another jumper of equal or better skill to practice relativity. This is more difficult than most think - and shouldn't be jumped straight into. (no pun intended)
-If at any time - while jumping with another - you feel you're going to cork, ball up to maintain speed and then recover.

Things that kill and maim:
-Doing a 2-way with another jumper and covering distances to get back to each other. That means front and backsliding to get relative, as well as speeding up and slowing down to get relative. Collisions at these higher speeds are more deadly, happen faster than you think and happen more easily than you can ever imgine.

And again, before putting any internet advice into practice, talk to a coach or instructor who knows you and your skill level.

And as always, get coaching. Obviously this is not a comprehensive list of freefly progression, there are even many variables to what is listed above.

It can't be stressed enough that there are many factors to learning freefly that aren't intuitive. I can't tell you how many students, and even experienced belly jumpers, have said "I never thought of that".

This corking question is a technical/skill one, yes. But it's much more a survival skill question.




Edited: EEk! Sorry to sound like such a harpy!! (sometimes I read my own posts and think "shut the hell up!") I've been in situations in the air and have thought "Holy crap! I'll never put myself in this situation again!" Whether it was me who was the dangerous one, or a dangerous choice of jumping partner. And when you learn how not to be in those situations, you 'really' want to pass it on.

Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

[freeflybella 0]

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I found flailing was easier then going into a ball

It's definitely more of an instinctive thing - but that's why you do solos - flail away - until you learn how to ball up. 'Flailing' by definition means out of control. You must not be 'flailing' to maintain relativity when you're jumping with others.

Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi