Cant keep legs straight in HD

[FFlyer 0]

Hi all,

Most of my skydiving problems are solved by searching though the forums, but I haven't found many cases of people having the same problem as what im having.

Ive asked around my dropzone and it appears that most people seem to backslide when first learning head down. My problem is that I cant stop moving forward. Ive done 1 HD coach jump (I plan to do more this weekend) and its clear on the video that my legs are bent at the knees. Since then ive been focusing on trying to stop my legs from bending but nothing seems to work. I am able to look at my legs while head down without going unstable and its clear that my knees are bent. The problem seems to get worse the wider I spread my legs.

Ive tried practicing the position on the ground and everything seems perfect but for some reason i cant mimic that position with my legs in the sky. It seems that the wider I spread my legs, the more my knees bend

Are there any tips you can offer for this problem? Anything with my legs or feet that i may not be doing properly?

thanks, chow

[ccowden 0]

You are thinking and flying way too much with yuor legs. The movement comes from the hips. You actually don't want to have your legs perfectly straight, but have a slight relaxed bend in the knees. But your "backsliding" is no doubt coming from your hips being too far forward, thus your legs following. Which is rare. Most beginners are the opposite with their hips too far back and always driving/tracking.

Go out on a two-way HD with a good flyer. Someone who is quite proficient. Just launch a two-way with grips and play with your hip position. Use slight movements at first. You will be surprised how much and inch forward or backward changes things. Don't worry about your legs too much, just move your hips forward and backward until you feel that sweet spot and can feel when you are driving or pushing away. The sweet spot should be pretty obvious, with no tension, like you can just rest your hands on each other and don't have to hold on.

Worry about your legs after you get that down. They will come. But the key is relaxing. The more you try to fight things, the worse it will get. When you were trying to force your legs straight, you were getting more rigid and less relaxed, hence your problem worsening.

[FFlyer 0]

Thanks for the reply. Ill definitly try relaxing more next weekend and will play more with the movement of my hips.

Everything seems to make sense while sitflying but im still coming to terms with different inputs while in hd. Knowing what leg, hip, arm input etc will do is still a bit unclear at times. So with that said,...while my knees are bent slightly (ie: moving forward), which way should I move my hips in order to counter the legs and just fall straight down? Should my hips go forward or back?

cheers

[ccowden 0]

Like I said before, don't worry too much about your legs until you find that sweet spot with your hips and can control the movement. Don't think in terms of "countering" what your legs are doing. Just go up and play with your hips to find where the forward, neutral, and back positions are. It is most likely NOT your legs that are making you move, but your hip position. So trying to "counter" something with something else will just make you more rigid and thinking too much.

Do the two-way, relax, spread you legs in a comfortable/relaxed position, and do small movements forward and back with your hips. Find those hip positions and get comfortable with them. That is how you will find "straight down." Fine tuning the leg and arm positions can come after that.

Try not to get into the mental game of "if my legs are here, then my hips need to be here" thing. Try to relax and FEEL the body position.

[FFlyer 0]

Its true what you said about getting too rigid when concentrating on the legs, ive been spending most of my skydives trying to perfect my leg position instead of just feeling the air.

Ill organize some 2ways this weekend and see what happens.

[dreamsville 0]

I can attest to everything that ccowden has said. I am just in the last few months able to hold a head-down and do some simple movements and docking.

It took me a long time to get to this stage, mainly because I was trying to OVERANALYZE and FORCE the position (like a 2 by 4). When you get in the door, take a deep breath, put relaxation in your body as best you can, and KEEP BREATHING. It will help relax you. Think about breathing if that helps, or you may forget. If you stop breathing it will be harder to relax.

As you go down the hill, you may want to think about merging eye-contact with your friend and kind of finding the horizon. References help. RELAX AND ADJUST YOUR HIPS AND FEEL WHERE THEY SHOULD BE. Again, you can't force it. If you are driving to much or going unstable, you may not be relaxed.

Keep at it I know it's easier said than done.
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I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane.

Harry, FB #4143

[ccowden 0]

I was asked a question about the difference between "hips" and "torso" movements and the teaching of the two. I found the question to be a good one and figured I wuld post my reply to it. This was my reply, which I thought may be helpful if anyone else was thinking along these lines.

Quote

I do a lot of freefly coaching and I'm interested in what you teach about hip movement. I generally talk about torso movement. Is this really the same thing or do you find teaching hips works better?

I think we are talking about the same movement. The only thing i have found is that if I use the word "torso" that some students tend to overthink it and try adjusting too much. "Hips" seems to be a little more basic and easier for a beginner to grasp, since they have been taught "hips forward" for arching up to that point. However, I will say that it depends on where in the HD progression they are at. I am talking about getting the very basic "down the tube" position. Once it comes to refining that, then they do definitely have to become more aware of their entire torso as far as alignment of the hips, waist, shoulders, etc.