I'm relieved to know that what I'm experiencing is not uncommon. I started skydiving about 4 months ago. I'm on AFF 7 right now and have been stuck at this level for 3 months after failing it twice. I've only done two jumps during this time. My AFF 7 went badly when attempting a barrel roll as part of the dive flow. I ended stuck on my back and then lost all stability. I cartwheeled through the air for what seemed like a very long time. I was able to get on my side and pulled unstable creating a hard opening and injuring my shoulder.
I took a month off from jumping to let my shoulder heal up. I wanted to graduate from AFF and get my A license, so I pursued it. I would make the 4 hour drive to the dropzone only to eventually come back home early and not jumping. I flopped out. Some weekends I would get as far as the state line and just park. I would call when the DZ opened and cancelled my AFF reservation. I would be so pissed off at myself for doing this a short time later. I resolved to not do it again, but then I would in other ways.
I got pissed off about the whole thing early Christmas Eve morning. I got in my truck at 4 AM and drove to the DZ to be there when they opened. I did two jumps that day. I failed AFF level 7 again. It's been 6 weeks since those two jumps. I can't seem to get past that mental block for some reason. I even went and did a tandem at another school as if I was a first-time jumper. Door anxiety was still taking a life of its own. Once I was in freefall all was good.
The only way I know to deal with is to just force myself to jump and jump and jump until this anxiety demon of the plane ride and exit door leave me. Isn't this really the only way? Would doing repeated tandems be a solution, or should I just not waste my money by going in reverse and just stick with solo jumps until this all passes? Thanks!
