Joellercoaster

This

OK. Things that helped me in the long run? Getting coaching early. Still not early or often enough, I still have habits, but it could have been a lot worse! Things that kept me safer? This is going to sound terribly unfashionable, but: dropzone.com. Basically find the most conservative, hardass posters on here with thousands of jumps, and listen closely to what they say (not always to how they say it). It will give you a feel for the inevitable advice you're going to get, and a background against which to evaluate it. Very experienced people (even the legendary "instructors who have seen you jump") still give bad advice, but there's a lot of good minds on here once you figure out who they are. (Hint: they're mostly cranky.) Stuff that helped me progress? Joining a Rookie 4-way team. I learned more in that season about how to skydive than in the rest of my jumping career put together. I've learned a bunch since then, don't get me wrong, but never again at the same rate. I'd recommend it even if you just want to freefly long-term! -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

The main ones, which might be the same as yours, are awareness and peripheral vision. The BPA restrict them to B license (minimum 50 jumps), the idea being (I guess) that you are hopefully taking more in from your surroundings and actively looking around more by that stage. They definitely also make it harder to see your handles. Helmet design will one day reach a point where these concerns aren't important any more, but I don't think we're there yet. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I agree with all the people who said "started younger". I even had a chance, but let a SO talk me out of jumping when I had nearly finished AFF. That cost me three years I wish I had back. Other than that? I'm pretty happy. Some things I'm really glad I did: 1) Got in the tunnel early, even though I hated it at first. After the first hour, it got better. Now I have no idea how much tunnel time I have, but I know I need more. 2) Joined a 4-way team early. Not because it got me on the competition path (which I love), but because it made my learning curve so much steeper. I would feel this way even if my eventual discipline was freefly (which was actually the original plan)! 3) Got a lot of coaching (canopy and freefall). I look back and regret none of it, though it cost me a fair bit. 4) Only pushed hard on the pushable things. You can't replace jump numbers, so downsize carefully. But if you focus on one discipline (I fell in love with 8-way) you can make rapid progress, with the right coaching and training plan. 5) Was nice to the old guys :) -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Skydiving helmet brands can be quite different shapes! I know it's less of a surprise, but I recommend getting your kid to try some on... one person's comfy helmet brand is another person's annoying fit. (Also, the advice about not getting a full face helmet for a while is very good - some countries even have license restrictions on them, and they have reasons for it!) -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Experience! You will learn to pick up cues from your student's body position - and that includes feedback about fall rate. There's been good advice upthread about jumpsuits - but technique comes into it too (and that comes from experience). Watch really good tunnel coaches teaching flat skills whenever you can. In particular, you'll notice that they can demonstrate technical things from a variety of different base body positions! The obvious one is when they show people to drop a knee, but don't turn themselves until they want to. But it extends to matching fall rates while still demonstrating faster/slower fall, and so on. Learn to isolate your inputs and play them off against each other. You can practise this stuff on your own too. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

...and that none of the people in this thread, unless I am much mistaken, are CP competitors jumping prototype canopies that might suddenly malfunction during manoeuvres they are likely to perform close to the ground. Ie., you are not, nor are you ever likely to be, "in his position". That video is entirely irrelevant to the discussion. [edit: I have a Skyhook. I would happily buy a new rig without one if I liked other things about it. I would, however, certainly purchase a standard RSL on a Wings if that was what I was buying.] -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Haha, if I was looking to give ten thousand dollars to charity, I reckon I'd like to do it that way! Good on them. Does Bourdain already jump, or would it be his first? (Weird image of turning blocks on the hill with famous chefs for charity. Hmm.) [edit: My girlfriend's response was "we need to find out which boogies he goes to."] -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Also, to the OP, I am loving your learning-to-skydive blog. Send the SDR people a link, see if you can get them to mention it on air -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I think (hope) we're talking about different things. There are coaches who mostly coach - that's what they do, and they're good at it. Dedication to it costs them money and opportunities for other things. And there are maybe some people taking the piss, getting free jumps from people who may not really know much better - or are forced into their hands because they're not allowed to jump with anyone else. To be honest, I haven't met that many of the latter but maybe we drink in different bars or something. The issue is emotive in the UK because as the rule stands right now, you need to get coach jumps. Nowhere does it say you need a coach rating or that you have to pay for them, but unfortunately that's the way it's panned out at the moment, at a lot of dropzones. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Haha I've driven across (around? through? who can say?) that magic circle thingy in Swindon a couple of times. I live in London, I've driven a bit in Spain, I grew up in Australia. I know how roundabouts work. And that thing completely baffles me. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Seriously, find a different dropzone! It sucks that you're having a bad time at one place, but don't quit the whole sport based on one venue. There are a lot of places where the coaches just coach, and aren't also the camera flyers/instructors/etc. If you don't want to mention a specific place on a public forum, PM me and I'll try and advise on better options near you. Try two, and then quit -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I think you have it there. Putting it that way... I shall take a chill pill -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Then maybe being a coach is not for you. You must have taken it seriously though, or it wouldn't have felt like so much work On the contrary. Being a coach is for me, and I love it. But it is work, and it does take commitment, and costs me money, and I sure as hell don't do it for the free jumps. I just resent being told it's some kind of a scam. Getting my slot paid isn't an incentive, it's what makes the whole thing possible at all. Can you see how someone who takes coaching seriously, might find that annoying? It should be obvious, given the chronic shortage of available coaches despite the hundreds of current rating holders - who in theory should be lining up for the "free jump" gravy train, if that was what it was. But, y'know. Apparently not. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Trust me, after the 20th jump in a row where you get out and provide a base while somebody else does all the flying, the free jumps angle isn't very appealing. After the 50th, then you really need to love coaching. Go away and do a few dozen jumps with newbies, briefing how to turn yet again, instead of rocking that 20 point 4-way dive with the other people your level, or going on that bigway weekend, or whatever, then tell me it's a scam. Until then, I have a few choice suggestions, for what you can do with your opinion. Gahh. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Right. The fuck. On. There is no idea so boneheaded or dangerous that you won't find one S&TA or guy with 15,000 jumps somewhere who'll tell you it's OK. You are not a precious unique snowflake. People who haven't seen you fly are, in fact, still in a position to tell you something is a bad idea. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Likewise, I really love these. Thanks for posting them, hopefully you'll still be making them when you're on your way to becoming a badass 4-way jumper or a freefly ninja or wherever your jumping career takes you. You're doing great so far -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

It's not the things that you notice that will bite you, it's the things that you don't notice until they've bitten you. Part of the problem with people flying wings that are too fast for them is that they generally feel fine under them. "I stand up all my landings" is the most common phrase in G&R... the problem is when something unexpected happens, and you need your accumulated muscle memory and understanding of canopy flight to kick in before whatever badness (landing off in a small unfamiliar area, finding yourself low after kicking out twists, encountering turbulence, getting cut off on final, whatever) catches you out. These badnesses are pretty much inevitable at some point. When your wing is bigger, the bad thing is coming at you slower, and will hopefully turn into the good kind of learning experience. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Assuming you jump at a USPA dropzone! It's a big world out there, and other places have different requirements: the BPA for example require you to get your B certificate first. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Twardo is right - there's nothing like the feel of terminal velocity air on your chops to make you feel alive. And a full face helmet will restrict your peripheral vision a bit, and make it harder for other people to read your face, and make it harder to see your handles. But. There's a reason 99% of the 4- and 8-way kids wear them. If you do the kind of skydiving where getting kicked in the face is a very frequent thing, then after the second or third broken nose, you figure it out ;) (Some people might point out that maybe "the kind of skydiving where getting kicked in the face is a very frequent thing" doesn't necessarily sound like fun, but it it ). -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Book some time and rotate with them. It's cool, they get to watch you flying around and see what's possible once you have your body under control - without the concentration overload that happens the first time they ever get in the tunnel and they realise it's REALLY WEIRD. If that's all that happens, then you've still shared the experience. Or if it's all going really well, the instructor might ask you to come in for the last flight or two [edit: I got to fly with my Mum a while ago in just this way, it was priceless ] -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Definitely get with your coach on this one, as it's easier to show than to explain. But. Slow/fast fall happens mostly with your torso. Your arms are a relatively weak input compared to your trunk (and legs). Pushing forward with your arms and neck causes you to dearch at the chest, which slows you down - your arms aren't contributing too much directly (except, as you noticed, to push you backwards a bit). Once you figure out how to make your torso slowfall with your shoulders and (more importantly) your hips, you can use your arms and legs independently to control your position. Legs in booties are a good source of drag too, of course. Your coach will definitely be able to help :) -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

That comes across as a fairly twisted question... Why would you want anyone to see it? Are you asking because you want to watch it? There's absolutely nothing to learn from it. That's not true, unfortunately. One of the very biggest problems with the Mad Skillz set is that the danger is not real to them. They say "oh I understand the risks" but really, they don't. They can't. It's an abstract thing, something that happens to other people - something that is just words. Seeing and hearing someone hook in is one hard way it gets brought home. Seeing first-person video might be another. By the way Sangi, we haven't met in person but we've crossed paths in the past elsewhere. I'm very, very glad you're alive. Heal fast, and I hope to see you skydiving somewhere one day. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Although some people are seeming to advise that you "just jump" because it'll probably be OK, I've had two friends rupture eardrums skydiving this year alone, and another friend be rendered unable to stand up for 24 hours due to inner ear craziness in a previous season. They all jumped with minor ear blockages, and might have been fine - but they weren't. If you're not sure about your doctor's opinion, get another doctor's opinion. You might well be fine jumping, but it would suck a lot to be wrong and find out the hard way, and we here simply aren't the right people to ask. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

You assume correctly. I feel differently about students - nobody with 20 jumps should be sitting there thinking "Oh no if I chop this I might have to shell out for the repack" - but at a hundred jumps, you're a grown-up. It sucks about the freebag, obviously, but it happens. (Also: this is way off-topic, but if you're big enough to put yourself under a fully elliptical canopy at a hundred jumps, then the cost of a repack is the least you're you're putting on the line.) -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?