AMax

As Chris said, ask the coach to explain how the teammates should communicate with each other during the ground preparation and debriefs. There is a lot of information available on-line (Airspeed articles are probably one of the best sources you can possibly find), however, people always tend to listen better and be more receptive when the information is directly delivered by senior person (a person whom they'd automatically respect because of his/her experience) Ask the coach to tell the whole team how to pass the rock and maybe even ask him/her to participate at first few rock passing sessions. If the teammate continues trashing you, bring it up during rock passing session (but only after everyone learns what rock passing is for and how to do it). If he still picks on you, cut him because 1) your team experience is supposed to be fun 2) you cannot communicate well and work as a team in the sky if you continuously fight on the ground and get frustrated. Team dynamics is very complicated. You cannot expect people to know everything and always be perfect when they just got started. In a way, you are going through selection. Some of your teammates will learn the simple basics to realize that the 4-way is endless journey. The others might decide that teams are not for them. The problem you run into is not unique and solutions are fairly simple. Edit to add: Talking to experienced 4-way people in private rather than discussing this issue on-line is also a good idea

Great post!

GK's announced a new lineup for 4-way team. http://www.skyleague.com/pages/news/showArticles.php?story=306&PHPSESSID=8c0fae64190f16b45c3180cc79279b50 Edit to say good luck to John Hoover serving his country in Afganistan. The first picture is very impressive.

I hate you

Academia is not different from the rest of the world. I would not mention skydiving during an interview for academic job since the impact will most likely be negative

check it out at NSL site www.skyleague.com Edit: scores: http://www.skyleague.com/pages/scores/index.php?PHPSESSID=fdd6ad7e87964df919cd1ba902af3132

Flashing is not only used as a key but also to show complete grip separation to the judges – that’s why the whole team flashes, not only a person who gives a key. At your lever there are more important things than flashing but why not learn this skill from the only beginning? There are three types of flashes: 1) brining both arms in 2) both arm out 3) combination of 1 and 2 (one arm in, one arm out). As you pick up the speed, poor flashes (or no flashes) may cause problems with infringements (busts). In addition, poor flashes indicate that the flyer is not confident or is not on the top of the game.

PM me if you still did not get them

Include the Nationals to this plan

Foxes are staying together for another year?

As a team I would focus on the following basic skills: 1) fall rate 2) being in a right place before taking the grips 3) maintaining eye contact 4) taking the grips and coming off grips at the same time Start from star drill: form a star - drop the grips and fly no contact - take the grips again. Very nice drill to practice falling straight down, on level with everybody else and taking and coming off grips at the same time. I would then start practicing simple multi point pages containing "roundish" random formations: Star, Satellite, Sedebody, Bow, Stairstep diamond, Meeker. I would practice them as 2-3 point drills but only after you master the basics. Edit to add: 360's and donuts are not easy - I wouldn't do them until you nail the basics down

What's SD Houston?

That;s pretty cool - good luck with your team and see you next year at SD Dallas or Spaceland

Rookie class?

Oh that's great! do they plan to compete at TSL? http://www.skyleague.com/pages/shop/index.php?category=21

Regardless of position in the door the most important principle you need to think about is presentation - placing your body properly on relative wind. In case of RW exits (I assume you will not be learning how to freefly for next hundred jumps or so) you should always leave the plane with your belly facing the wind. You already learned this skill on first AFF dives - now you can apply it to launch different exits form different positions. Try to exit as a floater (outside the plane) or diver (inside the plane) and always think about presenting right on GO instead of jumping out and then trying to present (very common mistake). When you start jumping with your friend and exit small formations (2-way is a biggest you should do at the beginning) remember that you still need to present properly even if you are holding on to somebody. Jumping with your buddies of similar skill level is a lot of fun but remember that the best way to learn is to jump with more experienced people (ideally with a coach). This way you will learn much faster. Look at this site if you want to see some fantastic RW exits http://www.skyleague.com/pages/images/nslTV/index.php?PHPSESSID=747d761bc563cfea4fdf2dc656d87be0 Edit to add: I just realized that you jump at Perris. Dude, you will soon be teaching me how to exit stable

Dave, Are you putting a 4-way team together??

We didnt 'Do' em, we just jumped with em... Oh ... that's a good news. Since I haven't jumped in two weeks, I wanted to ask you guys to take me for re-currency jump but Cindi's post scared the hell out of me. Congratulations! P.s. and by the way, this "pre-second" smart ass trick is against the rules! BEEEER!

Just to clarify. This thread is not about tunnel coaching.

Lets say, your team just finished a season. You made some progress utilizing pretty modest training plan and getting sporadic coaching from different people. Now when it is time to decide what is next, everyone wants to stay on board for another year and more or less agrees on intensity of training and a new goal. You already know how much money and time you are willing to invest, but you are not sure how exactly to get to this new level. Isn’t it a good time to seriously consider hiring a coach on regular basis? So what would be the best strategy to invest coaching money you all agreed to spend if PC is out of question and you cannot even afford to have a coach for every training camp? Here is my take: 1) Agree on common goal (target point average) and the training plan to reach the goal. This includes the number of training jumps, tunnel time and the amount of money you are willing to spend for coaching. Firm financial commitment is critical. 2) Find a qualified coach who is willing to work with a team on regular basis. Make sure his/her personality is compatible with everyone on the team. 3) Discuss the team goal and training plan with a coach before the season begins and make the necessary adjustments considering his/her input. Obviously the adjustments should me made in a way that teammates are not forced to change their initial financial commitments. Example: the team targets X point average and agrees to make 200 training jumps, get 20 hours of tunnel time and use a coach on 5 training camps. After evaluating the previous performance of every teammate as individuals and team’s performance as a whole, the coach makes a conclusion that the target point average can only be achieved with 400 jumps, 20 hours of tunnel and 5 coached training camps. In case the team decision on jump numbers is already made, such readjustment is not acceptable – get real and agree that X-1 is you new target average. On the other hand, following a suggestion to change the ratio between block and random training or making less jumps to get more tunnel training is acceptable. 4) Let coach decide on the schedule of coached training camps during a season and if possible, allow some flexibility. In other words, it is up to qualified person to make a decision when the team needs him/her most, not the other way around. I assume here that the team works with the same person during entire season and maintains communication with a coach to exchange the information on regular basis. As usual, I am hopping for some input from people of all levels.

Yup, he's great. I have been listening to NIN for a long time. One of my neighbors (young college student) who did not share the passion for NIN, used to complain a lot and even called the police a few times during 'after-2-am-downward-spiral sessions' A lot of people don't know that he started as a classical piano player. I guess it helps a lot with what he's doing now. There was an interesting article in Spin telling about Trent's old days with NIN and a period when he was hiding from society for several years living incognito in New Orleans

pretty fast intermediate draw

Opportunities and experience levels vary. Thats why there are several classes. If I just got started with 150 training jumps a year paying for my slot, I cannot be competitive with someone who has been competing for years, makes 1000 training jumps per year and gets paid for his slot.

look at Divewerkz progression - I wouldn't be surprised if they average 15.5 in Advanced next year