AMax

Just to add my two cents: The negative emotions such as fear in general, memories of past mistakes, fear of making a mistake (performance anxiety) tend to affect our performances in a negative way. This common principle applies to all athletes of all levels. The most effective way to deal with the fear and anxieties is to displace the negative emotions from you thought process by concentrating on positive and trusting your body to do the job when you approach the start line (in our case – on the way up and before leaving the aircraft). During the ground prep, you learn what you need to do on this skydive. Visualize the whole jump during the climb up and trust yourself. In our minds, the instant attacks of fear can be effectively fought with counterattacks of positive thinking. For example, the thoughts like "I made a lot of mistakes on the previous skydive ... what I am doing here? ... this is dangerous! ... ect. " can be replaced with "I am about to go into freefall and it’s fun! .. I know what to do ... this is going to be my best skydive (or competition round) ... these clouds are beautiful in sunset colors ... " The book that Ari suggested is terrific. I also recommend "The inner game of tennis" – one of the most influential books on sports psychology. Just replace "tennis" with "skydiving" when you read it

IMHO, I don't think this is a good idea for a weekend team because the number of training jumps is most likely limited (unless you have a lot of tunnel time to experiment). My impression that the DSSs become more and more popular - less mental load on front piece. Hopefully, the pros will provide some input soon.

Did they check both main and reserve? Was the reserve closing loop tight?

Nice piece of skydiving history. Thank you for posting this.

Like the street racers who think they're like real car racers, the jackass canopy pilots think they're emulating the "real" swoopers. Maybe they're not the same animal, but they seem to want to be, and they're emulating the behavior. So how do we separate the real swoopers from the non-real swoopers? And, more importantly, how do we end up with a general-use sky that's reasonably safe? Wendy W. Bravo, Wendy and Bill!

Sorry for being sarcastic. On a serious note, some of the biggest tandem factories in the US are also great places for teams and fun jumpers. Skydive Spaceland in Texas comes in mind - great place where everyone gets a slot.

it's a new generation - they have actually learned the skill of going up in freefall ....

The subject of neurogenesis in adult brain is too complicated and controversial to discuss here.

Short answer: The number of neurons in your brain does not increase after you go through development because, unlike other cells, neurons do not divide. However, the wiring of local neural circuitry (synaptic pattern) the number of synaptic contacts and (very importantly) the properties of individual synapses undergo constant activity-dependent changes. This process is called plasticity. Have a wondeful trip to China!

I bet you managed to get a bunch of free jumps before she went south

You can probably qualify for an SCR award if you quickly form an 8-way round with 7 people in your sector before they track off

Killing cute innocent baby seals is awful. Convincing people to stop killing animals is a waste of time. They should first learn how to stop killing each other.

If you want to learn about a few professional skydivers, read this: http://skyleague.com/pages/profiles/ These people live their dreams. Keep in mind, there are just a few of them and it takes a lot of time and effort to get there. You are still 16. Finish school, make a few hundred jumps, learn about the different routs in the sport and decide for yourself

I just got a text from my teammate saying that 150 was built today (on 11th attempt) Congraaaaaaats!

They haven't started yet

TSR team, good luck to ya'll in Spaceland! Go get a big one for Texas!

The lack of info in users profile does not necessarily mean scam. There are quite a few world class skydivers who sell gear on dz.com and their profiles are usually blank. The best way to avoid getting scammed is to ask a person to send the rig to your rigger at your home dz BEFORE sending money (you can promise to reimburse the cost of shipment if, for whatever reason, you decide not to buy the rig). Dealing through the dropzone will eliminate the possibility of getting scammed for both seller and buyer. If you feel any hesitation - walk away. Edit to add: Oh ... I did not realize you are from Skydive Dallas. Just ask them to send the rig to gear store at SDD or to Jeff.

what water temp and machine cycle? what dryer temp? It does not really matter. Hot water, regular cycle and regular "cotton" setting for dryer work well. The lining does not shrink a lot after machine washing and drying. Of course, you'll have to wash the bottom part manually since you cannot take it off.

Katya, Your scores are quite impressive as well. I am sure we will see you standing on the podium soon. Go Kaktus Hunters!

Take is out, wash in a washing machine, dry and put it back. It is a little tricky to align the liner inside the helmet after taking it out. I use the inside pockets as a reference and always put the central piece last. Hope this helps.

Amazing competition and amazing scores! http://skyleague.com/pages/scores/index.php

where is Bruno? Oh ... I forgot that his VX is considerably BIGGER than 39

Dan, I completely agree.

Cool, thanks, Bryan

I believe it is. Last time I checked they were $175 apiece.