Serious landing issues...

[keithbar 1]

with your jump numbers. and your currency issues. anyone who would laugh at you for wanting to be safe and go back on a radio for a few jumps. is an asshole and should be bitch slapped and then ignored. seriously do a day of hop and pops on the radio it will come.

i have on occasion been accused of pulling low . My response. Naw I wasn't low I'm just such a big guy I look closer than I really am .

[Baksteen 84]

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I have thought about doing the radio thing, but the fear of being laughed at has stopped me. I mean seriously, I should not be having these issues any longer. If I could only fly a canopy the way I fly my body, things would be great....

Everyone has bottlenecks in their progression, be it landing, tracking, flying a pattern - it's nothing to be ashamed about.

This guy at my DZ had similar problems to your own and finally did jump with radio assistance.
None of us laughed at him, *obviously*. At first we were too relieved that he could actually keep jumping, and later everyone was too busy sitting on the tip of their chair when the student came in on final, hoping that he'd solve his problem this time.
When he finally did and made an unassisted jump with perfect flare/landing, everyone actually cheered!

Later he told me that half the stress he felt was alleviated by the presence of the radio - he knew the instructor was on standby if needed. And once he (the student) had proven to himself[i/] he could do it...
(Possibly helpful anecdotal evidence and not advice, dear TTYI-police...)

"That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport."
~mom

[mamajumps 0]

I have definitly gotten some great advice here. I have never been laughed at by anyone at my home dz (SEB), but I have definitly encountered negative laughing by some ass hats at other DZ's in the sport. Naturally, it makes me a little weary to seek out advice else where. I plan on demoing a 9 cell 170 this weekend, so we will see how that works. I am also set up to jump with a coach. I WILL beat this demon, it will not get the best of me, jumping and being a safe jumper mean WAY too much to me. Thanks again to everyone who chipped in on the great advice in this thread and a special thanks to those who PM'd me about it. I love being a part of the skydiving family, putting the few asshats aside, its a great group of people!!!!

[Broke 0]

Well since we dien't get to speak last night here are my thoughts.

Where everyone said get your landings Videoed is one of the best tools that you can utilize for learning to land better.

Also another thing to focus on is where you are looking at flare time. Brian Germain suggests you use the accuracy trick and look where you are going. Don't look at the horizon, and don't look straight down.

Also Try to use your periferal vision to take in the big picture.

Now as for trying another canopy...
Upsizing may not be a bad choice, however becareful jumping on windier days due to the fact that you won't have as much penetration.
A problem with your size and canopy choice is that even if you have a lightly loaded canopy you are getting into the smaller size canopies where the line sets are shorter, and as such they are a lot more responsive to you inputs.
If you look at someoneflying a lets say Sabre2 210 loadeed at 1:1 is not the same as someone jumping the same canopy at the same loading on a 135. You can find an article on the PD website where tehy discuss that.

Pick up a copy of, "The Parachute and its Pilot." It is a very infotmational book, and it is easy to read.

As some other people have suggested do a whole mess of hop and pops. Do practice flares up high. Stop where you fell you canopy pitch behind you. See what happens when you slowly add toggle input vs when you stabb you brakes down.

Remember the canopy is not going to fly the same on every jump, because there are a lot of factors involved, however it will fly in a similar manor every jump.

It is best to learn how to fly you canopy on a day when there is very little wind.

Divot your source for all things Hillbilly.
Anvil Brother 84
SCR 14192

[fred 0]

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I love free fall with everything in me, but from the second my canopy is out, I am a nervous wreck.

What do you do before you get out of the plain to relax you? Do you take deep breaths? Visualize the freefall? After you're open, you can do the basic safety checks (locate other pilots, make sure your canopy is controllable/landable), and then you can take a moment to relax. Visualize a good approach and landing. Practice flaring and pay attention to what the wind does. Take deep breaths. Whatever you need to do to get yourself out of that 'nervous wreck' and into that 'pilot-in-command' attitude.

Standard disclaimer about a low-jumper giving advice applies here, so take the following with a cube of salt:

As a student, you're taught that the flare is a single action. Around 8 ft up, you do your flare and then land. And worse, if you flare too early, you're going to destroy your landing and hurt yourself or die.

At 100 jumps, you should realize that this is something they teach students to keep them safe, but you can do better. The flare is a dynamic process of leveling out and slowing speed. Sometimes I start the flare too high, in which case I'm not going to level off as well as I could have, but I'm going to lose a lot more speed. Othertimes I flare too low, in which case I have to pull more to level off faster and don't lose as much speed, and I have to run it out. With the winds throwing in some randomness, it's all a matter of dialing it in and figuring it out.

Looking straight down is clearly a bad idea. Looking straight ahead is, in my low-numbers experience, also bad. I like to watch my path and visualize it as a runway. If I flare too late, I know I have "pull up" (meaning, pull my brake lines faster). If I flare too early, I need to slow down the flare (not let up!) and probably run it out. Ideally, I will flare perfectly which puts me stopped and a couple feet above ground before I land.

[danielcroft 2]

WARNING: I'm a noob and paraphrasing people that know what they're talking about. Check for yourself before taking my advice.

One thing Brian Germain suggested in his class (it was really good btw) was, once you're clear of traffic & have a good canopy, to go into deep brakes and take several seconds to relax & visualize the canopy flight. Calm your breathing & get into a positive state of mind. He also said that people tend to get good at things they love, so love flying your canopy. I do, it's awesome fun!

You might consider going to one of his classes or at least getting his book. The fear/adrenalin management stuff could be really useful to you given the state of mind you say you're experiencing.

Good luck!

[towerrat 0]

Not to be one of those asshats, but in 5 years you have only 77 skydives yet you have 2,466 posts on this forum. This is August 27th yet you've only made ten jumps this year. I would suggest you talk less about skydiving and actually do it now and then.

Just sayin............

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes!

[skydemon2 0]

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I WILL beat this demon, it will not get the best of me, !

Tease.... Practice practice..... youll get it!

Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone!

I like to start my day off with a little Ray of Soulshine™!!

[skydemon2 0]

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I am perfectionist with no confidence... nice combination huh?

Thanks for this entire thread... it's all sounding very familiar to my own situation. Try not to give up hope..

Speaking of which........ Hows it going?

Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone!

I like to start my day off with a little Ray of Soulshine™!!

[kelpdiver 2]

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Not to be one of those asshats, but in 5 years you have only 77 skydives yet you have 2,466 posts on this forum. This is August 27th yet you've only made ten jumps this year. I would suggest you talk less about skydiving and actually do it now and then.

can't skydive while "on break" at work.

can't skydive (typically) without working.

and it's unlikely that 2500 postings were made on skydiving, as opposed to sex, alcohol, or guns.

[mamajumps 0]

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Not to be one of those asshats, but in 5 years you have only 77 skydives yet you have 2,466 posts on this forum. This is August 27th yet you've only made ten jumps this year. I would suggest you talk less about skydiving and actually do it now and then.

can't skydive while "on break" at work.

can't skydive (typically) without working.

and it's unlikely that 2500 postings were made on skydiving, as opposed to sex, alcohol, or guns.

Thanks!

and to towerrat...

I do 99% of my posting at work, and right now I am in a slow period, so for 8.5 hrs each day... I literally almost have nothing to do. Because of being a single mom, I can only afford to go to the DZ about 1x a month. However, I like to post here and discuss any issues as well as bond with my fellow jumpers when I am not able to make it to the DZ. Which is why I am sure most of us post here....