Question

[Stevehend15 0]

I am very new and have jump numbers in the teens. I have all my own gear and I am ready to really ramp up my jumps. My question is what should be my short term and long term goals? I just got a RW suit and want to first focus on that. I think I want to stay away from freefly until I am real good at belly flying. What would be the next step after belly flying? I am thinking back flying, and after that some head down. I really don't know what to focus on and I want to be a good all around skydiver. Thanks for any advice.

[AggieDave 6]

Good coaching will help push you to being a good skydiver in a certain discipline in a much shorter amount of time.

Route #1:

1. Canopy control. You're in Florida, check out Scott Miller's school in DeLand. The program they have is top notch and it has some of the best canopy coaching you can find.

2. RW (as per your post). You're in FL, go to the tunnel in Orlando for an Airspeed camp (or similar). When you're done with that get some good quality coaching from a qualified coach to fill in the gaps (diving to formations and the such). Personally I'm a huge fan of SDU if (and only if) the SDU Coach is any good. A title doesn't mean much.

3. FF. The tunnel again. Then get your hands on a good and qualified FF coach. There's a good number of very good FF coaching available around FL. Check out the DZs and find the one you like.

Route #2:

1. Talk to your local DZ experienced jumpers, buy beer, stick around after the beer light to ask questions AND most importantly, jump as often as you can with people that have more experience then you.

Route #3:

1. Combine Route #1 and #2, have a big smile on your face and then you don't get burnt out with doing nothing but coached jumps and tunnel time.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Ugali 0]

1.

Quote

Talk to your local DZ experienced jumpers, buy beer, stick around after the beer light to ask questions AND most importantly, jump as often as you can with people that have more experience then you.

Very true, i have learnt alot from the guys at the bar.
Keep an ear out for bullshit though

Tom, Tom Tom, Tommy, Tom Love

[billvon 3,058]

>What would be the next step after belly flying?

After you master it, you mean? It can take people decades to do that.

I wouldn't make such decisions yet. For now, do some belly flying, go on some organized dives and get some coaching. Do some tunnel time if you can afford it. If you start to get bored, move on to something else. (I've been mainly on my belly for 15 years and I'm not bored yet!)