jumpgump 0 #26 February 1, 2014 I'm relieved to know that what I'm experiencing is not uncommon. I started skydiving about 4 months ago. I'm on AFF 7 right now and have been stuck at this level for 3 months after failing it twice. I've only done two jumps during this time. My AFF 7 went badly when attempting a barrel roll as part of the dive flow. I ended stuck on my back and then lost all stability. I cartwheeled through the air for what seemed like a very long time. I was able to get on my side and pulled unstable creating a hard opening and injuring my shoulder. I took a month off from jumping to let my shoulder heal up. I wanted to graduate from AFF and get my A license, so I pursued it. I would make the 4 hour drive to the dropzone only to eventually come back home early and not jumping. I flopped out. Some weekends I would get as far as the state line and just park. I would call when the DZ opened and cancelled my AFF reservation. I would be so pissed off at myself for doing this a short time later. I resolved to not do it again, but then I would in other ways. I got pissed off about the whole thing early Christmas Eve morning. I got in my truck at 4 AM and drove to the DZ to be there when they opened. I did two jumps that day. I failed AFF level 7 again. It's been 6 weeks since those two jumps. I can't seem to get past that mental block for some reason. I even went and did a tandem at another school as if I was a first-time jumper. Door anxiety was still taking a life of its own. Once I was in freefall all was good. The only way I know to deal with is to just force myself to jump and jump and jump until this anxiety demon of the plane ride and exit door leave me. Isn't this really the only way? Would doing repeated tandems be a solution, or should I just not waste my money by going in reverse and just stick with solo jumps until this all passes? Thanks! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boomerdog 0 #27 February 1, 2014 See...you're not alone! Courage as has been aptly stated, is having the hell scared out of you and doing it anyway. Good luck! Keep Jumping! Blue Skies! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trafficdiver 8 #28 February 1, 2014 jumpgump The only way I know to deal with is to just force myself to jump and jump and jump until this anxiety demon of the plane ride and exit door leave me. Isn't this really the only way? Would doing repeated tandems be a solution, or should I just not waste my money by going in reverse and just stick with solo jumps until this all passes? Thanks! Yep. It's the only way. You will pass AFF7 and get cleared for solo if you keep at it. Just don't stop at the state line, tell your fear to fuck off and keep driving. You will slowly get used to the door monster (and one day learn to love him), and you will soon figure out how to get stable in freefall. It all clicks, just takes a little longer sometimes Don't do anymore tandems! You're not a passenger anymore. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NWFlyer 2 #29 February 1, 2014 jumpgump The only way I know to deal with is to just force myself to jump and jump and jump until this anxiety demon of the plane ride and exit door leave me. Isn't this really the only way? Would doing repeated tandems be a solution, or should I just not waste my money by going in reverse and just stick with solo jumps until this all passes? Thanks! "Just do it" really is the only way to keep facing the fear directly and get to the point where you're past it or at least it's manageable. As others mentioned upthread, jumping as frequently as possible can help a lot. I found when I was a newer jumper, more than a week or two between jumps would have me second-guessing all the way to the dropzone "what the hell am I thinking? why on earth would I ever do this?" There were several times where the whole ride to altitude I'd tell myself "I can always ride the plane back down." Know what? I never did ride the plane back down (in fact, I'd hit almost 1000 jumps before I rode the plane down for any reason, and that was because weather rolled in really quickly). That said, brute force isn't the only technique you can use. You can throw some wind tunnel time into your learning to give you more confidence in your own ability to fly (doesn't help at all with the door monster, though!). You can visualize. That's a technique I've used from the very beginning. As a student, visualization was critical to cementing the dive flow in my mind, and helping to make sure that I wouldn't brain lock on the next requirement. Visualize yourself successfully executing the whole thing, end to end, from getting into the door, to the exit count, to exiting, to all the freefall moves, through to deployment and the full canopy ride to landing. To this day I visualize pretty much every skydive - that kind of practice is free, builds confidence, and can really make a difference in whether I am able to successfully execute my part of a skydive. Sounds like you live pretty far away from your DZ, but I also find that just spending more time around the DZ can help, even if you're not jumping."There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DrDom 0 #30 February 2, 2014 I got cold feet for Jump 7. Couldn't even manifest. Not sure why, but now regret it. Its been months because of weather and I'm trying to find the nerve to start over. But the funny thing is that in my MIND I know that I just need the exposure to it; but there is that little emotional center in my unconscious that says "whaaaat? no... seriously no. nononononoooooo..." The psychiatric term for what you need to do comes in 2 varieties: Saturation therapy or systematic desensitization. Both work for different reasons and the end result is often the same. In saturation therapy you simply exposure yourself to the unpleasant stimulus as often as possible. Eventually your brain stops associating this "abnormal" event as "normal". This seems to be what most people advocate and is not a bad idea at all. In systematic desensitization you basically approach the thing that scares you slowly and in controlled situations. I'm going this way since saturation didn't work yet. Wind tunnel, flight lessons, and now powered paragliding. I'm hoping then I can saturate the rest. Why do I talk so damn long about this? Because I'm going through it too, and we will ALL get through it :) We're in this together... otherwise I have one friend threatening to bring a jar of spiders on the jump plane (trust me... I'd jump)You are not the contents of your wallet. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jumpgump 0 #31 February 3, 2014 Boomerdog, Trafficdiver, NWFlyer, and Dr Dom: Thanks for the replies to my thread post. What all of you said was very helpful! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
