Weight

[Rachel22 0]

Good Afternoon, I joined dropzone so I could get feedback on questions I have about my skydiving. I am a 23 year old female who weighs 104 pounds. YEA! NO ONE CAN FLY WITH ME! I have 14 jumps now so still in student progression but im onto coach jumps and no one can stay with me. The aff instructor did ok during all of my categories, maybe i was arching better but was def. back sliding. now i traded straighter legs to not back slide and im going 90 mph! ugh..going to the tunnel in raeford this friday night to see if the coach can maybe get me to arch while having bent knees? help

[DrewEckhardt 0]

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Good Afternoon, I joined dropzone so I could get feedback on questions I have about my skydiving. I am a 23 year old female who weighs 104 pounds. YEA! NO ONE CAN FLY WITH ME! I have 14 jumps now so still in student progression but im onto coach jumps and no one can stay with me. The aff instructor did ok during all of my categories, maybe i was arching better but was def. back sliding. now i traded straighter legs to not back slide and im going 90 mph! ugh..going to the tunnel in raeford this friday night to see if the coach can maybe get me to arch while having bent knees? help

1. Dress for success. Skydivers whose nickname starts with "big" (like "Big Ben") or who refer to themselves as anvils need baggy suits sometimes with wings built in to bring their drag in line with their weight. You have the opposite problem and need a slick skin tight suit as opposed to the relaxed fit student suit you've been borrowing. Increasing your weight will also help. A weight vest/belt or pockets on your first rig for lead weights will give you some pounds that are useful skydiving but don't impact the rest of your life like what you get from beer and cheeseburgers.

You could also get your normal sized coaches to wear baggy free fly suits, although for more than a 2-way flat jump people will want their regular suits with grippers.

2. Be more flexible and bend in half like a yogi.

[Rachel22 0]

thank you drew. I have worn my vertical suite on solos. the coach has been wanting me to wear spandex student suite because it has grippers..but they arent even getting close enough to grip! i want to wear my vertical next time. i have heard about weight belts and i am oppose to them under student status because i would rather learn with out them on. i have a really great arch but i back slide...i am not even considering weights because id like to free fly more than RW so i am hoping i will not have to buy weights. i have a spandex under armor suite that is tighter than tight but im sure it would be colder than cold lol

[StreetScooby 5]

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2. Be more flexible and bend in half like a yogi.

This may make 4-way difficult, as the folks you're jumping with will have to break their box position to take grips on your arms/legs. That tends to put "pulses" into the formation, kind of defeating the purpose of 4-way

We are all engines of karma

[Rachel22 0]

wont be doing 4 ways or RW :)

[diablopilot 2]

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wont be doing 4 ways or RW :)

You have 14 jumps. You really shouldn't have that attitude. You need to learn to fly and be relative first, then worry about the type of skydiving you want to do. Of course just like every other overly impressionable newbie you already *know* what you should be doing.

Is your vertical suit made of ZP with spandex inserts? Why do you think you cant wear weight when freeflying? How do you intend to learn to recognize the sight picture of being high or low on a formation without practicing in a stable body position first?

Relax. You have the rest of your skydiving career to become a freefly snob. Those of us that have been around a while have figured out a secret I'll let you in on.

It's all the same. Bodyflight is bodyflight. Upsides down, right side up, belly, back, head, feet, it's all the same.

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[BillyVance 34]

To keep from back-sliding, and still maintain a good arch, you need to keep your lower legs out slightly beyond your knees or just about damn near vertical. If you backslide, stick your feet out a bit more to compensate.

Another way to help control your relative position is your forearms and hands. In a boxman position to move forward slightly, you can lower your hands a bit (get them below the elbows).

You will eventually learn how to move your body. It takes time. Some learn it fast, others take a long time. It took me a while.

Of course, it's best to talk with your instructor in person.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[faulknerwn 38]

The best thing I ever did when I was young and skinny was buy some weights. RW went from frustratingly hard to easy in one jump. I know longer had to bend in half just to be able to stay with anyone and then I couldn't move. I learned so much faster and progressed so much faster once I wore the weights and could actually fly relative to people. It was hopeless before that.

You should learn how to do RW before you learn to freefly and there are a thousand threads on here about the reasons why.

[dthames 0]

I don't fall as slow as you, but I also fell to slow to fly with most people. I purchased a custom suit and talked to the factory specifically about falling faster. The front of the legs are even faster and less durable material. But now, I can fall below a 2 way if I am not careful. The slickest suit might not be fast enough for you. But it did me a lot of good.

Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

Just get into freeflying and sit fly while everyone else is on their belly!

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[Andy9o8 2]

Why would you delete your OP after this discussion? Makes no sense.

[BIGUN 1,328]

My guess is she's not familiar with JP's communication style.

@OP: if you should come back and read this,,,, If you do get a weight belt, please take that into consideration as exit weight when you buy mains and reserves.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[Andy9o8 2]

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My guess is she's not familiar with JP's communication style.

I guess. The first time he posted at me, I just sat and cried.

[CSpenceFLY 1]

Hahahaha!!!

[Conundrum 1]

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wont be doing 4 ways or RW :)

You have 14 jumps. You really shouldn't have that attitude. You need to learn to fly and be relative first, then worry about the type of skydiving you want to do. Of course just like every other overly impressionable newbie you already *know* what you should be doing.

Is your vertical suit made of ZP with spandex inserts? Why do you think you cant wear weight when freeflying? How do you intend to learn to recognize the sight picture of being high or low on a formation without practicing in a stable body position first?

Relax. You have the rest of your skydiving career to become a freefly snob. Those of us that have been around a while have figured out a secret I'll let you in on.

It's all the same. Bodyflight is bodyflight. Upsides down, right side up, belly, back, head, feet, it's all the same.

I <3 JP

[IanHarrop 42]

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Why would you delete your OP after this discussion? Makes no sense.

Maybe she liked the answers she got in the Women's Forum better at least until it got locked for cross posting

"Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me" Dorothy

[Andy9o8 2]

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Why would you delete your OP after this discussion? Makes no sense.

Maybe she liked the answers she got in the Women's Forum better at least until it got locked for cross posting

I keep confusing the difference between cross posting & cross dressing. Least til my wife yells WTF.

[Remster 30]

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wont be doing 4 ways or RW :)

You have 14 jumps. You really shouldn't have that attitude. You need to learn to fly and be relative first, then worry about the type of skydiving you want to do. Of course just like every other overly impressionable newbie you already *know* what you should be doing.

Is your vertical suit made of ZP with spandex inserts? Why do you think you cant wear weight when freeflying? How do you intend to learn to recognize the sight picture of being high or low on a formation without practicing in a stable body position first?

Relax. You have the rest of your skydiving career to become a freefly snob. Those of us that have been around a while have figured out a secret I'll let you in on.

It's all the same. Bodyflight is bodyflight. Upsides down, right side up, belly, back, head, feet, it's all the same.

I <3 JP

. Ewwwwww!

Remster

[diablopilot 2]

Why I gotta be the one that broke the neewb?

Damnit, must remember the smiley faces...

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[BIGUN 1,328]

It's always your fault, Brother.
Even when it isn't.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[diablopilot 2]

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wont be doing 4 ways or RW :)

You have 14 jumps. You really shouldn't have that attitude. You need to learn to fly and be relative first, then worry about the type of skydiving you want to do. Of course just like every other overly impressionable newbie you already *know* what you should be doing.

Is your vertical suit made of ZP with spandex inserts? Why do you think you cant wear weight when freeflying? How do you intend to learn to recognize the sight picture of being high or low on a formation without practicing in a stable body position first?

Relax. You have the rest of your skydiving career to become a freefly snob. Those of us that have been around a while have figured out a secret I'll let you in on.

It's all the same. Bodyflight is bodyflight. Upsides down, right side up, belly, back, head, feet, it's all the same.

I <3 JP

. Ewwwwww!

Yer just jelly.

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[popsjumper 2]

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A weight vest/belt or pockets on your first rig for lead weights will give you some pounds

I strongly disagree here. Why? Because she has 14 jumps and has not yet gotten a good grip on canopy flight and landing. Crash and burn with a weight belt puts a lot of added stress on back muscles and spines.

Later, after getting good control of landings, yeah.

Discuss?

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[popsjumper 2]

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To keep from back-sliding, and still maintain a good arch, you need to keep your lower legs out slightly beyond your knees or just about damn near vertical. If you backslide, stick your feet out a bit more to compensate.

She already knows that, Billy.

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Another way to help control your relative position is your forearms and hands. In a boxman position to move forward slightly, you can lower your hands a bit (get them below the elbows).

You are soooo old school. There are more efficient ways of moving forward. On top of that you're telling a 14-jumper to start doing more advanced, AND less stable, maneuvers. Not a good idea. On top of that, she's still a student and I don't know of an AFFI in the world that wants their students doing anything other than what THEY are telling them to do.

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You will eventually learn how to move your body. It takes time. Some learn it fast, others take a long time. It took me a while.

Well, to be fair, you were taught it the old-school hard way.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[CSpenceFLY 1]

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Well, to be fair, you were taught it the old-school hard way.
LaughLaughTongue

Yeah, we learned from the experienced jumpers on the DZ after we got off AFF level 7. Instead of paying 200 jump wonder coaches to jump with us.

The new system is much better...said the 200 jump wonder coach getting his jumps paid for.

[Napalm_C 0]

Sorry to bring this thread back on topic but I was also in the same situation as the OP. Static Line progression meant that the first time I ever really jumped with someone else was my first FS1 jump. Guess what, backsliding all over the place.

Unfortunately I'm also a really small jumper: 5'3 130lbs so I'm essentially bent in half when jumping with others, every time I tried to move forward I'd de-arch and pop up.

I too refused to use weights as I'm a firm believer in learning to fly my body so the next best solution was getting a proper jumpsuit. The difference is unbelievable, I now have to be careful not to go low when jumping with people around 190-200lbs.

Bottom line, get a decent jumpsuit - I too want to learn to freefly but doing RW helps build awareness of where other people are and how not to smack into them. To be honest, after 100 jumps - I'm still too scared to try freefly for fear I'll knock someone unconscious - you need to be honest with yourself about your skill level.