advice for relaxing in free fall

[kmg365 0]

I'm in the beginning stages of my AFF progression. Last weekend I failed a level because I started spinning in free fall--wasn't relaxed. Ugh! I'm a total type A, sort of intense chick, who really thinks she could LOVE this sport, but I'm worried that my personality precludes the necessary "chill" kind of attitude that makes a good skydiver.

Love to hear from others (if you're out there) who might have had some trouble with the relaxation thing. Once under canopy, I'm great! Great piloting, great landings, totally relaxed. And, it's not an issue of being afraid. Even though I'm cognizant of the fact that I'm falling toward the planet at 120 mph, I know I can always pull and I'm confident. What vexes me is the strong desire to get it all 'right' in freefall, which virtually guarantees that I will get it all wrong.

Any suggestions for relaxation techniques will be very much appreciated.

[mjosparky 4]

This may sound silly but I have seen it work on others. Wiggle your toes inside your shoes.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[JerseyShawn 0]

A few deep breaths on the way up and at the door helped me relax, somewhat. I was a bit stiff in my arms but flew alright through AFF.

I didn't truly relax until my first solo after AFF, I didn't have to perform for anyone, no pressure. It was just me chillin'.

[DocPop 1]

I had performance anxiety on my AFF jumps - the more I passed first time the worse it got!

I now realize that it didn't matter at all. Some of the best skydivers there are failed levels. It's still a skydive and it's supposed to be fun!

Jump more, think about the moment not the "pass or fail" and it will all come right.

"The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls."

~ CanuckInUSA

[bqmassey 0]

Just keep at it. There are a few things you can try, but for me I just got really tired of fighting it. I quit worrying about the dive flow and trying to fit everything in before pull time. I quit worrying about my instructor watching and trying to do everything right. I got tired of potato chipping and trying to force myself stable. I just quit worrying about ALL of it. In a way, I kind of just gave up on the jump. I decided I just wanted to fall. Instead of telling myself to relax, I told my arms and legs to relax. I pushed my shoulders back and just made my extremities go limp. I dedicated my focus to it. INSTANTLY I was stable. It was incredible. It was a feeling I hadn't experienced yet. I was able to finish the diveflow of that jump with plenty of time, and went through the rest of the levels with no problem at all.

It's not like swimming in a pool, where you move by pushing against the water... you just ... fall. It's like when you're driving down the highway and you put your hand out the window and make it go up and down just by angling it different ways. You're not using muscles to move your arm up and down, you're just positioning your hand and the wind is doing all the work. Skydiving is the same way. Let the air do the work.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3731256

[DSE 5]

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This may sound silly but I have seen it work on others. Wiggle your toes inside your shoes.

Sparky

Same advice you gave me a long while back. It helped.

[kimemerson 7]

Do a jump with your instructor on which you have no goals other than to relax. No turns, no forward movement...nothing. Then, once out the door and stable and with your instructor holding on, first do an altitude check then close your eyes for ten seconds or so. Get rid of all visual stimulation and just feel the air. Stop trying to relax and simply be in the air. Do another altitude check and if time allows, do it again but maybe put in a turn, again, with the Instructor holding on, maybe.

[labrys 0]

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Any suggestions for relaxation techniques will be very much appreciated.

Lot's of jumps..... that'll relax you.

Owned by Remi #?

[riggerrob 643]

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This may sound silly but I have seen it work on others. Wiggle your toes inside your shoes.

Sparky

..........................................................................

Similarly, wiggle your fingers.
I have been using that - for years - as a "relax" signal with my freefall students.

The logic is that fear and adrenaline are all about big muscles ... so you can chose to focus on your fear or your small muscles.

Breathing - while you wiggle your fingers - will also help you relax.

[NWFlyer 2]

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Similarly, wiggle your fingers.
I have been using that - for years - as a "relax" signal with my freefall students.

The logic is that fear and adrenaline are all about big muscles ... so you can chose to focus on your fear or your small muscles.

Breathing - while you wiggle your fingers - will also help you relax.

This trick worked wonders for me when I was a newbie. Allowed me to fly more relaxed so I didn't fall like a safe.

That, and smile. I had major serious-face - no one thought I was having any fun.

"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

[CSpenceFLY 1]

A couple of shots.

[Imanewdiver 0]

Tunnel time?

[jrjny 0]

you just have to jump more - you will probably be very afraid on many jumps through your A license. After that it gets interesting though...good luck!

[rdufokker 6]

30+ years ago we had a guy that spun like a top. This was before AFF and he was on 15 sec delays. As he would hit terminal about 8-10 sec into it he would start spinning. Well, I heard tell that he lit up a doobie before a jump (heard mind you, I didn't witness, wink wink) and damn he was relaxed. Fell on heading, no potato chipping. Perfect jump. Thank god he didn't have a mal, he would've just laughed.

Just sayin

Burke

Irony: "the History and Trivia section hijacked by the D.B. Cooper thread"

[labrys 0]

Might help if you can't relax because you're afraid of face planting into a wire grate at slow speeds. Mostly useless to deal with actual anxiety about freefall speed problems.

Owned by Remi #?

[The_Don 0]

Can you eat the $ of a jump?

Do a "nothing" jump.

Jump.
Get stable.
Breathe.
Relax.

Stick with your instructors eyes.

I am NOT being loud.
I'm being enthusiastic!

[Andy9o8 2]

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I failed a level

There's no such thing. Every AFF jump is training; it's practice - it's not an exam. If it takes you more than one jump's worth of freefall time to practice a given skill set before you move on to the next level, so be it.

[kuai43 7]

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Even though I'm cognizant of the fact that I'm falling toward the planet at 120 mph, I know I can always pull and I'm confident. What vexes me is the strong desire to get it all 'right' in freefall, which virtually guarantees that I will get it all wrong.

Cognizant? Vex?
You trying to confuse summatheez skydivers?

Looks like you've got some good advice that's come your way. Hopefully it's better than what you've gotten before...

Every fight is a food fight if you're a cannibal

Goodness is something to be chosen. When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man. - Anthony Burgess

[InfiniteSky 0]

I find that focusing on nice deep breaths helps alot. Deep breaths naturally bleed alot of tension from your body, and focusing on the breathing helps take your mind off other things.

It'll also help you learn to breathe in a relaxed way in freefall which is a huge help to flying well.

[ridestrong 1]

Try watching a bunch of skydiving videos on youtube, they don't have to be AFF vids, just skydiving... might help.

Chances are after simply doing a few more jumps you'll be just fine.

Don't do any drugs or alcohol before jumping.

*I am not afraid of dying... I am afraid of missing life.*
----Disclaimer: I don't know shit about skydiving.----

[mjosparky 4]

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I failed a level

There's no such thing. Every AFF jump is training; it's practice - it's not an exam. If it takes you more than one jump's worth of freefall time to practice a given skill set before you move on to the next level, so be it.

+1

And that folks is one of the best posts I have seen in quite awhile.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[Muffie 0]

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Don't do any drugs or alcohol before jumping.

+1 After reading the Craig Kuske incident thread yesterday, this bears repeating.

I had trouble with mastering turns on my AFF. Best thing I did was just decide that for one jump I didn't care if I passed or not. Turned out to be my best jump of all.

ETA: The Craig Kuske incident was from 2004. I was just reading about it yesterday.

[kimemerson 7]

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30+ years ago we had a guy that spun like a top. This was before AFF and he was on 15 sec delays. As he would hit terminal about 8-10 sec into it he would start spinning. Well, I heard tell that he lit up a doobie before a jump (heard mind you, I didn't witness, wink wink) and damn he was relaxed. Fell on heading, no potato chipping. Perfect jump. Thank god he didn't have a mal, he would've just laughed.

Just sayin

Burke

Many years ago I was visiting Coolidge and one of the instructors told us of a group of Japanese students he was working with. One of them, a woman, asked him, "Please sir, can you tell me the three steps toward relaxation." He told her to wait a moment and when he returned he handed her a joint and a rose and told her the third step was hers to learn. Apparently it worked.

[davelepka 4]

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Any suggestions for relaxation techniques will be very much appreciated.

One thing to remember is that the body position the instructors are asking for isn't a 'rigid' position, it's more like if you were laying on a bed shaped like an arch.

Try the trick where you stick your hand out the window of the car. Face your palm into the oncoming wind, and hold your arm and hand very still. You'll see that as the wind pushes on your hand with all of it's little variations, your hand gets bounced around.

Now try relaxing, and using just the 'right' amount of pressure to hold your arm and hand in position, and you'll see that you can keep your hand fairly still by letting the variations of the wind 'move' your hand a little.

What you don't see in freefall is that a stable jumper has just found that 'just right' balance of relaxing and body position. When the wind wants to push on one leg more than the other, you let it push to the degree that your leg moves a fraction of inch, so little that can't see it and it doesn't effect your stability, and then return your leg to it's original posiiton. It's like suspension for your body in that your parts move to conform to the 'bumps' in the wind, but your body remains in the same place.

So that's the idea, and making it happen is just a matter of practice. If you feel like your not relaxed, tell your instructor and have them give you a relax signal at the beginning of the jump, even if it looks like you don't need it. If you feel smooth and relaxed, then it was just a pre-planned signal that you can ignore. If it turns out you were pre-occupied thinhking about other things (like jumping out of a plane) it's just a freindly reminder to take it easy, and soak up the bumps.

[hchunter614 0]

SMILE and have FUN