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overide

Why The SKY GOD mentality?

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You know, while I sympathise with your plight, you have to realise that for some jumpers, this is just a job.

When you've been working for the same company for 20 years, you kinda get tired of taking every new employee or customer out to lunch on your own dime, especially when you know that statistically, they don't last and the investment is lost.

I put a lot of time into my AFF students. Former students from the past 13 years are now my closest friends. I continue to mentor many, and several now mentor me in disiplines unheard of when I started jumping. The time spent with them on those first few dives gives both instructor and student great insight into each others personalities, and both can benefit from that.

Tandem was only a job. There was the occasional flush of shared excitement, but often for me it was hauling meat for money, and no matter how hard I tried, I felt I couldn't do justice to the students joy. I no longer do Tandem, but may again at some stage in the future.

I love to fly with new wingsuit students, or with those on their first flights on their own suits.

Sometimes, some attention is better than nothing. If I've barked at a few people over the years about safety issues, it's only been those I cared for. Those who know it all, or who don't listen, can make their own path.

t
It's the year of the Pig.

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Please don't let yourself get locked on to this. As you already know, skydiving is no different than any other walk of life...there's good guys and bad guys. Turn your attention to the positive and let the negative slide. You'll be much happier that way.

Nearly every DZ has at least one "skygod"...and many more of the good guys.

One thing to remember is that sometimes what appears to be a "skygod" mantality is really nothing more than a desire to improve one's own personal skills by jumping with somebody as good as or better than he is. Experienced people want to improve, too, just like us youngsters.

I just don't understand the unwillingness to help you on the ground, though....well, maybe it's a DZ mentality to sell coaching or something.
My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

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At the first DZ there were a couple of people like that who almost turned me against the sport. One in particular was a complete goof and was trying to fuck me around on my self supervision test. I was contemplating just beating the shit out of the guy until a more senior instructor caught wind of what he was doing, intervened and took over the test. When a rival dropzone in the area opened up ( owned by one of the top instructors at the first school ) I started jumping there and had a completely different experience. My point...shop around, that crap does not happen everywhere. When I moved to Vancouver and looked at the dropzones in the area, that was the first thing I looked out for when checking out the 3 dropzones that existed at the time. I did not get into the sport so some insecure idiot coach with a complex can make himself feel like he has a man sized dick at my expense. Fortunately most dropzones I have been to have discouraged that kind of nonsense, and my overall experience in the sport has been positive.
My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

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there will be sky god like people everywhere, in every sport. Remember when we were kid, when we picked for team we always picked kid with super athletic ability first and some super slow and lazy kid who usually gets picked on got to pick last..
When I make 4 some in Golf, I don't wanna waste my time playing with someone who shoots over 90,, unless the person is my friend. Most of the skydiver goes out there to have fun,, to get rid of stress,, and we pay 22 bucks for a 50 sec freefall, and you spend time chasing someone, you'll improve on your flying skill but again it is not fun, that is why we try to jump with people with comparable skill or better, same thing with any other sport.

and for canopy thing, if you pose threat to other jumper's life they will tell you exactly what you did wrong.
Bernie Sanders for President 2016

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When I make 4 some in Golf, I don't wanna waste my time playing with someone who shoots over 90,, unless the person is my friend. Most of the skydiver goes out there to have fun,, to get rid of stress,, and we pay 22 bucks for a 50 sec freefall, and you spend time chasing someone, you'll improve on your flying skill but again it is not fun, that is why we try to jump with people with comparable skill or better, same thing with any other sport.



Understood. I respect someones desire to work within thier skill level and I always expected to pay for the other persons time. If I offered to pay for that persons time and they did not want my money, that was a bonus but I never expected that.

In the case of the coach I was talking about he made the choice to be a coach and his jump was paid for. If he did not want to conduct my test he had the right to refuse, but he did not. Instead he played stupid games with me for his own amusement. He was a clique-monger and he felt that I did not fit.

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if you pose threat to other jumper's life they will tell you exactly what you did wrong.



Not sure how that relates to my post, but I have always been a safety first jumper and I listened intently to the advice of those who were offering it. Whenever I did make a mistake I welcomed criticism. I appreciated that a person pointing out my mistake was looking out for my safety and that of others.

I agree that people like that exist in all sports, but like any other sport, some clubs have more of that than others.
My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

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if you pose threat to other jumper's life they will tell you exactly what you did wrong


I put that down because, on first post stated that other skydiver won't tell you what you did wrong with canopy control and by telling you "go pay for coach jump."

when i first started i thought of that way too, i was thinking what an asshole, by telling me im not good enough to jump with them, but now i kinda relize that you do not want to put a person who can't hold and have control of HD and put him in a 4 way HD..
ill jump with anyone, but ill make sure that they can hold sit first before i jump with them.. don't wanna see person flying straight into me.

OH GOD I BECAME ONE OF THEM....
Bernie Sanders for President 2016

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i think you mis understood that origional statement by removing it from the context of the origional post

it wasnt ment that saymaby i had an issue that was bad and i should seek a coach but if you are gona tell someone they did something wrong whats wrong with saying
"dude you flared wayy to low and your pattern was off, you could really hurt yourself and others, was there a reason ? " if he says no i screwed up or thought it was all right "well maby you should have an instructor watch you or take a coach jump cause i dont want to see you get hurt."

9 of 10 times this guy is gona get help or ask another jumper to watch

the responces i am critizing are "yo learn to fly your canopy" "what do you mean" "you want to know go ask a coach to jump with you "

thats total hogwash and usually this will turn off students

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when i first started i thought of that way too, i was thinking what an asshole, by telling me im not good enough to jump with them, but now i kinda relize that you do not want to put a person who can't hold and have control of HD and put him in a 4 way HD..



I never pressed anyone to take me on to a jump with them . I never started doing 4 ways until I was invited on them. Usually I would ask advice where I could and if I needed one on one i would respect that persons time and pay for it. That said, I do not see why some people would refuse to give you a one sentence answer to a question without asking for money, however that is their choice.

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ill jump with anyone, but ill make sure that they can hold sit first before i jump with them.. don't wanna see person flying straight into me.



Understood. You do not want my lack of skills to hurt/kill you on a jump.

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OH GOD I BECAME ONE OF THEM....



It doesn't sound at all like you became one of them. You expect people to progress at a safe pace and wish to be compensated for the human capital you have paid to develop.

The kind of guys that I am referring to are the ones who wouldn't talk to a "fucking cherry" once the beer light was on, and who would make life needlessly dificult for a new guy. Granted most are not like that but some DZ's have more than others. Again in the case of the individual I had problems with he was being paid to conduct my self supervision test and decided he wanted to use that as a means of letting me know what he thought of me. I was disapointed in the dropzone owner for allowing someone like that to instruct.
My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

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the responces i am critizing are "yo learn to fly your canopy" "what do you mean" "you want to know go ask a coach to jump with you "



Precisely. When I was learning to pack i was somewhat intimidated since my packing quality could have implications for the next user. Sometimes if I asked a question about my lines or said "does this look right" a skygod would say "who cares...you should see some of the abortions i've packed" or in one case " well if it malfunctions then you will know you fucked up". As a new jumper I did not find these remarks to be confidence inspiring.

Some seem to enjoy the one-upmanship of acting like a condescending professor shooting down the foolish student. If they are not willing to give quality advice they should at least then refrain from comment (unless it is a safety issue).
My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

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the responces i am critizing are "yo learn to fly your canopy" "what do you mean" "you want to know go ask a coach to jump with you "



Precisely. When I was learning to pack i was somewhat intimidated since my packing quality could have implications for the next user. Sometimes if I asked a question about my lines or said "does this look right" a skygod would say "who cares...you should see some of the abortions i've packed" or in one case " well if it malfunctions then you will know you fucked up". As a new jumper I did not find these remarks to be confidence inspiring.

Some seem to enjoy the one-upmanship of acting like a condescending professor shooting down the foolish student. If they are not willing to give quality advice they should at least then refrain from comment (unless it is a safety issue).



**** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****

I strongly suspect that if they looked at your pack and saw something wrong that would cause issues then they would have alerted you.

Some people do not communicate as well as others, or perhaps they had something going on in their personal lives that had them in a bad mood or so preoccupied with worry that it was causing them grief to the point that is was affecting their communication skills at that moment.

Maybe the person thought that a rating holder was more qualified to give direction.

Then again, there are just assholes in the world and some even put of the facade to build walls around themselves to keep others away because the molestations from their uncle left them anti-social as an adult...

Point is, before we jump to the gallows consider that the other person might have issues that are preventing them from performing at the level some might expect.

I have found that overall, skydivers in general were always more helpful than hurtful and more often than not more than willing to share information often times so much so that one has to be careful which advice to take to heart or with a grain of salt.
-
Mykel AFF-I10
Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

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I strongly suspect that if they looked at your pack and saw something wrong that would cause issues then they would have alerted you.



The problem was, in this case they were looking at it from across the packing hanger and could not have really seen if there was a problem

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I have found that overall, skydivers in general were always more helpful than hurtful and more often than not more than willing to share information often times so much so that one has to be careful which advice to take to heart or with a grain of salt.
-



I agree entirely. It was just one bad group of people I was dealing with. Unfortunately it was when I was just starting so it initially shaped my perceptions. Most of my experience has been good. It also helped to find out that most really experienced jumpers looked down on these medium experience skygods, and that I was not expected to put up with crap as part of being a student.

Again. Most have been great.
My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

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Sounds like your progessing well if your profile is accurate,(150 jumps). You say "I'll jump with anyone but I'll make sure they can hold sit first before I'll jump with them". Wow! at your experience level, thats a hell of a statement. Sounds like you are following the path to the Sky God mentality.


Luck is Preparation meeting Opportunity

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That is why i put

OH GOD I BECAME ONE OF THEM....

learn to read first before you say something,,,

by the way, i DO NOT want some 180lbs projectile coming at me while sitting,,,i hate going out and 4 way turning 3 way or worse 2 way..

why is that hell of statement, im pretty sure that you don't wanna put corker in your 4 way group...

this is why i don't wanna be next to human projectile,,it has been year but i still don't know how to make it into clicky..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEtPxivFQyE
Bernie Sanders for President 2016

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Hey Override,

If you are looking for the exact opposite, I have just the dropzone for you. Just PM me.

The home DZ will treat you like shit, like you have less experience than anyone, and talk shit about you to your face. And when you go to other dropzones in the area they will treat you like gold. Let me know.

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by the way, i DO NOT want some 180lbs projectile coming at me while sitting,,,i hate going out and 4 way turning 3 way or worse 2 way..

why is that hell of statement, im pretty sure that you don't wanna put corker in your 4 way group...




Hey - it just makes the jump more interesting!! As long as people are safe and at least try - it's all good to me. There are a few times I've been disappointed and hesitant to jump with somebody again - but that's been due to jumpers being reckless and or unsafe. I actually got whacked pretty good once when a jumper in our 4-way at WFFC decided to pop into a sit to get down to us....Unsafe and unskilled are different. B|
=========Shaun ==========


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First, I am not trying to be harsh or offensive. Sky Gods are hurting our sport. Students have been driven away by the Sky God mentality. I enjoy jumping with low timers lacking in FF skill, in fact the majority of my jumps have been with low timers. Anticipation is a skill all to it's self. My skills have been greatly improved by jumping with people trying something new. I know how to keep my eyes on people and get out of the way, or grab them to stabilize. You do learn from these experiences.

And yes, I read your post completely, hopefully this is rare, and in time you will re-think.


Luck is Preparation meeting Opportunity

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Sky Gods are hurting our sport.



Agreed

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Students have been driven away by the Sky God mentality.



Except the students with breasts. If you have a good rack, every skygod on the DZ will take you under his wing as his personal protoge and invite you on 10 ways before you have completed your first jump.
My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

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Except the students with breasts. If you have a good rack, every skygod on the DZ will take you under his wing as his personal protoge and invite you on 10 ways before you have completed your first jump.




Unless your the girl who's smart enough to not go home with them and become the dropzone bike.
Apologies for the spelling (and grammar).... I got a B.S, not a B.A. :)

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Students have been driven away by the Sky God mentality.

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Except the students with breasts. If you have a good rack, every skygod on the DZ will take you under his wing as his personal protoge and invite you on 10 ways before you have completed your first jump.



Richards,

IMO, you are giving an unfair generalization to the *type* of female 'students with breasts'.

Some students need to be bottle fed and there will always be somebody there willing to hold that bottle. So sure, this scenario does exist in some situations.

However, not all females students respond to this type of instruction/coaching. There are many of us women out there who are of the independent type that responds better to minimal instruction.

I was/am one of these students.

In my first log book, learning to sit fly, I have 300+ solos logged. I was given a task. Once I felt I completed that task, a friend would come out and video and move on to the next pointers. Then solo, solo, and more solos.The goal was for me to be stable, have controlled flips, transitions, fallrate, etc. down *before*getting on that 10-way you speak of, as base.

This is sounding too gender based. In my experience, I've seen more people, (men or women) get better quality coaching, by simply showing a love for the sport, and a willingness to learn- not to mention dedication.

Long story short- I think an individuals (male or female) motives should be/ and is looked at and treated as such.

Not all female students' coaching progression has been the way you explained. I hope you were speaking in jest.



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To right Bro

B|

Can't ya tell.

I think I was pissed at michalm21 for being, or trying to be smart, I was drunk at the time B|

Not a new thing for me,:S

Steve
it deosn't mttaer waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm.

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Sorry to hear that crap is out there. I wanted to go jump Sussex again (where I did first 5 jumps) and try crosskeys too. I've been at the ranch since April and have not seen a "skygod" yet. People were very cool about helping out noobs after they saw you around the fire a couple of times. Bringing beer helps a lot.
"Remember the First Commandment: Don't Fuck Up!"
-Crusty Old Pete

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IMO, you are giving an unfair generalization to the *type* of female 'students with breasts'.

Some students need to be bottle fed and there will always be somebody there willing to hold that bottle. So sure, this scenario does exist in some situations.

However, not all females students respond to this type of instruction/coaching. There are many of us women out there who are of the independent type that responds better to minimal instruction.

I was/am one of these students.

In my first log book, learning to sit fly, I have 300+ solos logged. I was given a task. Once I felt I completed that task, a friend would come out and video and move on to the next pointers. Then solo, solo, and more solos.The goal was for me to be stable, have controlled flips, transitions, fallrate, etc. down *before*getting on that 10-way you speak of, as base.

This is sounding too gender based. In my experience, I've seen more people, (men or women) get better quality coaching, by simply showing a love for the sport, and a willingness to learn- not to mention dedication.

Long story short- I think an individuals (male or female) motives should be/ and is looked at and treated as such.

Not all female students' coaching progression has been the way you explained. I hope you were speaking in jest.



I think you misunderstood me. I was not attacking female students, by any stretch, nor was I suggesting that a large majority of them welcome this behaviour. My comment was directed at the skygods who treat most rookies like they are dogshit, but will suddenly take an interest in coaching/instructing the minute an attractive female walks on to the dropzone. Within the female skydiving community you will see the same cross section of character that you see in the rest of the population; most will treat that sort of behaviour with the contempt it deserves and some will take advantage of it and bask in the attention.

Anyway, I apologise if my comments were interpretted as a generalization of the majority of the female skydiving community, as they were not intended that way.

I still hate skygods though.
My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

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