Door Demon

[PikzeeVikzen 0]

I'm a little embarrassed to be posting this but I'll take any advice I can on getting over this. I am TERRIFIED of the door of the plane. I've made 5 jumps and pushed passed the fear each time hoping the next time would be easier. It's only getting worse. I *love* freefall and being under canopy. I'm getting more comfortable with being in the plane (my first plane experience was jumping out of one). My fear of the door finally took over. I tried to get back to my student jumps after letting my cracked tailbone heal some and refused to get off the plane. I got my first plane landing because of it. It's not the jump or the landing (ever after a bad one) I'm afraid of, it's simply the door.

I suppose it doesn't help that I have actually fallen in the door. I'm a smaller female and the wind just got the better of me. I got up and made the jump though.

I don't want this fear to take the sport from me. Any suggestions on conquering it?

I'm the twist that turns your key....

[packing_jarrett 0]

close your eyes

Na' Cho' Cheese

[hukturn 0]

Yeah...get a couple of hundred jumps, learn to long dive and you never have to stand in the door. Just chase the formation out.

[JustChuteMeNow 0]

Picture the door naked
Are you anxious because you aren't stable right away after leaving the door? This is pretty normal and many skydivers have to learn how to fly the realative wind after leaving the plane. If this is causing the fear believe me it will become easier.

Confidence in your abilities will also help lessen any fear. ie knowing your emergency procedures cold. I don't know if this advice will help but there are GREAT instuctors in Raeford who I know can help you with this issue. I know that they want you to succeed. Good luck... I know you can conquer the door demon and make him or possibly her if it is a female door demon cower in fear of your power.

Think of how stupid the average person is and realize that statistically half of them are stupider than that.

[Orange1 0]

Quote

I got my first plane landing because of it. It's not the jump or the landing (ever after a bad one) I'm afraid of, it's simply the door. .

I'm not convinced that's true... i think door fear is so prevalent because "the door" represents the point of no return in a jump. But my pop-pyschology aside, this fear is very common... and the only way to get through it is to keep jumping. I'm sure you've been given the advice of taking deep slow breaths on jump run to calm you down - it really does help. Then one day you'll just realise it doesn't terrify you anymore, and not long after you'll realise that you're actually impatient for that door to open and get in it

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[shropshire 0]

Are you jumping alone or with instructors?... I would find that jumping with other people takes the 'fear' away... too many other things to concentrate upon.

This may sound silly... but try a different plane too.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[Acoisa 0]

Hey,

I just did my 20th Jump yesterday. This is the way I dealt with my being "excited" during AFF.

I tend to always ask myself (not only in Skydiving) if thoughts that come up are productive or not, if they will help me or sabotage me in what I'm trying to do. As soon as I notice a negative thought come up, I acccept and acknowledge it and then I let it go and concentrate on productive things (like in this case dive flow).

On my way up to altitude I was constantly visualizing my AFF Program and the different procedures for abnormals.
I got really excited and had to slow-breathe my way out of an oncoming (irrational) "fear attack" on my 2nd jump just before the door opened. Because it was the first time for me to exit the plane first, that made me really nervous. But as soom as I was in the door I was in my program- that I had rehearsed so many times mentally, and it was almost like routine.

The good thing is that that over- excitement goes away and turns into a tingly and fun anticipation after a few jumps and as soon as you are able to relax more you'll start to have the most fun you're ever going to have. (At least I' having it).

So here would be my step by step advice (I'm not experienced so please Instructors, you are welcome to correct me if what Im saying is BS)

1.Get a friend from your AFF course before your jumps and do some relaxed stretching or yoga for 5-10 min. This makes the tension in your body disappear and since your mind follows your body when you get afraid, your body will be more relaxed, and so will your mind (got some of this from Brian Germains book Transcending Fear)

2. Visualize the way up to altitude, the opening of the door, getting in the door, exiting, and the dive and landing as much as you can in real time before the actual jump (not the whole flight though ;) ). Whenever you feel you are getting scared actively relax your muscles, breathe slowly and deeply and reframe your emotion -meaning: Smile when you visualize the door being opened and smile and enjoy the tingly feeling of "wow! I'm gonna have the time of my life". Connect the door with a positive emotion. Then Jump. I always built in "smile" regularly in my dive flow (like exit, arch, altimeter, smile)

3. Repeat step 2 in the plane.

4. Know that with more jumps that fear will disappear. Some experienced Instructor ant my DZ even told me that he misses that feeling from time to time and to enjoy it while I still had it.

5. What you focus on expands (In life in general)- So don't focus on your fear that much . Accept it, acknowledge it, let it go, then do what you want to do!

Hope this helps!

Have Fun!

Mike

Btw. I'm 6"1 and on my first floater exits up to jump # 6 I had trouble pushing my body out against the airflow oround the plane (in the door), that magically disappeared as soon a I got used to jumping and started having the time of my life. :) Now I'm climbing out of the plane and it rocks!

[trigger 0]

It's normal to still be scared/nervous when starting out in this sport.
My fifth jump i can still remember being butterflied up to the max thinking about nothing but my imminent death.
At nearly one thousand jump it's like i can't be botherred with fear as in whats the point i know i'm going to exit the plane.
Guess what i'm saying is give it time and hopefully it'll pass

.CHOP WOOD COLLECT WATER.

[kelpdiver 2]

Are you still exiting with the instructor hanging onto you?

Most of my door fear vanished after the first solo, intentionally unstable exit. Up until then I worried about leaving on a bad count and losing the AFF-I, or tumbling out of control. Then I had to do both, recovered instantly, and moved on to other demons.

just about every AFF jump is a leap of courage.

[gofast_ER 0]

If I stare outside and really think about it, I can get a little nervous. I prefer to think of things like pizza. Oh yeah... or the jump at hand. That seems to work fine too.

I may not agree with what you have to say but i'll defend to the death your right to say it.

[denete 3]

Maybe, if there's a load that has room, take a ride as an observer. Sit by the door. Work on spotting, sticking your head out the door, etc. Plan on coming back down with the plane, but spend time in the door area. Maybe you can desensitize yourself without worrying about having to actually do battle with the door.

SCR #14809

"our attitude is the thing most capable of keeping us safe"
(look, grab, look, grab, peel, punch, punch, arch)

[denete 3]

Yes, smiling will help. Believe it or not, smiling will make you feel better.

SCR #14809

"our attitude is the thing most capable of keeping us safe"
(look, grab, look, grab, peel, punch, punch, arch)

[jimmytavino 16]

........we share the same history..
never in a plane til the day i made my first jump...
the ride was quite fun and looking out the windows of the C 182 distracted me from thinking about the door...

try to think in these terms...Pikzee

We are not jumping OUT a door
We are jumping INTO a door.

Into the "Door of Freefall"....
We are trained for it
We are geared for it
We are NOT the first to do it...
and We WANT to do it...

Be careful and precise as you go to the door, move briskly and with conviction, but do not rush.....( the rush comes AFTER we jump into that door )... Become confident, trust in your abilities, and remember... Going through that door leads to great joy and self esteem...

You CAN do it....and'll you'll be proud of yourself when you do...
Not sure what planes you are using...
If it's a C 182, and you are doing a "poised exit".... you can be sure that you're not the first one to think... "Man this is a struggle"...
since it is..... especially with gear on your back, and especially if that gear weighs 25 % of your body weight......But THAT is where the accomplishment comes in.... Look at your Hands AND your feet, as you move solidly and confidently to the pre-exit position which your instructors have taught you.... and just as the 'ready set go' is called,, grin widely, and lay out that arch, into the fresh , brisk Air....
......Piece of Cake.... Right????
If you're exiting a turbine, still be deliberate and confident, and don't forget the grin....

skydive softly, skydive often, skydive with friends

jimmy

[kallend 2,027]

I've seen people beaten up pretty badly by the door during 10-way speed competition. You should be wary of the door.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[squirrel 0]

Quote

I am TERRIFIED of the door of the plane.

It's not the jump or the landing (ever after a bad one) I'm afraid of, it's simply the door.

and you open the door
and you step inside
we're inside our hearts
now imagine your pain
is a white ball of healing light
that's right, feel your pain,
the pain itself,
is a white ball of healing light
i don't think so...

________________________________
Where is Darwin when you need him?

[ZigZagMarquis 9]

If I could have gotten my mouth to work on my 2nd jump, I wouldn't have went. By the time I got to the door, I just wanted out, because I knew I'd be okay after that... under canopy.

Otherwise... see encl

[tbrown 26]

That open door with all the wind blowing by takes some getting used to. It's a sight most people will never see all their lives. And it brings forward all of our most basic fears. Psychologists say a newborn baby is only afraid of two things - falling and loud noises - and there they both are, telling your every natural instinct that you're in extreme danger. See, your instincts don't know what a parachute is and it will take a while for you to start believing that and gaining self confidence.

I've had the interesting experience of getting used to it twice, because I left the sport for 22 years and then returned. Both times I went through a phase of being dry mouth with fear, no matter that I wanted to be there and wanted to jump. And it doesn't go away all at once and truth is it never completely goes away. A lot of us will admit to feeling a few nerves on the first Saturday morning load, especially if it's been a few weeks.

But if you will just stick with it, you will gain more and more confidence and pretty soon the door won't be so scary anymore. As you say you're small, you'll probably find yourself climbing outside as a floater fairly often - and liking it. Hanging off the side of a twin turbine like some kind of trolley car passenger is a blast !

You've already figured out that you feel fine as soon you've left the plane behind. Please now just understand that you are not the only person who's ever felt the way you do, because to some degree or other we all have. So hang in there and good luck !

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[Armour666 0]

your not the only one , My worst one was when I was spoting for my solo and had to open the door for the first time I was (and for 10 jumps after that) had this fear of falling out. After doing a few unstable exits and dive exits It's calmed down a lot. Still nervous about falling off when transitioning out to the step but now knowing that a unstable fall is no big deal and easily recovered from the door fear has mostly passed for me and I just concretate on planing the dive and diving the plan.

SO this one time at band camp.....

"Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most."

[Zing 2]

Get the pilot to tell you all about the airplane you're flying in ... that door gets looking like a better option real fast.

Zing Lurks

[labrys 0]

Quote

I don't want this fear to take the sport from me. Any suggestions on conquering it?

Two things helped me conquer the door demon. The first doesn't really classify as a suggestion, but it shares an experience. I got a little too enthusiastic on a diving exit when I had just been licensed and cracked my forehead against the bar on the way out of an Otter. My head whipped back while the rest of me kept exiting. I landed on my tailbone on the edge of the door then rolled out totally out of control.

I processed that falling out wasn't a big deal, it was the goal. A little more grace was the next goal. :-) The door wasn't as important after that.

The thing that really killed my door fear was the first jump I made after a winter lay-off. Instead of feeling anxiety when the door opened I smelled that awesome, clean, free, charged blast of cold, beautiful sky and looked at the door as a gateway to being surrounded by all those things.

Owned by Remi #?

[AnKaLi 0]

I had the same issue as you, and have been dealing with it for the past few weeks. I was great on the ground, great in the plane, until the door opened. I've gotten more comfortable with it by playing in the open door, sticking my hands out and playing in the wind, also looking down helped A LOT. The thought at first scared the shit out of me, but it's getting easier. Get in the door and do deep breathing and relax yourself, smile, and make yourself comfortable with it.

Part of my issue was performance in the relative wind, like mentioned above, if that's the case, remember to ARCH. So you flounder around and aren't stable at first, laugh at it, smile, and ARCH. I did that for the first time this past weekend and it helped EMMENSELY.

Also, I HIGHLY recommend picking up Brian Germain's book, Transcending Fear. It has given me a lot of useful tools to use in fearful moments in skydiving and in life. I cannot thank him enough for writing that book.

Good Luck!

[LloydDobbler 2]

Hey, Pikzee - a lot of good advice given here. In spite of low jump numbers, I'm going to chip in with advice from my experience, since the 'Door Demon' is something I think all of us have dealt with. As I was going through AFF, I soon realized two very important things:

1) The time from the moment the door opened 'til we exited the airplane was the scariest part of the skydive.

and 2) Once I got out the door, everything got a whole lot better.
So my solution became this: I forced myself not to think about all the bad things that could happen, unless I was reinforcing my confidence by going over your EP's and convincing myself that I knew how to deal with the issues. Then, on the plane ride up, I would continually remind myself that I just had to get through the door, and everything would get better. I must've repeated that to myself 100 times over the course of my AFF jumps. Sometimes I even told myself, "Okay, you just have to do this one more jump, then when you get to the ground, you don't ever have to go back again. But you've gotta do this one jump, because you'll be pissed with yourself if you let the door get the better of you."

And of course, by the time I was under canopy, I was ready to put my name on another load.

Keep in mind that like others have said, confidence is key - you need to develop confidence in your abilities in freefall, and in your abilities to handle emergencies if they happen. And the best way to develop that confidence - that trust - is just to do it more often. Confidence comes with experience. For some people it takes a longer time to get there, for some it takes shorter time...but it eventually will come.

And most importantly, know that you are not alone. I wish I could find the post (it happened fairly recently) where a very experienced AFFI was talking about the "Jump 5 jitters", or something of that nature - apparently, for a lot of students, right around jump 5 or so is the worst of the fear. (I know it was for me - somewhere around 5 or 6).

It's something we've all been through, and most of us got through it...and you can, too. Just keep believing in yourself, and in the fact that it gets better. It will. You can do it - just think of the door as a hurdle, and keep reminding yourself how much you want to get to what's on the other side.

Good luck.

Signatures are the new black.

[davehartley 0]

Get brifed on a float exit. Climbing outside the aircraft, feeling the wind, and then dropping off whilst facing forward looking at the wing (not the ground) felt much easier when I was in the nervous phase.

Better drowned than duffers. If not duffers, won't drown.

[PikzeeVikzen 0]

A float exit was actually my last exit. I like that much more than the crouch in the door one.


Thanks for everyone's advice. It's comforting to know that I am not the only one who has experienced this. I'm heading back to the DZ Thursday with any luck. I might just make them throw me out of the plane so I can remember how great it is once I'm in the air.

I'm the twist that turns your key....

[rave4funn 0]

Don't feel bad. One of my buddies has about one hundred jumps, and as long as the door is open, he's got a death grip on something. It doesnt matter where he is on the plane; he is holding on to a seat belt most times. He cant sit at the door because he refuses to open it and wont close it after the hop and pops exit. We like to mess with him about it. I still catch myself grasping a seat belt every now and again when someone else is opening the door.

I decided I was going to leave from the camera step on a jump this past Sunday. That had me nervous the whole way up. I even told the group I was going to be lurking that I had changed my mind and I would just dive after them. They gave me so much grief that I ended up taking the camera step.

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