Jumping again after a year - scared.

[D.B.Cooper 0]

Hey there guys;

First I would like to apologize beacause this is another one of those "scared newbie threads" and that it has been discussed many times but I would like some personal anwsers just to boost up my confidence.

I have nine jumps and haven't jumped in a year. I have experienced some instability on my 3 solo jumps causing me to open head-down on the last one and hitting the suspension lines with my foot.
After that incident, I decided to wait cause I didn't have the money for another coached jump.
It's been a year now and I want to jump again. I want to make one or two jumps with an instructor soon and then finally start becoming a skydiver and jumping a lot.
However, as the date for my jump approaches, I'm starting to feel fear. I remember what's it's like to be on the plane, to watch the others exit and to stand at the door about to leap into space.
I know the fear I am going to feel and this is what scares me.
During my AFF, I puked several times before jumping because of my fear. I would haite it to happen again, particularly in front of other people.

I know that the hardest part is the begining and that you eventually get over it. I bought myself a hook-knife just in case.
It's tough to be tough. I can't believe I've managed to jump solo.

Dan.


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"I have a bomb in my briefcase. I will use it if necessary. I want you to sit next to me. You are being hijacked."

[StreetScooby 5]

I learned to jump at a Cessna dropzone. On jump run, before the door would go open, I'd always get a huge case of butterflies. Once the door was open, they went away. Took about 50 jumps for it to fully pass. I'd say what you're experience is not abnormal.

We are all engines of karma

[MotherGoose 0]

What is it that scares you ?? Dying ?? In that case, stay in your house like agoraphobics, because danger is lurking everywhere !! Skydiving is a safe sport, safer than most of the extreme sports out there. Have faith in your DZ, in your rigger, in your packer and most of all in yourself. In the end its nothing but controlled falling . . . just don't forget the controlled part. Take more time dirt diving and get on a crawler and practice that arch. You've done it before, it will all come back to you.

Do not jump if you are doubting yourself and your abilities. Perhaps it would be a good idea to go to www.skydivingmovies.com and watch some uneventful skydives of students and novices. Then, I always find it therapeutic to go to the malfunctions section and watch a couple of vid's of what can go wrong. This usually brings you back to reality and reminds you that things can go wrong, but if you keep a level head, you can recover.

This is just my opinion, I hope it helped.

You think you understand the situation, but what you don't understand, is that the situation just changed.

[JoeG 0]

I also recently started jumping again after a year off.

First, RELAX! This is supposed to be fun! Smile when you think about jumping. Visualize everything going perfectly. Instead of thinking about the things you did wrong, think about what you nailed and smile about it.

Coming back with 9 jumps, you will probably repeat an AFF jump. Talk to your instructors about your performance before, what you are worried about, and how they can help you.

Practice your emergency procedures until they are second nature. Practice them in a practice harness. When you make them second nature, you won't worry as much about how you will handlie it, you will know!

Once you are on the plane, close your eyes, breathe deeply, and visualize a great dive. Smile! Smiling really helps you relax.

Talk yourself through the dive out loud from the time they ask you if you are ready to skydive until you land. For example: Check in! (Breath) Ready! Set! ARCH! Positive pressure on my legs. Altitude! Relax!

If you verbalize it, you will do it, and saying it takes just about as much time as doing it. Verbalizing it also makes you breathe.

Here is a link to an article about relaxing in the USPA SIM
http://www.uspa.org/publications/SIM/2006SIM/section4articles.htm#mental

Seriously, though, focus on the good. Feeding your fear only makes it worse than it is. Remember, when you landed before, you were telling yourself "That wasn't as bad as I thought!" It really isn't as scary as we can make it out to be.

Knowledge, performance visualization, deep breathing, and smiling will do wonders for your anxiety and fear. Have fun, and welcome back!

Joe

_________________________________________
"Knowledge is Power!"

[beowulf 1]

stick around for a few more years, your opinon will change when you see friends get hurt and/or die.

[Peej 0]

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What is it that scares you ?? Dying ?? In that case, stay in your house like agoraphobics, because danger is lurking everywhere !! Skydiving is a safe sport, safer than most of the extreme sports out there.

Your opinion on this will change with time. Don't ever kid yourself that this is a safe sport. I'm still a newbie and after losing friends and recently being on the same load as a mate who came close, i don't look at skydiving as safe.

Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky

[JoeG 0]

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stick around for a few more years, your opinon will change when you see friends get hurt and/or die.

You really think this is helpful?

_________________________________________
"Knowledge is Power!"

[beowulf 1]

does it make it less true if it isn't helpful?

[NWFlyer 2]

When's the last time you just went and hung out at the DZ? Do you have a chance to do that before your jump? Just being there, watching some jumps, soaking up the atmosphere might help... and do it on an "unpressured" day ... a day you're not planning to jump so you don't *have* to jump.

It's easy to work things up to a frenzy in your head when you're sitting at home alone ... sometimes the DZ can help that.

"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

[beowulf 1]

Being scared is normal. It is okay for you to be scared. It is how you deal with it that is important. There are many ways to deal with fear. When I feel the fear taking over I take a deep breath and accept it and concentrate on what it is I am going to do and try to push through the fear. The worst thing you can do is panic. That will just make everything worse.

[SKYOCEAN 0]

I am new to the sport also, and I get the jump jitters just a little. I don't like jumping first thing in the morning because I have never been a breakfast person and the empty stomach is probably contributing to my sinking feeling.

I have a weird fear. I love to dive and will continue for years to come. I am just scared of falling out of the plane. I know it's dumb, I have a parachute but inching up to the door I feel like I'm gonna get sucked out or fall out before i'm ready. It's never happened but it still goes through my mind. I just breath real deep on the ride up and by the time we get there it's not so bad.

I should have been a kickass drummer and a world famous first base man.

[kevinwhelan 0]

When I went back after just over a year it was on the same load as a friend was doing her first tandem.
When we were geared up she came over and said how nervous she was."Your nervous" I said " look at me"
I couldn't stop my hand from shaking.
nerves went when the door opened, and as I jumped out All I could do was shout " I love this shit"
Its natural to be nervous after a layoff but if you can do this jump you will know why it's worth the risk.
Also I think the more you understand the dangers the worse your fear is.
I think that if first time jumpers understood everything that could happen very few would jump

"be honest with yourself. Why do I want to go smaller? It is not going to make my penis longer." ~Brian Germain, on downsizing

[skyjules 0]

I just started jumping again after taking a year off cause I was pregnant. I was pretty scared before I did my first jump, even when we were going up in the plane. Once I did the jump though I couldn't understand why I was so scared, it just seemed so natural.

One tip I will offer is to have an instructor go over a bunch of stuff with you. When I came down from that jump the wind almost blew me away cause I forgot to pull one toggle to calapse the canopy.

[MotherGoose 0]

To PEEJ andc BEOWULF . . . this is a thread started by a 9 jump student trying to get some advice on how to get back into the saddle after a 1 year layoff. The guy has a few butterflies because his last couple jumps were not "textbook". While the rest of us try to encourage the guy and keep his mind on the task at hand, why do the two of you elude to the fatalities of the sport. Everyone here knows that people DIE in skydiving. Thanks for the update. People die every day in every way . . . its the only constant in life folks. This student does not need more fear-mongering, he's got enough inhibition. Let's try to keep the mood a little lighter here people, and help the students with our own experiences and how we dealt with the fear and the butterflies. After all, for most of us, it was not that long ago that we were there.

You think you understand the situation, but what you don't understand, is that the situation just changed.

[Reginald 0]

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I have a weird fear. I love to dive and will continue for years to come. I am just scared of falling out of the plane. I know it's dumb, I have a parachute but inching up to the door I feel like I'm gonna get sucked out or fall out before i'm ready.

I had the same fear as a student. I talked to Ernie about it and he looked at me and calmly said, "well we just start the skydive a little early then" For some reason I never had the same fear again.

And to mothergoose I think you will find people have strong reactions against saying skydiving is "safe" 'cause it isn't particularly. When I teach a FJC and people ask questions I tell them the truth. If it were safe we wouldn't have to sign waivers. That said it is a personal choice and one that I choose to make.

"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

[MotherGoose 0]

I understand that, I'm in no way implying that skydiving is flawlessly safe and everyone should do it with reckless abandonment. Bu when a student is hesitant and needs a little push, you do so with encouragement and positivity . . . not fatality reports and negativity !!

YES . . . every time I get on a plane to skydive . . . there are a hundred ways that something could go wrong and I could die . . . good . . . glad we got that cleared up . . . now let's all go for a damn jump already !!

You think you understand the situation, but what you don't understand, is that the situation just changed.

[beowulf 1]

You can think what ever you want to think but I find it offensive when you make statements like this to newbies.

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Skydiving is a safe sport, safer than most of the extreme sports out there.

That is not true or in other words bullshit. It is wrong to make skydiving out to be safer than it actually is. I view what you have said to mean that he shouldn't be afraid. That is totally wrong. Skydiving is very scary for beginners. That is part of the whole challenge. It is very irresponsible for you to imply that he shouldn't be afraid. It is much better to accept the fear and understand the consequences then to make believe that skydiving is safe.

[MotherGoose 0]

Not to start a "pissing" contest here or anything, but have you looked up extreme sport fatality stats lately ?? Hell, scuba diving is more dangerous . . .

Taken from Dan Poynter's Parachuting: A Skydiver's Handbook 6th edition.

In a recent year over 140 people died scuba diving, 856 bicycling, over 7,000 drowned, 1154 died of bee stings, and 80 by lightning. In 1982, 43,990 people were killed in highway accidents, 1,171 boating fatalities, 235 airline deaths, and 1,164 light aircraft general aviation fatalities.

You think you understand the situation, but what you don't understand, is that the situation just changed.

[beowulf 1]

I have read and heard all the arguements for this.

I am also a certified scuba diver. There are many more scuba diving participants then skydivers. It really doesent compare.

[LawnDart21 0]

I don't want to take this thread away from it's intended direction. But there is no one right answer for "safe or unsafe", its all relative. I mean you can even quote www.uspa.org

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Nobody would argue that skydiving is a safe thing to do. And statistics can be manipulated to make skydiving look very safe or very dangerous. Generally, safety in skydiving is determined by the individual. Rarely do skydiving accidents result from equipment failure or bad luck. Skydivers use good preparation and judgment to manage the obvious and inherent risks.

So in 2005 there were 2.2 million skydives made and 27 fatalies, or 1 fatality in every 81,481 skydives. Add to that fact that the majority of those fatalities were human error, not gear malfunctions, it is reasonable to assume that even though you can die on any skydive, if you do what you are taught and use good/inspected gear, you will probably, most likely, inevitably survive your skydive.

So is skydiving safe? Yes? No? It can (and will be) argued until the end of time.

Can any of us reasonably expect to survive each skydive that we make? That is the real question, and the answer despite the "I'm risking my life on every skydive crowd", is yes, you can reasonably expect to survive a skydive.

--
My other ride is a RESERVE.

[JoeG 0]

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It is wrong to make skydiving out to be safer than it actually is. I view what you have said to mean that he shouldn't be afraid

I agree. Skydiving IS dangerous. We know it without having to be told. It is ingrained at the deepest level of our being.
However, we need to share what we have done to overcome our fear. In Beowulf's second post on this thread that is exactly what he did.

Let's not argue over whether or not this is dangerous or start spouting statistics.

The man asked for encouragement. Please help him by sharing your own experiences and what helped you.

_________________________________________
"Knowledge is Power!"

[MotherGoose 0]

Good call . . . it's important to point out that student fatalities are probably the rarest of them all. A well trained student with well-maintained gear, is in my opinion, very safe on a jump. Based on hard facts. Fatalities are high in this sport because too many proficient jumpers push the envelope and exceed their abilities or the capabilities of their gear.

You think you understand the situation, but what you don't understand, is that the situation just changed.

[LawnDart21 0]

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Let's not argue over whether or not this is dangerous or start spouting statistics.

Even if spouting statistics as you so eloquently put, are meant as a means to encourage him?

Glad your keeping tabs on things though.

--
My other ride is a RESERVE.

[freeflyit 0]

Hey man,

I want to say that feeling a certain amount of fear is normal. Some guys say that they don't feel it at all anymore but I think that they lie. it's not normal to not feel any fear, and it's not normal to have a heart attck ither. But who am I to say what's normal and what's not. All I know is like that dude said, when the door opens, the fear leaves,,and there's no better feeling then conquering your own fears. Have a good one.

[freeflyit 0]

I agree with this guy.