Skydiving: Sport or Hobbie?

[Vertifly 0]

Everyone perceives skydiving differently. The denominator is that we all go through a lot of stuff to stay alive after leaving a plane, become canopy pilots, good flyers, stay safe, some make a second life out of it, get pictures and video, enter competition...........and some have the commonality of making skydiving a profession.

But what is skydiving to you? Reason I say it is, I have always thought of it as a sport - a base for competition, challenge, constant learning, and to have the chance to represent the dynamics of body flight.

Come to realize after some time, well at least it seems to me that it can't be a sport.... Not saying that it isn't, or can't be perceived that way, just that it can't be. It has got to be a hobbie. ?? It may be because jumping is, more-over, a very cash business...I just don't know. Seems to me that everyone is in it to make ends meet...and everyone else seems to be around to play. There are so many ways to look at it. Am I off, or what?...so what is skydiving to you?

[yamtx73 0]

For me skydiving is a hobby, I do it because it's fun... If I were competing then I'd define it as a sport...

The only naturals in this sport shit thru feathers...

[dmetz 0]

I have to try like hell to keep it as just a hobby. I am a very driven kind of person, and if I allow myself to view skydiving as a competition, it will turn to an obsession and I'd devote every spare dollar and minute to it. And life being the way it is for me at the moment I can't afford to do that. Oh, but if I were a single man with little or no obligations, I would love to turn skydiving into my life.

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"If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?"

[ChangoLanzao 0]

Most of the time it's a hobby because I jump with my cameras to develop my video/photo shooting/editing skills. When I work on flying skills and canopy control, it's definitely a sport. When I do tandem videos or coaching jumps, it's a job (I definitely wouldn't call it a career though ). During the warm months (skydiving season in central Illinois), mainly due to the social aspects, skydiving is my life.

So, my vote is "All of the above".

[Merkur 1]

For me it's the sport that I have choosen as my hobbie - like others do wit baseball or soccer or golf or ....
M.

vSCR No.94
Don't dream your life - live your dream!

[linestretch 0]

I just don't really see it as a sport. Yes, you can compete in it, and some parts can be very competitive. For me, it's my life. And I've also competed in it and have a nationals gold to show for it....he he he, doesn't make sense....look at the monkey.

my pics & stuff!

[Orange1 0]

I know it should be a "hobby"... but that word makes me think of stuff like stamp collecting, I just can't call skydiving a "hobby"...

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[shropshire 0]

Dont know which it is (do we need to pigeon hole evrything?) ..... but it is bloody great fun.

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

[dqpacker 7]

It's a lifestyle.

[foxyroxtail 0]

It is a sport, and it is a hobby (see below), so none of the poll vote buttons work for me. It's not my career, and there is far more to life for me than just skydiving - but it takes nearly as much of my time and far more of my money than work or the rest of the things in my life...

sport Pronunciation Key (spôrt, sprt) n.

1. Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
2. A particular form of this activity.
3 An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
4. An active pastime; recreation.

hob·by Pronunciation Key (hb)
n. pl. hob·bies
An activity or interest pursued outside one's regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure.

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[Ron 10]

Quote

Sport or Hobbie?

Both.

To a guy that competes its a sport. To a guy that jumps a few times a year it is a hobby.

To the guy that makes a living from it, it's a job.

For me it was a sport, now more a hobby

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[dsbbreck 0]

Definately all of the above for me.

It started as a hobbie.

It then became my career as a Skydiving instructor.

Then I started competing, so it became a sport.

Now it's my life.

David

"Socrates wasn't killed because he had the answer.......he was killed because he asked the question."

[jumpinfarmer 0]

It is a hobbie for me now. A way I can enjoy myself and meet new people and see and do new and amazing places and things. It also fits the definition of a sport in that I wish to progress into new areas beyond RW so I guess it is both to me.

[Icon134 0]

Skydiving is an activity that I participate in... when I'm playing in a 4-way competition it's a sport... when I'm not it would probably qualify as a hobby.

But I can apply the same logic to Running... when I'm running a race (sport) when I'm just running to stay fit (hobby)

Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife...

[blue_sky_chris 0]

I once heard that for an activity to be classed as a sport you have to be able to kill yourself doing it (skiing, equine eventing, etc) - otherwise it's just a game (golf, bowling,etc.). Guess that makes skydiving a sport-hobby for me.

[sixtysevengt5oo 0]

For some people sports are their hobbies, competition is what i do for fun, the more chalenging something is the more fun it is. but aside from that...

as was being said about the activity being cash based, i think that is what makes this one of the last TRUE sports. People play the sport because they love the sport, not because it will make them money, not because it may offer them a way to go to college, hell its more likely to cause you to drop out, not only do most of us not get paid to play but do the paying to be able to go out and play the greatest sport on earth. Baseball, basketball, football, soccer, tennis, all the sports have been corrupeted by the chance to make millions, the only one that actually play it for fun are the youngest ones, they start and they love it, and then they come to think of it as a way to get _____. So cheers to all of us that now what a TRUE sport is, and impovrish ourselves to play!

[cocheese 0]

It's a spiritual thing. A medicine. A vacation. An art.
A social activity. An anti-social activity. It's a blast.

[tso-d_chris 0]

To many it is a hobby, since they do it during free time to provide relief from the "real world."

For some it is a job, since they make some or all of their income from it.

To most wuffos it is considered an activity, since most don't realize there is more to it than exiting and somehow managing to deploy a parachute before hitting the ground.

Since competing at top levels requires competitors to be in excellent physical condition, it is definitely a sport.

For Great Deals on Gear

[airtwardo 7]

It's a sport.


A hobby won't kill ya, a splinter or two maybe ...

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[Vertifly 0]

Quote

It's a sport.

you are the only person who has posted this way unconditionally. edited: oh wait, I see, you are going off of the old saying that, 'It isn't a sport unless you can die doing it." right?

it really is hard to mainting the perspective? do you ever think you are forced to view it as a hobbie? are labeled "competitive"?

[FrEaK_aCcIdEnT 0]

right now its a hobby, but in time i hope it becomes a sport for me. and who knows i might end up doing some part time stuff in a few years. Maybe camera flyer. I got the camera, just not the skills. So i leave the vote open. Cause im still in transition and will be for a long time. I enjoy striving to get better. Only problem is funds to get there.

ExPeCt ThE uNeXpEcTeD!
DoNt MiNd ThE tYpOs, Im LaZy On CoRrEcTiOnS!

[pkasdorf 0]

Quote

For me it's the sport that I have choosen as my hobbie - like others do wit baseball or soccer or golf or ....
M.

That's my definiton!!

HISPA # 18 POPS # 8757

[Peej 0]

I got to this thread a bit late but here are my views fwiw...

I consider skydiving as both a sport and a job.

I compete as a camera man for a four way team, that makes me part of that team and the competition element makes it a sport. Then i earn money from doing tandem video, that makes it a job, albeit a helluva fun one!

Then i guess i also love the freedom that freefly and wingsuiting give me and these are the parts that make it extremely fun.

Wow, i'm confused.

Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky

[rehmwa 2]

It's a 'recreation'

If you compete, then go ahead and call it a sport if one's tender ego needs that term.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[shunkka 0]

fun jumps/trainig jumps to improve skills - hobby
competion jumps/training jumps for competitions - sport
tandems/camera/coaching jumps/aff/etc - job

at this moment for me skydiving is a hobby and a litle bit more (it`s part of my life... a huge part of my life)

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"jump, have fun, pull"