Are you a "goal oriented" skydiver?

[skybytch 273]

What is the primary drive that gets you out to the dropzone and on some loads? Is it anticipation of the sheer joy of skydiving? Looking forward to being with the people you hang out and jump with? Or is it something inside you that drives you to achieve a self-set skydiving related goal?

I've come to the realization that I am primarily a goal oriented skydiver. The sheer joy of freefall and the smiling faces of my friends in the air with me are wonderful, but alone they aren't always enough to get me out to the dz. Add a goal I'm working towards - a license, a rating, a magic jump number, a slot on a big way - and I'm much more excited about a day of jumping.

I think I've always been this way. After my first static line the goal was freefall. After my first freefall the goal was graduating. After graduating the goal was the A license. And so on, through a D license and a few instructional ratings. Between the time I got all the licenses and ratings I wanted and the time I developed another skydiving related goal... I rediscovered the other things there are to do on beautiful weekend days.

Anyone else noticed this in themselves or in others?

[Push 0]

Quote

Is it anticipation of the sheer joy of skydiving? Looking forward to being with the people you hang out and jump with? Or is it something inside you that drives you to achieve a self-set skydiving related goal?

Yes

Trying to achieve something gives me drive, but I will still be excited about a skydiving day even if I'm not pushing hard to achieve something. This may have something to do with me having a fifth of your jump numbers.

-- Toggle Whippin' Yahoo
Skydiving is easy. All you have to do is relax while plummetting at 120 mph from 10,000' with nothing but some nylon and webbing to save you.

[surf4life11 0]

For me it is the goal of learning as much as possible every weekend I am there so that I can achieve the goals of licenses, rating or just becoming an all around skydiver. Also, being with my skydiving family and the awesome feeling of jumping get me there on the weekend.

[EricaH 0]

I'm goal oriented, but that's cause I'm so new, everything is a goal to me - YEA A 10 POINT 4 YEA, YAHOOO!!! Now my goal is 11 points. But in the mean time I also want to get in a sit jump w/ at least 6 cross-front grips & learn to do cartwheels, so that 11 point belly dive'll have to wait.

I have at least 400 more jumps & 2 yrs at least before I have to worry bout ratings & the like. I don't know what goals to go for after that cause I don't think I want to compete - this is my fun sport.

Pretty much my goal will always be to land safely & have fun - it's the definition of fun that changes.

There is no can't. Only lack of knowledge or fear. Only you can fix your fear.

PMS #227 (just like the TV show)

[NeedToJump 0]

Let's see, I'm competing in 4-way, freefly and swooping as well the tunnel competitions... yeah, I'd definitely say I'm a goal oriented skydiver

Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Quote

Are you a "goal oriented" skydiver?

Absolutely!!!

I know I'm going to set myself up for some flaming and abuse by some what with I'm about to say. But the bottom line is that I have certain current short, medium and long term goals (the exact time of when these goals are to be achieved are unknown at this time).

Goal #1

Try my best not to mess myself up or mess up someone I jump with.

Goal #2

To be good enough at freeflying to be invited on some big-way freefly jumps.

Goal #3

Build up enough wingsuit and BASE experience, knowledge and skills to be able to huck myself off of some big walls doing wingsuit BASE jumps.

Goal #4

To qualify for the PST. I tell myself that I'll be happy to be in the "Advanced" class but who knows. Maybe if I ever do qualify for the PST, then I will try to get into the "Pro" class.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[nightjumps 1]

Each year I develop a list of skydiving goals and sub-goals (If I don't or can't achieve a goal, I have another as backup). How anal is that?

[totalwreck 0]

I love this question because it fits in exactly with what I've been thinking about. I am NOT a goal-oriented jumper -- I jump for the pure relaxation of it. There is nothing better than getting out that door to clear your head. For me, it's pure therapy. Sure, I had the goal of getting licensed and I do want to improve some basic skills, but I'm not interested in learning something new on every jump (or even most jumps). I say this with the knowledge that I may get flamed for being unsafe because I'm not constantly pushing to "get better." I consider myself very safe and certainly know my limitations and believe I jump within those.

I have enough goal-oriented aspects to my life that I don't want another. (This certainly does not mean that I'm unable to understand folks that are very goal-oriented in their jumping philosophy.) My perspective does cause some confusion at the DZ because I am very happy jumping solo a lot of the time. This, of course, may change because I do only have ~100 jumps, but I cannot foresee becoming hyper-goal-oriented about jumping. But, I know, never say never ...

[supafly 0]

Sounds like good goals to me. Replace #3 with 'try base jumping' (registered for Bridge Day) and #4 with 'safely learn HP landings' (working on it) and we've got the same list. Good luck.

--Keith

Arizona Drive 4-Way VFS - www.DriveVFS.com

[lawrocket 3]

Goal - build enough of a live to where I can return to the sport knowing that my wife, son and other interests are taken care of if something bad happens to me.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[Nightingale 0]

Yes!

and its made me feel completely lost after I got my A.

I see people doing 4 way, and look at myself and say "I want to be there!" but have absolutely no clue how to get there, what I need to learn, and where to start.

[jumperconway 0]

I see people doing 4 way, and look at myself and say "I want to be there!" but have absolutely no clue how to get there, what I need to learn, and where to start.

[Nightingale 0]

sounds like a good idea, but I can't afford it.

[rehmwa 2]

Quote

sounds like a good idea, but I can't afford it.

just get 3 friends and jump together all the time. You have tons of good informal coaches out there. you will get good over time.



SB - Goals!!

...
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

[Nightingale 0]

I'm trying...

but I don't know what I need to learn.

heck, nobody even told me Mantis existed til I randomly went to a 2 way camp

it'd be nice if we had some kind of skill progression written out, like for the A license, listing stuff like mantis, centerpoint turns and such. something to tell us what to do next.

[daveb 1]

Quote

What is the primary drive that gets you out to the dropzone and on some loads? Is it anticipation of the sheer joy of skydiving? Looking forward to being with the people you hang out and jump with? Or is it something inside you that drives you to achieve a self-set skydiving related goal?

My primary drive is the shear joy of jumping. If I didn't enjoy it, there is no way I'd put my life on the line time after time. That said, I'm highly goal oriented wrt skydiving. I've short and long term goals, and an overall lifetime goal: accept no limits and push to produce the best I am capable of. These goals are important, and will sometimes get me to the dropzone, but ultimately it's the jumps themselves that rock my world, and all the better if I can share that in the air with others.

Thus far, I've been having the time of my life. I love the team work, camaraderie and friendships that continue to expand and grow; the thrill of being able to move about in the air relative to others with some measure of control; the feeling of learning something new; producing a new best-of; sharing the excitement and joy of a jump with teammates, friends, dz buddies, and people I've just met. Roll all this into a ball and there's my drive to get to the dropzone. Nuts, I'm drooling again....

• Quote

[PhreeZone 20]

Mantis is'nt the end-all/be-all of RW. I still get smoked by old school jumpers that just learned the beginnings of Mantis this year.

Get out and start learning fall rates, how to take docks, how to back into slots, how to do over/unders, hell just learning exits and the formations will take months.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[beowulf 1]

my goal is to be a really old skydiver and die of old age.
How is that for a goal

Actually my current short term goals are to be the best that I can be at Freeflying and CReW. But I will do the occaisonal RW jump just for fun or learning. Hopefully one day I will be good enough to be invited on bigways in Freefly. If I had the money for a Lightning 143 I would probably focus entirely on CReW.


oh yeah one other thing. I want to try at least once every facet of skydiving such as wingsuit, BASE, and jumping vintage gear just to see what it is like.

[Hazarrd 1]

RW is what gets me going, nothing like a smooth exit and lots of points being turned.

.-.

[kelpdiver 2]

Quote

I think I've always been this way. After my first static line the goal was freefall. After my first freefall the goal was graduating. After graduating the goal was the A license. And so on, through a D license and a few instructional ratings. Between the time I got all the licenses and ratings I wanted and the time I developed another skydiving related goal... I rediscovered the other things there are to do on beautiful weekend days.

I'm only committing to one step at a time. At various points I've thought to myself, what the heck am I doing this for. All this stress/fear/excitement - definitely takes a physical toll. But I hate to let fear or frustrustration make decisions, so I go to each checkpoint.

After the first jump, I wanted to get to the point where I could fall in an intentional controlled manner. I bought the AFF package thinking I was buying 8 jumps. I was going to do all 8 and see what level I was at. Later I found that I bought one of each level. That helped lead to me taking several months out. Next checkpoint was finishing AFF, now finishing the A license. Finishing B is already in view because I'd like to do a night jump. Beyond that, don't care about anything yet.

[Paige 0]

Or just obsessive compulsive

Tunnel Pink Mafia Delegate
www.TunnelPinkMafia.com

[Nightingale 0]

I'd like to, but I don't really know the beginnings of how exactly to do all that, and fumbling around in the sky with another newbie who doesn't know either probably isn't going to help much. I finally stopped going to two way camps, because it seems like all we ever did was chase each other in circles around the sky, getting absolutely nowhere. It's like two white belts trying to teach each other how to spar. I'd like to pay a coach, but that's a little pricey, and I'm saving up for canopy school, which is probably more important.

I wish I just had a list of stuff that I could bug better jumpers about once in a while. In karate, I had my technique chart, and I would pester a higher ranking student every so often to show me something on the chart. I knew exactly what I didn't know, so I knew what to ask about. With skydiving, I feel kinda lost.

[jceman 1]

Yes, I think TLML and I are goal-oriented in our skydiving.

When we started to get into our hybrids four years ago, we were happy to get within a few feet of one another. Now we're unhappy if we can't turn 4-5-6 points a jump!

We still freefly most of our jumps but do plan now and then. Lisa, you will remember how big I was smiling and how stoked I was the first time I backed into a dock with her while she was sitting. Things like that keep jumping fresh for us.

Now if I can just figure out a good fallrate for us when she's wearing those damn swoop shorts!

Faster horses, younger women, older whiskey, more money.

Why do they call it "Tourist Season" if we can't shoot them?

[kallend 2,106]

Quote

RW is what gets me going, nothing like a smooth exit and lots of points being turned.

How about coming out last from a trail plane, having a long swoop, and docking on a 100 way?

...

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

[diablopilot 2]

Quote

With skydiving, I feel kinda lost.

Get involved. It doesn't always have to be about the goal, and you can learn an awful lot through osmosis on "fun" jumps. GEt together with a local organizer and go on some 6, 7, 8, way type stuff. It might not be the most sucessfull jump, but it will be fun, and it will teach you something.

Quote

I see people doing 4 way, and look at myself and say "I want to be there!" but have absolutely no clue how to get there, what I need to learn, and where to start.

Sometimes learning isn't that structured. Camps and clinics are great for what they are, but damn, sometime you don't need to be debriefed, reviewed, videoed, picked apart, and anyalized.

Next time you see me at Perris, lets make a load. We'll grab 2 or 3 others that wanna have some fun, slap on the grippers, and go. When all is said and done, you'll probably walk away knowing just a little more, but also having had a GREAT day. And sometimes THAT'S what it's all about.

----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.