Nervous or am I doing something wrong?

[johnnie 0]

I have JUmped nine times. First was tandem and then S/L and I'm on 10 seconds now. I can only jump every other weekend due to work. When I do jump I try to get 3 or 4 on a weekend. However every jump I still fight the feeling of going to fine going to burn this time feeling. I love jumping and being free under canopy. Is this normal for new comers or is this a sign of not the right sport for me and finally does this ever leave you. By the way I have not had any bad jumps no repeat dives. JM says I'm doing great and this feeling hits me right before the door. Is there any thing I can do to help me?

[AggieDave 6]

Yeah, you're totally normal, well, maybe not totally normal per se, BUT what you're feeling is!

That is what we refer to as door fear, it happens, just stick with it and it will go away when you get some more jumps. I quit getting it around jump 35 or so, everyone is different, though, so it may take more or take less jumps for it to go away for you.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[iowa 0]

Hang in there. It took me a while to get over that too. Think about the positive and try to relax. Try to get more jumps in when you're there. More often would help even more. Can you jump during the week at all.

Keith

''Always do sober what you said you would do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.'' - Ernest Hemingway

[Ron 10]

Its very normal...

It will go away, and sometimes come back.
With 2,500 jumps every once in a while I am sitting on the plane and think "What the hell are you doing?"

I just think about the emergency procedures and go for it..

Have fun, relax and practice your Emergency procedures.

Ron

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

[Squeak 17]

it hits me like a brick every jump, but if it didn't at least to some extent I'd be more concerned. Complacency will get ya killed.
If it didn't freak ya out everyone would be doing it

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[Samurai136 0]

Best thing to do is review your emergency procedures, do a gear check and review your objectives for the dive. Then close your eyes, do some deep breathing, clear your mind, open your eyes and get ready to jump.

It sounds like performance anxiety. Since you're doing well, you should relax and remind yourself of that fact. Don't over analyse things. You know what the objectives are for the jump. You know your emergency procedure. Relax, focus on the moment and do the jump.

Ken

"Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian
Ken

[CrazyIvan 0]

What it kills me is not the door or the first step out of the plane, it's the WAITING to altitude. I was nervous the first 2 jumps, after that, no more.

__________________________________________
Blue Skies and May the Force be with you.

[Kirils 1]

At first I thought I was the only one getting door terror. I worried like you are now. Years later, I still get the same feelings off and on. There's no pattern. I'll come back after a winter layoff and on my first jump I'll experience no anxiety, but then on
a jump weeks later after I done many jumps I'll get terrified. Someone explained it to me that our brain is just doing a reality check. I worry about those who say they never have experienced it...

"Slow down! You are too young
to be moving that fast!"

Old Man Crawfish

[grega 0]

Like everyone said, it's totaly normal. I had that fear to somewhere around 30th jump. Watching videos at home helped me clearing my mind. I saw those cool guy freeflying like they were walking the sidewalk, and remembering me how does it feel like to fly. I knew i want to do that no matter what! If, when you are on the ground, you desperately want to go up and jump, then stick with it. In plane every student with small number of jumps is scared (some more some less).
The fun starts when you are a floater on the door, waiting for others to take a grip for exit, smiling and thinking by yourself: "common hurry up, i can't take it anymore i wannaa FLYYYY"

"George just lucky i guess!"

[rendezvous 0]

oh thats such a familiar feeling to me. Lived with it all through my AFF and past it. Took me about 30 to 35 jumps to get over it. Even now if I'm in a Cessna 182 or 206 I still try to grab onto something just before the door is opened. Besides, there's one odd jump that gives me a queasy feeling.

[Chief 0]

I agree with what everyone else has already said. I still get that feeling. Not so much on way to altitude but just about the time the green light comes on. I worry about the folks who never claim to feel nervous. Hang in there, you are right where you should be. Have fun and be safe.

[Casch 0]

I've never really been nervous around DOOR! time. I'm more nervous about the separation between jumps so I don't hose the people behind me or fly right into the people in front of me. It's perfectly natural man. It's those damn instincts. They REALLY don't want you to jump, you just gotta show 'em who's boss!

[darkwing 5]

I remember reading a research report some s\psychologists wrote about skydivers many years ago, and I expect the findings now would be the same. Anxiety levels vary dramatically, as to when they occur (gearing up, ride to altitude, door open, exit... and they peak at different times during a jumpers progression, depending on many variables. They also reoccur with wide variety. Pretty much everything said above is consistent with that.

Don't worry about it...

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[falxori 0]

i don't remember being nervous before the actual jump, but i definitely remember a few times i almost did a U-turn instead of a left turn on the way to the Dz...
so, yes, its very normal.

i think it was gone somewhere between jump 15 and 20.
now i just hate waking up early, but once i'm in my car, its full speed ahead

"Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero."

[Ruffles 0]

I just finished jump 35 and its just STARTING to go away now. Damn, I thought it would never go. I used to get so queezy during my AFF I actually dry heaved before a couple of jumps. Yes, I am a bit of a wuss, but its going away now. Stick with it bro, I doubt you will be sorry.

[Unutsch 0]

well, i never lost this feeling (and in a strange way, i hope i'll never do ), i got used to it. and it actually helps me stay concentrated, it helps me remember every possible emergency procedure, it helps me stay focused...

if only i could tell you how nervous (not frightened, nervous) i am on my first jump after a longer period of not jumping... but then, on the 2nd jump, i know exactly that that's what i want to do, where i want to be!

Check out the site of the Fallen Angels FreeflY Organisation:
http://www.padliangeli.org

[Luminous 0]

2400 jumps and counting.

I still get it. I think it's healthy and helps to keep me alive. When I started I was told "If your not scared, your stupid.".

That still applies.
Lot of good advice for dealing with it has been posted so I'll just say if you ever get to where your NOT scared, that's when you really should be.

BSBD

'In an insane society a sane person seems insane.' Mr. Spock

[skybytch 273]

On any of my first 50 or so jumps I would have gladly ridden the plane down. I just focused on how much fun I knew I'd have once I was out the door.

I still get nervous/scared occasionally, usually if I haven't jumped for a month or more or when I'm doing something new/different. Like others have said, if you aren't scared at least once in awhile you're probably not taking it all quite seriously enough!

[mustard 0]

I'm actually one of those people who didn't stop being scared for my first thousand jumps. The scared feeling raised my "arousal level" and I would be thrilled to be alive from week to week. I miss getting that now.

So I decided to become an instructor, and with almost a thousand student jumps, now I still get scared when I'm out there with someone I'm not sure about. And I get a contact "high" from the student as well.

When it stops being fun and thrilling, I'm probably going to stop. However, just *thinking* about being on that 300-way gives me goosebumps, so I guess I've still got plenty of fear to be tapped.

Skydiving changed my life. Sometimes I wonder where I would be without it.

***
DJan

[Skylark 0]

And I thought I was the only one(!) I have an interesting situation. I only have 18 jumps, my last jump was 5 months ago. The absolute worse moment for me is when the door opens. Moving towards the door I start to feel excited and when I'm standing in the door, I know that at any second I'm going to throw myself into space and leave that hot, fear-soaked plane behind.

Recently, for no apparent reason, I found it impossible to sleep as I would have 'flashbacks' of myself falling to earth. I had feelings there must have been something very 'wrong' with my personal life at the time I decided to take my AFF, to make me want to do something so stupid as throw myself out of a plane.

I also downloaded and watched lots of malfunction videos and read the skydiving fatalities website over and over again. I often felt physically sick and was sure there was something wrong with me and that it would only be a matter of time before I would want to jump again and that I would have a double MAL and impact.

Yet the other day I watched my AFF video again and I saw how much FUN I was having! Pulling faces at my jumpmaster as we both fell to earth or tracked across a clear blue sky. Then I realised, the only thing I ever had to fear was fear itself, and the fear monster wasn't out there in the sky, it was in my head. So I've now signed-up for 'The Search' programme at Sebastian and I can't wait.

On average, 20 people are electrocuted every year from turning their alarm clocks off. Now just imagine what sort of a world it would be if nobody every got out of bed. Dull, eh?

"Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

[mustard 0]

Good observations! I'm glad you've decided to step into your fear. I wish I could be your instructor, but alas, you are over there in the UK.

Your fear will always be the one thing you have to face, to look into its face and say, "I'm going anyway." And when you leave the plane, when you face that fear, you will be stronger than before. But it doesn't make it any easier right up to exit. Trust me, I know. But as you said, we could die turning off an alarm clock! How embarrassing and ... well, ordinary. I'd rather be one of those people who made a leap than one who groped in the dark for the electric shock.

***
DJan

[jncoughlin 0]

I am just like you. I only have 8 jumps and completed AFF. Then I got injured (not jumping) and have been grounded since August. Ready to go now but it's winter here in New england so we have to wait for Spring.

Before each jump I was very nervous the days before. i almost hoped for bad weather. The day I planned to jump I was very scared UNTIL I ARRIVED AT THE DZ.

Then seeing everybody smile and be so helpful and encouraging, I'd settle down. Then the fear would return on the ride up. Once the door opened I'd again settle down. A final moment of apprehension and then out I'd go. Once you commit it's fantastic.

Absolutely no fear in the air. Only adrenelin and wonder. Too bad freefall's only a minute. And then the canopy ride, my favorite part.

After a jump, I can't wipe the smile off my face for a week.

Good luck. Welcome to the sky.

[flyangel2 2]

I had about 100 jumps when I went to my instructor and confessed to him that I was still nervous before my jumps. His answer: Good, that's what keeps you alive. The minute you take it for granted, is when scary stuff will happen.

I have almost 3,000 skydives now, and I remember what he said every time I get ready to leave the plane.

Don't worry, you'll find your comfort level.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[oeriksson 0]

I think it's like someone said. It's supposed to be scary. That's one of the reasons I like it so much. It's gratifying to overcome your fears.

I started skydiving this fall and have only jumped 14 times so far but this has been the best time of my life, without a question. It has changed the person I am. It's not just the jump itself, but all the mental preparation you do through the weeks and at the drop zone. I have never been so scared in my life and I just love it. If you ask me when I am in the plane or when they have just opened the door, I would probably say it's the last time I do it. But I really couldn't see myself quitting. I keep surprising myself over and over again. Sometimes I have consider not doing it, to know why I do it.

[lawrocket 3]

My friend, join the club.

At this point, I really don't have the energy to jump more than once a day. don't get me wrong, it's the greatest thing I've ever experienced, and it has become a true passion.

But....

My last jump was the most scared I have ever been. My first solo! And I was absolutely petrified. I knew it, the instructor knew it. I freely admitted it.

It's natural. And it's wonderful!

Isn't that nervousness what makes you tick? It makes me want to do it more!

The thrill of a safe landing. The thrill of just oing it despite the inhibitions. And landing, OH! what a feeling.

I accomplished something. And you did, too. Nervousness means preparation. And preparation means safety. And safety measn I'll live to jump another day.

Enjoy the nervousness. Revel in it. I know I didn't! ! At leat, not until I departed the aircraft.

My wife is hotter than your wife.