wonky freefall legs

[Namowal 0]

As I work my way through AFF (and practice in the tunnel) it seems one of my problems is leg position. It's beyond "too wide" or "two bent." I often have one leg higher than the other or one leg sticking out too far.
What drives me batty is it doesn't feel like I'm making these errors, but I am. (I've seen some video evidence!)

Tunnel time is helping, but another part of me thinks "You've had over 30 minutes of tunnel time and you still can't get your legs in gear? This is getting silly!"

Is there anything I can do to fix this? (I'll run any advice I get past my instructors before trying it out in the sky.)

My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

[wolfriverjoe 1,523]

Have you tried heel clicks? I had the same problem. That's what worked for me.

That and sticking my thumbs in my ears to even out my arms.

The body awareness that is necessary in freefall didn't come easy for me. But it came eventually.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[PiLFy 3]

I've a suggestion that might help you. What you're talking about is poor proprioception. You don't have a good sense of where your body parts are. Do you have a large mirror somewhere @home? Ideally, one you can view while lying on your bed ( = easier on the back). If not, you can buy a cheap one that will work. Lay on the floor, & assume the (arched) position. W/a large mirror, you'll be able to see what is normally happening behind you. W/a little practice this way. You should be able to better train this sense. Doing this on the floor will strain your lower back after a while, though. You could still practice on a floor w/o arching completely.

Hope this helps.

[iowa 0]

First off, RELAX!

Let me try to put this in perspective. I have almost 44 hours of freefall time (ie: experience), that is a little over one weeks work experience at a new job.

You have what?, 10 minutes of actual freefall and 30 minutes of tunnel time. RELAX. No one is really a natural at a new job, let alone a totally new enviroment like freefall.

Yes, it takes some longer than others, but, if you RELAX and let it happen, it will come sooner.

Keith

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

[mrubin 0]

I had similar issues when I was getting started. I started doing yoga and it helped a lot. I became a lot more aware of how I was positioning my body. It also helps you breath and stay relaxed when you are under stress.

"I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

[Namowal 0]

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Have you tried heel clicks? I had the same problem. That's what worked for me...

I know that trick. I call it "no place like sky". It has helped a bit.

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The body awareness that is necessary in freefall didn't come easy for me. But it came eventually.

Good to hear. A lot of stuff I'm good at are things I was awful at when I started. Looks like stick-to-it-ivity is in order.

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First off, RELAX!

Let me try to put this in perspective. I have almost 44 hours of freefall time (ie: experience), that is a little over one weeks work experience at a new job.

You have what?, 10 minutes of actual freefall and 30 minutes of tunnel time. RELAX. No one is really a natural at a new job, let alone a totally new environment like freefall.

Yes, it takes some longer than others, but, if you RELAX and let it happen, it will come sooner.

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I had similar issues when I was getting started. I started doing yoga and it helped a lot. I became a lot more aware of how I was positioning my body. It also helps you breath and stay relaxed when you are under stress.

Good points. Thanks.

My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

[erdnarob 1]

Another trick which can work is for you in free fall to bend or flex your toes in your shoes. That will give you a spatial "view" of where your legs actually are and therefore making able to do corrections. You can use the same trick for your arms as well by flexing the fingers.

Before going out of the airplane, repeat in your mind or verbally to do such toes flexions.

Good luck and tell us if it works better for you.

Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

[TommyM 3]

You don't mention what this "problem" is causing. Unless your wonky leg position is causing severe control or stability problems, I would stop worrying about it. At your level you should be focusing on making a safe parachute jump. Tunnel time will not likely help save your life nor will someone's notion of good leg position. I've seen very good skydivers have very strange (to me) body positions. Remember, right now your learning to make safe skydives, the polishing of technique can come later. Heck maybe I'm old fashioned as I've been out of the sport for 10 years, and maybe instructors want good style too, but I'd be more concerned with safety, because skydiving sure is fun but it aint no game.

[Namowal 0]

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You don't mention what this "problem" is causing.

I should have been more clear- the wonky legs are causing stability problems. I'm assuming the instructor was more concerned with safety than how slick I looked- and when I mentioned I live near a tunnel, said instructor suggested I spend some more time in it before I retried the AFF level.

My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

[Austintxflight 0]

If you get a video from the tunnel i'm sure people could help out more.

[TommyM 3]

Ok, now I get it, yes if your flopping around or can't hold a heading, this could distract from a safe jump.
I looked at some of my old AFF video's and I look like a rocking, spinning piece of plywood, but barely in control. In hindsight I'm shocked they let me pass, and trust me, I had the best training in the world, but I still had to slug it out 60 seconds at a time. It wasn't long after graduation I calmed down and relaxed into the classic windblown belly flyer arch...you will too

Keep at it, keep safe, live the dream

--El Cap 699

[Kerridwen 0]

Video! I did video and once I could see it, it was a lot easier for me to start correcting. A helpful tip my instructor gave me...
Instructor: Do you find yourself turning at all
Me: Yes
Instructor: Which direction
Me: To the right
My instructor put the video in and I could see my left knee was down lower, so the tip was when I started to turn to adjust that knee till I wasn't turning anymore. Simple fix.

So I would go with video and a coach then adjust accordingly. Tunnel time helped a ton too for me so I'd work some more tunnel time with video in there as well. Also, don't try to fix everything at once. Pick one, work on it, then work in another (so said my awesome instructor who rocks!)