jessie

I am also a student and have experienced 3 unstable exits....the first 2 were awsome...I was doing step exits and kept pushing off the strut..so I accidentally did back loops on exit and recovered beautifully by relaxing and arching.... My third unstable exit was a back loop right away...followed by more backloops....then I was looking at sky and knew I was on my back...so I tried bringing an arm in but screwed that up...then I began frieking out....my jumpmaster said at that point I began spinning on my back.....I tried to look at my altimeter but the wind must have blew the numbers off....I knew I was still on my back...but I had no altitude awarness....so I followed my pull rules and pulled on my back....yes, it hurt, but I lived... When I landed my jumpmaster gave me a big hug and said he was proud of me....I could not understand that...I felt like I had screwed up my whole skydive....I didnot wave off and I was pissed at myself....he said he was proud of me for pulling on my back because he knew at a certain point I was in trouble.....and he as a jumpmaster has seen students pull way too low because they were afraid of pulling unstable....yes, I failed that skydive according to my progression card.....but I proved to myself that even under a complete panic I will still pull and pull on time..... The biggest lesson I learned as upjumpers have already told you.....RELAX...RELAX...RELAX..... You will do great!!!! J.J

Thank you so much for your words of advice...for awhile there I was thinking about quitting.......I will work on relaxing more .....I talked to my jumpmaster on wednesday and told him what was happening to me......so he took me over my next jump so on Saturday I will have the MENTAL PICTURE in my mind.........the only thing that will be differant on this jump is my exit.........instead of hanging of the strut I am doing a poised step exit.... thank you so much again for taking the time to reply back...........and I feel better knowing this sensory overload is normal for beginning jumpers..... jessie

Hey all.....I have a measly 7 solo jumps.....I just finished my first 10 second delay......and when I am in the air I still go through some sort of brain lock....my jumpmaster videos my exits and freefall...and they are what they need to be...on my 10 second delay my arch was great......I did some minor body corrections..waved off...and pulled.....we landed and he is smiling and praising me.....but why can I not completely remember everything I do in the air????? If it was not for the video I would have no clue!!! It is like my body is doing it but my brain does not register what i am doing during my jump.........my clear and pull jump it was about 10 degrees in the air....I climbed out and my fingers were numb....I could not find my arch so I pulled my arms over the strut more and climbed back on the step....took a deep breath and climbed back out on the strut......and had a good jump....when I landed everyone that was in the plane was like " holy shit....you have your head on...most students would have just let go and not had the arch"............if my mind pulls it off....why do I not comprehend it in the air??? My first solo jump was a cutaway....my hands were on the reserve before my brain knew it.....what is going on here???? How do I become more visually aware in the air?? jess