Feb 25, 2007, 6:40 PM
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Are there any good Formation Skydiving books?
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I am really starting to get bit my the RW bug. I have been doing more four ways lately and it has been going pretty well (despite hosing and exit or two from the C-182 strut).
So are there any books out there that give tips on organizing relative work dives.
My flying is really starting to progress but I really lack experince with different formations.
Luckily I have some other more experinced people that I jump with who come up with dive flows, because when I do it is sounds like this....
"Left hand donut, right hand donut... ummmmm well that is all I know the name of"
Edit: It seems like I should have followed up in the glossary post since this is such a similar topic!! Sorry for the clutter.
(This post was edited by DougH on Feb 25, 2007, 6:43 PM)
But, to learn how to do 4way, you really need some one-on-one coaching. With this coaching, you can start to see why and how dives went well and went to crap. Concepts like cross referencing, grip management, continuity plan, etc... I know some of the people I look up to on 4way have over 1,000 team/coached/competition jumps each and do 24 jumps and 4 hours of tunnel time a month with hired coach. When I have learned 10% of what they have forgotten, I will be happy.
AZ Airspeed has a good "camp book" they give to their coaching camp students. So does Dan BC at Perris. I have both, but out of respect, don't give away copies as it is not my intellectual property... But if you e-mailed either party, you likely will get some good material sent your way.
I have not seen a good book or video on this.
With Skydive U making great freefly vids, perhaps they should try to put together a great RW vid....
(This post was edited by tdog on Feb 25, 2007, 9:40 PM)
Feb 25, 2007, 10:46 PM
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Re: [DougH] Are there any good Formation Skydiving books?
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As Travis said, there are some great references out there, but you wann know a nifty little trick??
Go to an Airspeed tunnel camp, and at the end of the day when all the coaching is done, ask one of them to join you for dinner at the bent prop(AS camps are done at Eloy now so the bent prop is 100 meters away), and offer to buy 'em a round of drinks, or dinner, their coaching is more than worth it. While you're having a drink or two, turn their brain inside out and pick every bit of knowledge you can out of it. they are always more than willing to share their experience and knowledge with you, they keep no secrets, but sometimes during the day in the middle of a camp they are so busy they have to keep the convos short, get em at the end of the day when you are unwinding and they will share every secret they have with you happily. Not to mention you'll have a friend for life, the AS coaches are one of a kind, definitely a class act.
One of the best moves I have ever made was to attend an AS camp and instead of heading back to the hotel at the end of the night I would go across the street to the bar with one of them and while we were grabbing dinner and a drink I would just ask a thousand questions, and they are always so happy to share. Not to mention that now anytime I'm in eloy the know me and not only come up to say hi when they see me, but anytime I ask if they're available for coaching they have gone out of their way to help me out.
Key point, don't be intimidated by any of the greats in 4way, all of them are friendly, I've walked up to Dan BC in Perris to introduce myself and he was more than happy to chat, Joey Jones, Chris Irwin, Neal Houston, Doug Park, Kirk, Eliana, Andy, Craig. You'll never meet an unfriendly face in this sport, put yourself in a place where you can meet them and capitalize on it.
And last but not least, if you ever find yourself in CO, PM Tdog or myself, we're always happy to turn a few points Good luck.
(This post was edited by GQ_jumper on Feb 25, 2007, 10:49 PM)
Feb 26, 2007, 7:15 AM
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Re: [DougH] Are there any good Formation Skydiving books?
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Some non-technical books that are mandatory reading for Airspeed members are: The New Toughness Training by James Loehr and In Pursuit of Excellence by Terry Orlick. Both are excellent models for mental training. You will probably find that alot of the techniques used in these books are things you may already do but it helps to validate them.
It seems like I should have followed up in the glossary post since this is such a similar topic!! Sorry for the clutter. 
