Sep 8, 2012, 6:10 AM
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Long Layoffs Cause of Deployments.
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I haven't jumped since early march this year and Won't jump until February of next year. I was always a strong natural when it came to progressing. My question is.. What are some things I can do productively in Afghanistan short of jumping that will keep me fresh? I try to visualize jumps and the moves I would make but I know that's not the same. Who has gone through this before and what did you do? Thanks
Sep 8, 2012, 6:25 AM
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Re: [flyboy8501] Long Layoffs Cause of Deployments.
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Visualizing and watching videos is about all you can do.
Even though you don't have a lot of jumps, it is kinda like riding a bike. You'll remember how to save yourself. Your flying won't be all that great at first, but it comes back quick.
Sep 8, 2012, 8:32 AM
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Re: [flyboy8501] Long Layoffs Cause of Deployments.
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Don't be that guy who comes back and tries to minimize the importance of re-currency training, no matter how much of a natural you were with your progression. As skybytch said, you'll probably remember everything pretty well, but it won't hurt and it will help quite a bit to go over all the basics with an instructor or coach.
Sep 8, 2012, 10:55 AM
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Re: [flyboy8501] Long Layoffs Cause of Deployments.
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I just returned from about a 7 year break, with 120 jumps before I quit....various TDYs to Afghanistan as well.. Anyway, as others have said, its like riding a bike. I sat in on some of a first jump course, for the malfunctions, cut away practice, etc.
Then for the recurrency jump, we did a 2-way that felt almost like I hadn't ever quit skydiving.
Sep 9, 2012, 6:03 AM
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Re: [cadillaccanopy] Long Layoffs Cause of Deployments.
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Ha that reminded me of a picture I saw on facebook, 4 soldiers sitting down looking all sad and shit, the captions said "We were going to eat chow but we couldn't find our reflective belt" Best shit ever!
Sep 10, 2012, 2:21 PM
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Re: [NWFlyer] Long Layoffs Cause of Deployments.
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Don't be that guy who comes back and tries to minimize the importance of re-currency training, no matter how much of a natural you were with your progression. As skybytch said, you'll probably remember everything pretty well, but it won't hurt and it will help quite a bit to go over all the basics with an instructor or coach.
+1. I had less than 40 jumps when I took a 4 year break so I may be overemphasizing this but re-currency training is important. It wasn't until I was in the air that I realized that it was NOT like riding a bike... at least not for me.
After relaxing & not trying to do too much I felt much better.
Sep 12, 2012, 12:12 PM
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Re: [flyboy8501] Long Layoffs Cause of Deployments.
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I just returned after a 5-year layoff. I had roughly 140 jumps previously. I re-read the SIM, visualized malfunctions, and over the last 18 months spent about 2 hours in the tunnel -- mostly working on freeflying, but also spending some time each visit doing basic belly skills. When I finally got out to the DZ I did some hanging harness training and a general refresher with my instructor before my recurrency jump.
The good news is that he told me afterwards that he couldn't tell that I had been out of the sport. The bad news is that the one thing that benefited me the most (the tunnel) is the one thing you don't have access to over in the sandbox. If you can afford it when you get back, even a few minutes in the tunnel is well worth it IMO, and will likely make the recurrency jump a breeze.
Other than that, keep your head down and check six!
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