Freefall Communication… Eye Contact

By Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld

Four great skydivers, each capable of regularly performing at their personal best, do not, on their own, make a great team. Until they develop sharp, clear and understandable freefall communication, they will still be only four great individual skydivers. The best teams develop their communication and timing so accurately that they appear to be glitch free in their movement, functioning like clockwork, like four parts of one machine.

The team’s ability to perform at their best is a direct result of this communication. Many teams train under the assumption that communication will result naturally by simply having enough airtime together. They do not develop this communication into their training plan. Not only must you dedicate time and training to this, you must do it from the very first jump.

Simply enough, the main tool we use for this is EYE CONTACT. We know everyone uses eye contact. It is the first and most basic thing you are taught when you become a skydiver, but the difference at this camp and on Airspeed is… we mean it.

Eye contact is not just looking in the general direction of the person across from you. It is looking straight into their eyes. Seeing their thoughts, reading their mind. Calming each other down. Firing each other up. Making well thought out decisions together in a fraction of a second.

Look straight into each other’s eyes whenever you can. Obviously when you are facing out this will be a problem. But if you can see the eyes of the person across from you, then do so. Do not just sit with a blank stare waiting for a translation. Make an effort to read each other. The language is not complex. There are only a few thoughts that come up during any jump. You will be communicating the same thing over and over again. Thoughts like “calm it down”, “control”, “let’s light it up”, and “better stops”. These things can easily be seen in each other’s expressions. Deep philosophical or political conversations will have to wait. But everything you need to communicate about in order to get the most out of every move on every jump can be done in a flash.

We cannot see everyone’s eyes all the time. For this reason we also communicate through our grips. Taking solid, clean grips, without fumbling around, will signal to the person that you are gripping, what your condition is: your readiness, or lack there of, to start the next transition. This is essential for the key people to make the correct decisions on keys and pace that will enable the team to continue moving in synch with each other.

One last thing: the ability for a team to really communicate this way is one of the best parts of Formation Skydiving. Your personal and team best is a direct result of this.

Airspeed Formation Skydiving Advanced Skills Camp Work Book

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