obsessed after tandem // also fitness questions ??

[chlo 0]

So I went for a tandem as a 21st one off and ,yep you guessed it, no longer want it to be a one off! Literally cannot stop thinking about it , so have been reading dropzone and watching youtube videos lots. I wasn't nervous at all just excited and in awe of the view (easy when your attached to someone doing all the work )

A couple questions ...... I am too poor right now to start any training Is there anything I can do in the meantime to prepare fitness wise? I know people say you only have to be moderately fit , but if I want to get really really good there must be some fitness that helps? I do a bit of aerial silks and yoga, is that helpful ? I figure flexibility and being able to hold positions is a biggy but I don't know ... I hear upper body strength can be an issue for ladies ?

Planning to start when I finish up at uni and start working full time. so in about a year and a half . I have two options: go for my aff at my local dropzone or there is a skydiving school that would get me 200 jumps in six months (including aff)- which I can get a student loan for . But I am unsure of moving and committing to something like that after only one tandem?! Yet I feel like this might really be what I want to do

- Thanks in advance

Chloe

[dthames 0]

If you can arch your back backward, pelvis out in front, that is able all that is needed for training.

There are other aspects of the sport that being able to do a chin-up might help on, but that is not really needed to learn to skydive.

If later you become an avid skydiver and jump all day, there is a certain amount of stamina that is needed. But it is not like you are working out all day. It is more about managing your energy levels, resting when you can, and knowing if you have the energy for "one more" or if it is time to call it a day.

Stop thinking about skydiving. It will mess with your head.

Dan

Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

[Wonka13 0]

Chloe-
I found myself in a similar situation regarding instant love for the sport last month. Went for my 1st tandem on the 20th of August, went for my 2nd on the 3rd and going for my 3rd tomorrow wth my 4th scheduled for the beginning of next month. My AFF/AFP will have to wait until the spring when the weather improves. It does get in your head & stay there :) Is there any way you can go "every once & a while" until you're finished with your schooling? Though I lack experience in skydiving, I don't in life...your education is extremely important, but how you shape your future is entirely up to you. If you're willing to bear the financial burden of paying back loans after school..cool, if not...don't put yourself in that situation. I hope you figure it out, but make sure you have fun along the way regardless of what you decide.

Lead or Follow, but get the hell outta my way!

[chlo 0]

yes you are probably right. i am overthinking it

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

I was in pretty bad shape when I started. I'm in... somewhat less bad shape now.

It IS freaking expensive doing this. Don't take a student loan to pay for it -- that shit's like herpes. I'd suggest seeing if you can find a packing job and start building up your bank account to get you to your A license -- figure about $2000-$2500 for AFF and then gear rentals, jump tickets and coaching to get you to 25 jumps.

For your gear, find some decent used gear and see if you can take out a low-interest credit card to pay for it. Budget to pay off the card as quickly as you can and then close the account. It'll do wonders for your credit. As long as you're making your debt work for you, it's not a bad way of doing things. Student debt is about the worst of the bad debt, though, and should be avoided like the plague.

If you decide you don't like it after 1 or 2 AFF jumps, you can always use your war chest to buy a Honda.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[chlo 0]

Hoping to do another tandem in november and a couple next year . I guess what I was wondering is how many jumps do people do before deciding it's something they really want to commit to ? After one tandem seems a bit soon so I will do some more tandems/ can't afford AFF right now anyway. But at the same time I feel like this is something I could really get into !

[chlo 0]

I'm not sure student debt is so bad for me. I'm in New Zealand so my student loan is interest free unless I leave the country for more than 6 months straight. They do deduct your pay automatically to pay it as soon as your over the payment threshold (which is like min wage full time, so that can be a bit rough). I already have four years of uni that I'll have to deal with. So what's another six months right? ... possibly a really bad way of looking at it , but hey. Its also a really economical way of getting 200 jumps. If I did that I would be looking for work at a dropzone after.

Its more the fact I just went once and am already sort of planning this , totally new direction and I would have to move to a new city , Is that crazy? 20s are for being crazy right? How did you know that this was what you wanted to do ? instantly ? first time in the sky ?

[chlo 0]

// I just want someone to tell me all my time spent flipping and dancing around a few metres above the ground with only silk to hold on to will somehow translate into making me a natural at skydiving

I am really good at developing skills that don't apply to much haha

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

Ooh sorry, just assumed you were in the USA, where student debt is pretty much like herpes. They're still hounding several of my relatives who are years out of college.

I decided I wanted to do this after watching a wingsuit video back in 2012. The plan that crystallized almost instantly was to become proficient flying a wingsuit, upgrade to a larger wingsuit and spend a week flying over Hawaii. My larger wingsuit should arrive in the next couple of weeks. That sort of thing seems to happen in this sport.

If you start jumping and really like it, you can probably find a way to make it happen. Most people start and don't really like it. There were 13 people in my AFF class. One other guy from that class just showed up on the dropzone recently and told me he'd just got his A license. I don't think any of the rest of them even made it through AFF before quitting.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[Rossco_DJ 0]

I started my AFF in march after just one tandem (which i wasn't going to do - straight to AFF. Just that my friend wanted to do one so i figured why not!). So glad i did. I've got 42 jumps now and one hell of a bunch of new friends, as well as somewhere awesome to go and chill out on a weekend to get away from work and uni. I did my AFF at my local DZ, paid for each stage as i went. I'm also a full time uni student, but I'm working as well, and was lucky enough to have the money ready to go upfront for AFF, fun jumps and gear. Glad i did it at my local, because thats where i jump all the time, and everyone saw me come through my AFF, so its easy to find people to jump with early on. They're happy to take a step back in their jumping to come along and teach me something and have some fun. I'm not some random turning up finding it difficult to find people to belly fly with, when a lot of people want to go for angles or freefly, which some people can have problems with at some DZ's.

Instead of going for another few tandems (which cost more than most AFF stages), why not just start your AFF? Summer is coming, you'll be finished uni for a few months from November (I'm assuming uni works similarly over there to here in AUS?), why not get a (extra?) job of some description and head to the DZ on the weekends and do an AFF jump or two with the money you earn? Try and make it no longer than 3 or 4 weeks between stages though. Some stages my instructors recommended doing as close together as possible. Same day is even better.

In terms of fitness, I'm not particularly (at all) flexible, but i practiced my arch lying on the floor quite a bit because i was flying a little flat at times, and that helped a lot. If you're already doing things like yoga, etc, you should be fine. Upper body strength probably more so for flying your canopy, and as mentioned earlier, being fit with some stamina for long days of jumping.

I also had 9 people start their AFF with me. I'm the only one left. There were 3 of us that came back and did stages 2 - 5, and then the other three haven't been back. I know one of them can't afford it at the moment, and the other guy just disappeared. I guess a lot of people do a tandem, and then they do AFF1, and its actually a lot different to doing a tandem. you're not jumping out and looking around and having a ball... you're jumping out, and focussing so much on what you've been taught that it wasn't till after i got on the ground i was like, ok, that was actually pretty cool. I didn't really enjoy my stage 2 at all. Similar reasons, but i also felt a bit rushed with it, like i was overloaded with things to think about. Once i got to stage 3 and 4 though. boom! that awesome fun feeling was back. And it's been getting better and better with almost every jump.

[Wonka13 0]

I knewTHIS was for me the minute I hit the door @ 12,000 ft for the 1st time! Went for my 3rd tandem today (3rd in a month) and absolutely love it! Will be doing AFP/AFF as soon as the weather allows with tunnel time in the interim!

Lead or Follow, but get the hell outta my way!

[chlo 0]

i work the weekends already and work full time over the break. Have to save up for a car this summer! Nearest DZ is an hours drive away so that's an essential .

I don't want to start aff then have a massive gap before I go again so that's why i was thinking a couple tandems in the meantime. I had a hard time breathing during freefall and I am a bit iffy about my upper arm strength so doing some canopy stuff would be worthwhile I think ? just as a confidence thing.

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

Sure. Skydiving is great incentive to get in shape. I lost about 30 pounds after I started. Also started exercising more regularly. A couple of weeks of however many push-ups you can do in the morning should help with the upper arm strength. I also got one of those power ball gyroscopic grip exercisers. Those things do wonders for your grip and forearms. Nice side effect of that is if you get some jackass who likes to play handshake games, you can crush their bones.

If you have a wind tunnel anywhere around you, those also make a good training tool. Obviously you can't learn to fly a canopy in there, but you can make a lot of progress with your stability in the air. Because of the confined space, you're forced to fly a lot more precisely and you have a lot more clues in the environment to see that you are. Most people I've taken really start to look like they know what they're doing on their belly after 20-30 minutes.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

A few thoughts, in no particular order:

When I landed after my first static line jump, my first words were "I am so doing that again." I didn't know how far I was going to take it, but I knew that I had to do it again. And again. And again.

Your aerial work will help. Gymnastics, dance (ballet in particular), any activity that teaches you to put your body into a specific position helps...
In freefall.
But gear knowledge, airplane procedures, emergency procedures, canopy control (including landing pattern, collision avoidance and the actual landing) are all important too.
You will have a bit of an advantage, but only in one specific area.
Upper body strength is somewhat important, but you don't need a whole lot. One thing you can do is get yourself some "Thera-bands" - the big rubber bands used for rehab after injury or surgery. loop it over the top of a door or something and pull down. But if you do aerial silks, I'm guessing you can do at least one or two "chin ups" (hanging from your arms, pull your body up). If you can do that, you are fine.

Committing to an entire lifestyle after one experience isn't the best idea. Keep in mind that if you turn your "love" into a job, it will become work. I know people that burned out by turning it into a job. Personally, after a few summers of spending almost my entire freetime at the DZ (club DZ that got very small at the end - the few of us left did a lot of work), I was approaching burnout.
On the flip side of it, it can be a lot of fun. I also know people that work the sport and love it. But they thought it over very carefully before jumping in and made sure they took steps to do stuff outside of jumping to keep some sort of life balance.

Your training progression can take a variety of paths. Talk to the DZ. Some places do tandems that are actual "training jumps". You learn a few different things. Canopy control is one of the things tandem can teach very well. Tandem was originally developed to do the same things as "dual instruction" in airplane flight training.
Or you could do a few AFF jumps, knowing full well you will have to do repeats.

Personally, I would suggest getting through AFF and to your first license (A here in the US, not sure what NZ has) before you commit to the school.
Alternatively, get through uni, get a good job, and then go after it as a sport. Having enough income to afford it as "fun" is a much better position to be in.

"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

[chlo 0]

what your saying makes a lot of sense ! thanks for your input . defs finishing uni , ill see how i go with getting a good job after though

[chlo 0]

Sadly no tunnels in New Zealand , there is this thing though http://www.agroventures.co.nz/freefall-xtreme??? it doesn't look super promising, but would defs do it for fun if I am ever around that area. I might be visiting my friend in the gold coast of Aussie sometime towards the end of next year, will try visit the ifly there if I do go !

[chlo 0]

any skydiving movie / book suggestions also greatly appreciated

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

chlo

Sadly no tunnels in New Zealand , there is this thing though http://www.agroventures.co.nz/freefall-xtreme??? it doesn't look super promising, but would defs do it for fun if I am ever around that area. I might be visiting my friend in the gold coast of Aussie sometime towards the end of next year, will try visit the ifly there if I do go !

Oh yeah, that's one of the outdoor models. It doesn't really look like they're geared toward freefall training. It might be worth keeping in mind if you're having a really hard time with stability, but I wouldn't get my hopes up over it.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[FlyBabeAU 3]

Hey Cloe,
I'd try to resist the urge to do more tandems if you already know you love the sky. Tandems are expensive, perhaps consider saving the money and put towards your AFF training and the ongoing costs that follow. It is expensive as a sport, not just the course cost, but the gear, then there's coaching, additional courses, boogies, tunnel time if you fly Down Under to access a tunnel, lots of jump tickets, plus plenty of beer... and the list just goes on. Lets just say I don't know of many skydivers who are well off

Having said that, it is amazing and if you think you'll love it, find a way to make it happen, even if that means waiting a while till you start AFF. See if you can pay as you go rather than having to find all the funds up front. Also budget extra for additional jumps as not everyone gets through the course with zero repeats. Sometimes you might need to practice the skills on a level again before you nail them.

Strength wise if you think you lack upper body strength just be aware student canopies are large and take some strength to flare to land them. Doing some push ups or other exercises to build a bit of upper body strength is not a bad idea. For climbing out into the wind if you have a plane with a cute little step to get onto, flying your canopy, even carrying it back to the pack room after a jump, all takes a bit of strength. The stronger you are, the easier you may find that stuff. I was one of those girls who had to do push ups to build enough strength to more easily flare the canopy on landing, and have built some muscle I didn't have before by jumping. Its a good thing :)

[chlo 0]

yeah good point , by the time i do 4 tandems I could have visited my friend on the gold coast and there's an ifly opening there soon !
and yeah, I mean I guess I have a bit of strength, I can do a couple pull ups , but I don't have much stamina with that kinda stuff. Skydiving feels like good motivation to get fitter.

[skymama 35]

Welcome to the forums!

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[Nicknero1405 0]

chlo

and yeah, I mean I guess I have a bit of strength, I can do a couple pull ups , but I don't have much stamina with that kinda stuff. Skydiving feels like good motivation to get fitter.

Skydiving doesn't really require much strength at all. (Not until you start tracking, that is.)
It's all about body position and just relaxing in the sky, letting the wind do it's work by pushing your arms and legs backwards into the Arch position.
Being flexible is probably more counting than having strength. Specially because it is very important that you do relax your body to maintain balance rather than being stiff which causes asymmetric body positions which results in unwanted spinning.

A good (and quite the only one) practise I can think of is just lay on the ground belly down, then hold your arms in a 90° angle next to your head, hands lose and relaxed, and arch with your legs by trying to only keep your hips on the ground (As that is what your lowest point should be during a successful arch)
Yes, trying to do this on the ground is hard work because gravity is working against you and there is no wind to help you. But in the sky everything should go much easier as there is no relative gravity, and the wind naturally pushes your arms and legs backwards.


One thing I'm wondering however. What made you choose to do a lot of tandems before your AFF? Tandems are expensive and less fun than jumping with your own parachute on your back. I did my first (and only) tandem as my 24th birthday back in May this year, and I was hooked and addicted straight away, so I started on my AFF in June. And now I'm almost at my A license with 58 jumps so far. Things go crazy fast. :o

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck on your own AFF whenever you start on it!

Blue skies!

[chlo 0]

Thanks for the advice !

[chlo 0]

Have just done one tandem but might do a few more over the next year and half till I can start AFF , (no time or funds to commit to AFF). Should probably just save my money buuuuuut I mean once this year and two times next year isn't much really.

My mum is thinking about going sometime. So if she jumps I am defs going with her! She actually started on static line back in the 90s and has jumped 9 times (stopped when she had kids).But still pretty cool that she has tried it. I know she would support me getting into the sport

I would do tunnel or static line but there's none around me.

[skymama 35]

Quote

Thanks for the advice !Smile I think you are right I am just impatient haha

Oh, trust me, we are all that way when we get hooked!

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon