AFF 1 Jitters

[anu1786 0]

Hello All,
I am pretty new to skydiving world. It has always been my dream to complete skydiving AFF training. I am trying to evaluate myself and see if skydiving is meant for me. I am hoping to hear from the experienced people here.
I have completed 2 Tandem so far, it took me quite a lot of time to go for my 1st Tandem which happened at the age of 29 years but it took me just 6 more months to go for my second tandem which from 18000 ft and since then I have been going for bungee jumping, six flags just to get the fear out of my system. Next up I would like to go for AFF Level 1. I am totally not worried about the free fall part but very scared about the landing part. I am in Southern California, so thinking of going to Skydive Perris for AFF Level 1 and I am sure I will receive great training but still I would like to know what injuries can happen if I make any mistakes. What are the most important qualities required in an individual to complete AFF Level 1? Is it possible to learn canopy control by doing another tandem? Are there any drop zones that offer static line training in Southern California as I would really like to learn canopy control first?
I would love to hear your feedback and tips to remain calm, deep down I really want to do this and I would really appreciate your help on this?

[Di0 1]

anu1786

1) I would like to know what injuries can happen if I make any mistakes.
2) What are the most important qualities required in an individual to complete AFF Level 1?
3) Is it possible to learn canopy control by doing another tandem?
4) Are there any drop zones that offer static line training in Southern California as I would really like to learn canopy control first?

1) Death. Seriously, it's skydiving. But more, realistically, in the "common mistake" range, I'd say broken bones, femurs, and even more likely, torn ankles, ligaments, bruises etc. As my dad would say, skydiving is a calculated risk and while dying is very uncommon and something that we can keep on the back of our mind, unfortunately you have to accept a broken leg as being part of the game on every jump. As a student, you'll fly very forgiving and docile canopies, and we teach techniques to reduce the possible damages from a bad landing, they are very effective but of course, there are always chances of getting seriously injured even with these. If you're not ok with these risks, don't skydive.

2) listening to your instructors and do what they tell you to do. Also being heads-up and aware of what's happening is key. You'll feel overwhelmed on your first jumps but don't let that "freeze you".

3) Actually, yes. You'll have to tell your instructor that you want to do that to be prepared for AFF, they'll probably let you fly the canopy and explain you what's going on. It's a viable method and some people choose that.

4) I'm sure there are, or that it can be offered as an option but I am not familiar with it so I am not able to say much, sorry.

I'm standing on the edge
With a vision in my head
My body screams release me
My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

[RopeaDope 0]

Bungee jumping is a good way to get over the fear of bungee jumping, but if you want to get over the fear of skydiving, you'll have to skydive.

In order to learn how to land a canopy, you have to jump out of a plane and land a canopy. Stop wasting time and money on tandems and do your AFF or find an IAD program.

Most important quality of an AFF student is to jump when your are told to jump, relax, pull when you are told to pull, relax, flare when you are told to flare, PLF.

[elliottstevens 0]

I did a tandem jump in 2014 at Perris, with no real idea what I was getting into. When I landed, all I wanted to do was be back in the sky. I spent the next couple of months saving money and gathering information and eventually made my way to DeLand in December, to go through the entire AFF course. Much like you, I wasn't worried about freefall, but the canopy flight and landing was daunting (until it actually happened). So much so, that I was shaking as I boarded the PAC. The freefall was great, the opening, smooth. Canopy flight was uneventful. Just make sure you're aware of the winds and your landing pattern prior to the jump, then check the windsock before you turn for your downwind. Your instructor will be on the radio with you, but never rely on technology. Don't be afraid to ask questions and always listen to your instructor. Blue skies!

[jnjusticar 0]

Well you can die on your first jump or nine thousanth jump. It is skydiving. It is inherently dangerous. Not trying to be a jerk but lots of bad injuries can happen, you can break an ankle, leg, arm, back, neck, death, paralysis (wish you were killed in that landing) etc. Shit can go wrong very quickly. This isn't a sport where you freak out and can't make a decision or get too overwhelmed with fear to act. Honestly, do your training and listen. Pay a lot of attention to what the wind is doing. Do your canopy control checks the minute that canopy opens and if something goes wrong know your emergency procedures inside and out...mostly, have fun. Try not to be scared shitless. You can die obviously, but hey we're all going out one day no matter what. Plus you're more likely to get creamed by a bus than die skydiving...though of course skydiving is inherently dangerous.

[crazydaisy315 0]

Landing was always my big worry, and my first several weren't so great, and they still aren't so great. I'm maybe 50/50 landing on my feet vs. plf. Want a newbie's recommendation? Practice your PLF. And again. I purchased a camping mattress, stuck it on my living room floor and PLF'd off my chair and couch over and over. I did this after a rough landing that pulled my hamstring and left me limping for a couple of weeks. I wish I had done it sooner. Go to your FJC, learn the PLF and practice it, practice it as much as you practice your EP's. If you really want to do this, the EP's and the PLF are what you should practice all the time. Again, I'm just a newbie, but practicing life saving and limb saving techniques will never hurt.

[anu1786 0]

Thanks Di0! Your answers were very helpful and put my mind at ease..

[anu1786 0]

Thanks RopeaDope! I am doing everything possible to get the fear out my system. I just don't want to make any mistakes and trying to learn how to act when I am scared.I have already completed 2 Tandem so technically I have skydived :)

[anu1786 0]

Thank Elliottstevens! very helpful advise..

[anu1786 0]

Thanks jnjusticar! only thing before I go for Level 1 how to I train myself not to be scared shitless? How did it feel for you when you had to control the canopy all by yourself for the first time?

[anu1786 0]

Thanks crazydaisy315! I will practice the shit out of it lol but thanks for the helpful advise

[crazydaisy315 0]

Haha! If you can find the secret to not being scared, let me know. I have 22 jumps, and I'm scared shitless regularly. I do it anyway, because I stop being afraid as soon as I'm out in freefall. I know that the doorway to the plane is literally the doorway to flight, freedom, exhilaration and the most amazing experience any human could be allowed to have. The first solo jump is the most emotionally intense experience I have ever had.

I have been told by jumpers in the 1000's that there is no secret to not being afraid, it just stops being scary around jump 40-50 because you've done it enough that the fear subsides. You just have to accept the fear and do it anyway. Part of the personal growth in this sport is learning how much fear holds you back as a person. At least for me!

[radical_flyer 0]

crazydaisy315

the doorway to the plane is literally the doorway to flight, freedom, exhilaration and the most amazing experience any human could be allowed to have.

Tell that to wing suit proxy flyers. I think that looks more awesome than sky jumps.

crazydaisy315

I have been told by jumpers in the 1000's that there is no secret to not being afraid, it just stops being scary around jump 40-50 because you've done it enough that the fear subsides.

Fear's already gone for me from #19 (at least it had for the last 3 jumps). Don't know if it had anything to do with having a cool coach that I was so chill. I didn't really like my consols (solos). Found it really boring. I think I'll only have fun jumping with others.

[wasatchrider 0]

"In order to learn how to land a canopy, you have to jump out of a plane and land a canopy. Stop wasting time and money on tandems and do your AFF or find an IAD program."

that's not true he could base jump

BASE 1519

[jnjusticar 0]

You need to come to terms with the fact that it is safer than driving. I honestly just kind of realized f it, whatever happens is going to happen. I'm a biologist. I ultimately realize that the process of life and death are occurring simultaneously while some cells divide and others die. You will be the one under control of the canopy but every dropzone and student program I have heard of does radio control until you move to coach status to tell you what to do and help you enter your landing patter. You should be on a large enough canopy so that if you goof your landing you should be relatively unscathed except for a bruise or scrape and severely injured pride. You're overthinking it. Go out, do it, have fun! Post the video too. Kick that levels ass and listen to those radio commands and remember to flare and hold that flare all the way down, wrists and hands pointed down..like you're trying to shove your hands in your pocket :)

[DanG 1]

Quote

You need to come to terms with the fact that it is safer than driving.

Not even close. People need to stop saying this, it is ridiculous.

- Dan G

[Phil1111 911]

"Moreover, when you avoid something that scares you, you tend to experience a sense of failure. Every time you avoid a feared object or situation, your anxiety gains strength while you lose some. Every time you avoid the feared object or situation, you accumulate another experience of failure and another piece of evidence attesting to your weakness. Finally, avoidance eliminates practice. Without practice it is difficult to gain mastery. Without mastery, confidence is less likely to rise.

So, avoiding anxiety maintains and magnifies it. To get rid of your anxiety you should instead capitalize on the principle of habituation through the use of "exposure." Exposure is by far the most potent medicine known to psychology. It is responsible, directly or indirectly, for most positive improvement achieved in therapy--any therapy, but particularly the treatment of anxiety. Exposure entails facing your fears, which makes it aversive in the short-term. But many worthy long-term goals entail short-term discomfort (think studying for an exam). Exposure also seems counter intuitive, but many truths are counter intuitive (think about the fact that we're residing on a ball floating in infinite space). Exposure scares people, but scary things are not necessarily dangerous (think roller coasters, horror films). Exposure is scary primarily because most people, lacking an understanding of the habituation principle, expect their fear to escalate indefinitely in the presence of a feared object or situation. But nothing rises indefinitely. And fear, if you face it, will soon begin to subside as you habituate.

Thus with anxiety, the only way out is through. If you're anxious about spiders, you will have to handle spiders. If you're scared of the elevator, you will have to ride the elevator repeatedly. If you dread talking in class, you will need to start talking in class. This is not easy to do, since confronting your fear will produce a lot of initial anxiety. You will have to stay in the feared situation and stay with the heightened fear response until it begins to subside, which it will, because it must by design."
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/insight-therapy/201009/overcoming-fear-the-only-way-out-is-through

and

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4793423;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

[bdawk 0]

DanG

Quote

You need to come to terms with the fact that it is safer than driving.

Not even close. People need to stop saying this, it is ridiculous.

I think the actual statistics ( and I've seen them in multiple places) say that driving 10k miles per year, gives you a chance of dieing 4Xs that of a SINGLE skydive.

For me take 30k miles driven per year add to that at least 5 jumps on any day at the dz that the weather cooperates on - add it all up - and who the hell knows. Now running a marathon - THAT is dangerous ;)

[sammielu 3]

Managing fear is a mental challenge.

This is what I tell nervous students: You do not have to skydive. Once you're in the plane, you do not have to get out of the plane. No one is going to force you to go on a skydive. You can spend your money and go on a plane ride and not a single one of us will say anything bad to you about it. The thing is, through that door is fun, joy, smiles and pure beauty. You can go out there and play, if you want too. It's really, really fun out there, it's why we're here day after day and why we're waiting for the days when we can be here. I promise, it is fun out there. You don't have to go, but you can if you want.

You already know what it feels like to choose not to jump. Go to a quiet place and consider how you feel about not jumping. Then consider how it would feel to jump, the joy, freedom, exhilaration, accomplishment and all those feelings you don't know what they even feel like yet. Picture yourself leaving the plane and going through the skydive. Picture yourself under canopy and coming in for a perfect landing. Picture it over and over until it's more familiar to you than this guilty/sheepish/disappointed feeling you're having now.

Next time you're on the plane, review: you can stay in there and have the disappointment and apprehension again, or you can take a deep breath, push through those feelings, and get out the door. The rest comes with practice and listening to your instructors for what to practice. You've got this man. Come play with us.

[DanG 1]

I've been around the sport for 20 years. In that time I haven't known anyone who died in a car accident. I need two hands to count the people I've known who died skydiving.

My experience is not unique.

That being said, skydiving can be done relatively safely. Shit can happen to anyone, but most shit that happens can be seen coming.

- Dan G

[anu1786 0]

[anu1786 0]

So true :)

[anu1786 0]

Thanks a lot for your motivational words, really inspiring :)

[anu1786 0]

Brilliant advise. Thank you so much sammielu :)

[Di0 1]

bdawk

I think the actual statistics ( and I've seen them in multiple places) say that driving 10k miles per year, gives you a chance of dieing 4Xs that of a SINGLE skydive.

I did the math when I started jumping and I remember reaching the conclusion that 1 jump roughly equals 1000 miles in the U.S.
I could have done the math wrong, or remember wrong.
Either way, unless you drive thousands of miles to the DZ and back, it's absolutely not safer.

Also, the intuition that, after a couple of years in the sport, we all know a few people that died while doing it, while in a whole life we know very few people that die in car accidents (and lot more of my friends drive cars daily on top or instead of skydiving) would seem to confirm this.

People that tell you that driving is more dangerous than skydiving are either full of shit, or implicitly admitting they are VERY BAD drivers.

I'm standing on the edge
With a vision in my head
My body screams release me
My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.