Losing arch on 4th and 5th jump ??

[skyflower_bloom 0]

My past two jumps have not been great for stability and position. I had a great arch down according to my instructors on my early few jumps, and then somehow I lost it, as my 4th jump last weekend, I was rigid and could feel myself tense up and lose stability a few times, when I would try to move my left hand and use my right hand to touch my handle.

Then yesterday, on my 5th jump, I didn't have that feeling of being stable and then going unstable momentarily and then back again, as on my 4th; I actually just didn't feel stable at all, the whole time, it just felt off. My instructor confirmed that my body position was not good the whole time (this was the trial release jump but I was never in good enough arch to be released). I am assuming a lot of it is psychological somehow, most of this sport is :)

But I can't physically FEEL a big difference that I can tell between how my body was when I was told I had a good arch to when it was nonexistent which irritates me (not irritated at anyone, just at myself that I couldn't feel it more obviously or correct for it). I do have tunnel time scheduled in early June, and due to a minor injury won't be able to jump again before- do you think this will help me get my find my lost arch? ;) My instructor also advised me to visualize and practice it on the ground as much as possible which I have been doing today and plan to continue.. anyone know what could cause a student to naturally have a good arch then lose it, or have other training tips or techniques I can use to help me get the proper arch back??

I am tall (5'9" or a bit taller) and slender (130 lb) with an athletic body, so I guess this is what they call "potato chipping?" My instructor says that my pelvis was flat to reverse of arch yesterday- not good. It's just hard to tell in the air I guess- on the ground you don't have time limits and you can feel your pelvis pushing into the ground..

I know I need to build muscle memory, and relax, but am just a bit frustrated and confused that I thought I had the basic arch down and now I lost it

Any ideas? Thanks so much in advance, blue skies all!!

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Gandhi

[nickfrey 0]

Relax and remember to breath and smile... The arch will follow.

[trig78 0]

It still happens to me sometimes that i lose arch for a moment and i have to remind myself: hips down, legs closer together....
In the beginning it's kinda hard to focus on few things at the same time especially if you are trying to do something else at the same time, like barrel roll, or backflips....
Most of us tend to keep legs to wide apart and that makes it harder to push the hips down.
My favorite exercise for a proper arch is to face the wall foot away from it, keep feet shoulder apart and touch the wall with the belly button.
I like to visualize everything, a lot. Go through a whole jump in your head....many times.
It will all fall in to place soon.
Blue skies

facebook.com/trig78

[emmiwy 0]

Quote

My past two jumps have not been great for stability and position. I had a great arch down according to my instructors on my early few jumps, and then somehow I lost it, as my 4th jump last weekend, I was rigid and could feel myself tense up and lose stability a few times, when I would try to move my left hand and use my right hand to touch my handle.

Then yesterday, on my 5th jump, I didn't have that feeling of being stable and then going unstable momentarily and then back again, as on my 4th; I actually just didn't feel stable at all, the whole time, it just felt off. My instructor confirmed that my body position was not good the whole time (this was the trial release jump but I was never in good enough arch to be released). I am assuming a lot of it is psychological somehow, most of this sport is :)

But I can't physically FEEL a big difference that I can tell between how my body was when I was told I had a good arch to when it was nonexistent which irritates me (not irritated at anyone, just at myself that I couldn't feel it more obviously or correct for it). I do have tunnel time scheduled in early June, and due to a minor injury won't be able to jump again before- do you think this will help me get my find my lost arch? ;) My instructor also advised me to visualize and practice it on the ground as much as possible which I have been doing today and plan to continue.. anyone know what could cause a student to naturally have a good arch then lose it, or have other training tips or techniques I can use to help me get the proper arch back??

I am tall (5'9" or a bit taller) and slender (130 lb) with an athletic body, so I guess this is what they call "potato chipping?" My instructor says that my pelvis was flat to reverse of arch yesterday- not good. It's just hard to tell in the air I guess- on the ground you don't have time limits and you can feel your pelvis pushing into the ground..

I know I need to build muscle memory, and relax, but am just a bit frustrated and confused that I thought I had the basic arch down and now I lost it

Any ideas? Thanks so much in advance, blue skies all!!

I think you're halfway there by realizing what may be wrong with your body position. At least you are cognizant of how your body is in freefall so don't feel discouraged! At this point, building muscle memory is the primary lesson we learn as new skydivers, so nothing more than jumping more or some time in the tunnel won't remedy. While it is easy to want to relax into the wind and just fly, maintaining positive pressure with the right muscles is what keeps you stable.

What one of my AFF instructors taught me that I found very helpful when thinking about body position is not to just limit yourself to thinking about the arch. There are three major components to stable body position in the air: check (1) arms, (2) hips and (3) legs. Be positive with all three, you don't want to be overly rigid as you have already noticed, but you also do not want to let the air push you around :)

Your instructor should give you the clearest idea of what you are doing wrong. If he said its just your hips that are too flat, then visualize an exaggerated arch for next time. Otherwise he will give you the appropriate signals to help you correct your body position to maintain stability, so trust that. Good luck!

[GLIDEANGLE 1]

1. Smile, breathe, relax, (trite, but SO true).

2. You may have heard the term "arch hard". I find this term unhelpful, as "hard" leads to "rigid". I prefer to think of "arch deeply". Think of being a chocolate bar melting on a hot day… ooze into position.

3. An exercise that helps with both stretching and relaxing into an arch is this: Lie on belly on floor, put hands on floor in front of shoulders (as if preparing to do a push-up), push upperbody off floor (like a push-up) WHILE LEAVING YOUR PELVIS ON THE FLOOR! To do this requires RELAXATION. The only muscles in your torso that should be tight might be those in your butt.

4. Smile, breathe relax!!!

The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

Glideangle said almost the exact same thing in This Thread on potato chipping.

My favorite post in the thread is the one the link goes directly to. The "conversation" between Luke and Obi-Wan.

"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

[rehmwa 2]

What signals are you getting during the dive from your instructors?

Normally, in the tunnel I give 3 signals to just about everybody new at one time or the other - and in this order:

1 - knees closer together (the hip joint can't arch well if the knees are spread too much - happens more to women than men, I don't know why) - shoulder width is ok as a max spread
2 - arch
3 - chin up

then "relax"

I had one student that just refused to close the knees - he was an expert at potato chipping. We'd (my coaches) would walk around and FORCE his knees together - he'd then be able to arch and smooth out - the second he felt slightly uncomfortable - BAM wide legs and he was all over the place. I spent a lot of tunnel time trying to break his habit. He's better now, but has to stay on it for a while until it becomes second nature.

I don't know if this is your problem - again, what signals and advice are you getting from your instructors is most important

you might just be trying too hard - take a deep breath, smile, exhale calmly and reset your body. But really, you should be getting very simple and specific body adjustment hand signals by Cat C. Should be quick, and you should be let go to LEARN. It's not hard, it's just getting the brain comfy in the environment so learning can take place with less stress.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[andyvaughn 0]

I'm brand new too, so take this with a grain of salt. I too went rigid on my first release dive, and did the 360 flat spin that is so much fun . I did 10 minutes in the tunnel which helped me correct that. Another thing that helped me, (I'm very much a visual learner) was watching AFF videos on youtube/here. Watching students on level 6 and 7, doing barrel rolls and front/back loops made me realize that the relative air actually is a cushion. I can now feel myself fall back into it when I do flips, but it also helped me to SEE it. It's kinda like falling onto a thick down mattress. And I can always hear my instructors voice if I'm wobbly, "A good arch fixes everything".
At my DZ this weekend I was listening to an instructor who was working with a young man who was repeating level 3 - he was also going rigid on his release dive. This instuctor was so great about understanding how out of alignment we are as students, it's a very new, overwhelming enviornment, and not to put huge pressure on ourselves to get to point Z when we still are tying to understand point B. But, my experience is, in skydiving and in life, that we often make deductive leaps, somewhere along the line - we begin to make reason out of the unreasonable, and can't even remember why we couldn't do it in the first place. I heard a quote once, and I'm paraphrasing, but it says "many who fail never realized how close they were to success when they quit". You may be just one jump away from that deductive leap, never give up! - Andrea

[skyflower_bloom 0]

Thanks so much all.. I am an overthinker in general, so I definitely need to not TRY so much..

SIGNALS:
I also am getting specific hand signals, yes.. with legs these have varied, at 2nd jump I got a lot of push legs down ("peace sign") signal, then 3rd jump I had much more leg awareness and pushed down, almost too much, so then they taught me the sign for "bend knees/legs UP" a bit more, so then I think I got stuck there, after trying so hard to NOT let the wind push me legs UP too much, now they are too flat/down. But obviously legs follow pelvis, so if I can get my hips and torso arch right, I think the legs would follow more easily perhaps. No leg signals past few jumps though.

So yeah- The signals I have been getting most on my past couple jumps are the "thumb down" (hips down) and the arch and relax signals.

This jump, I also got a shake on exit (arch/relax-whole body), and this one is the jump on which I had no arch to speak of.. so I do think I was over-thinking the possibility of being released, and since the prior jump I had gone unstable and corrected a few times maybe I was nervous because I sorta set up the mental self-fulfilling prophecy that my stability and arch were worsening and not improving? It did shake my confidence last weekend when I felt myself going unstable those few times, when up until then I hadn't had that experience.. so I was worried what this weekend would bring, as far as if that was a one time thing or if it would worsen, and maybe psyched myself out..

Also I think psychologically (yes I am psychoanalyzing this lol) it messes with me a wee bit because thumbs down is so ingrained as the opposite of thumbs up/good (bad) that I don't automatically associate it with my pelvis, but that is the main signal I have been needing/getting the past 2 jumps, moreso on this last one. Then to further complicate it, a thumb up actually does mean doing good (in the air) or good luck/let's do it in the plane prior to door/exit.. so it seems weird that they aren't opposite signals.

I haven't gotten the chin/head up signal, but found myself having to remind myself to maintain head up and look at the horizon, where prior I had a jump or two where it came more naturally.. I think I am just starting to overthink again and stress about adding new things in..

KNEES/"POTATO CHIPPING"
An instructor showed me on the ground what my position had been like in the air this last jump.. no issue, as someone mentioned, with me knees being too close or far, so not sure if what I am doing is "potato chipping" or not, I haven't been able to find a definition of that, but it just reminds my of rigidity so I assumed a not-good arch or rigid position does that? Anyhow, my knees are fine, but the biggest problem is the hips pelvis have been flat or even up, so lots of the thumb down signal.

TUNNEL
I'm glad to hear some people say the tunnel was a useful tool, and thanks for the tips for practicing on the ground too! Looking forward to it-- just hoping my ankle will be ok but I can't imagine it would be an issue in nearly 3 weeks' time in a tunnel..

thanks again, blue skies! :)
robyn

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Gandhi