Dissilusioned after AFF1

[psyhunterson 0]

Hi . After a tandem, I decided to try AFF as I really loved skydiving. So I finished ground school and went on AFF1. Everything on air was fine. The chute opening was also perfect and then steering while descending was awesome. Unfortunately, I ended up injured due to my lack of experience in landing. I was taught plf, i was also taught how to flair but when the moment came, I did everything the way i shouldn't. I just remember flairing only when i hit the ground and boy, the impact was strong! I tried to be tight for the impact but i guess i didn't do it right. I injured a knee, an ankle and my lower back, so I had to stay off my work telling everyone lies about the way I got injured (falling off stairs is the most convenient). I think that all I was thinking about, was my free fall perfomance and I wasn't concerned enough for the landing. Big mistake. Afterwards, My instructors told me that I should consider myself lucky to not having anything broken and that landing can be learned in time, but in the hardest part, which was my free fall behavior, I was almost perfect. However, after my personal ordeal, I'm so dissapointed. Is learning to land smoothly so difficult? Will I have to suffer more injuries to gain the so called experience? God I love this sport so much, yet the shock of my injury was so great that I started wondering whether it's worth it in the event of being injured again... the weird thing is, that now i'm really scared of landings while I feel no fear at all when I'm about to jump off the plane.

Do you thing I should better try Static line jumps for the canopy learning and then proceed with AFF?

Any advice, or opinion is welcome. thanks in advance

p.s. Skydiving isn't easy AT ALL.

Human mind is a parachute. It works when it is open..

[Andy_Copland 0]

Stop beating yourself up. Its skydiving and you just done something very cool to jump by yourself. Landing parachutes is something that takes time and people biff in all the time learning.

If you have video, watch the video with your instructors and have a chat about it. And stop being hard on yourself. Took me 11 jumps to even stand one up.

1338

People aint made of nothin' but water and shit.

Until morale improves, the beatings will continue.

[Redline165 0]

I dont think that static line jumps would really help unless you completly wanted to skip the freefall. once you do another jump or so, you will start to realize that in comparison to most up-jumpers, you have alot of canopy time as an AFF student. i know that sensory overload is probably still wide open during canopy flight (reason i say probably is because i was so pumped that i really don't remember many details about the first one... haha)

I'm glad you made it out okay, but the purpose of a PLF is to keep from breaking bones and getting seriously injured so from your description it sounds like it did its job. there never pretty but imagine what would have happened if you tried to stick your arm out to stop your fall? either way depending on the situation you will be sore and banged up for a few days. Ive had one rough landing after a little bit of wind chance, no experience, and a stupid decision, but i got up, dusted myself off, got packed and jumped again that day. the next day i felt like a train wreck but i was good to go for the next weekend of jumping.

Have a talk with your instructor about it, im sure they will tell you that no one stands up every landing, and no one ever will, and that you shouldn't get discouraged from it. I was taught to not look straight down at the ground and to start flaring right about when you can kick someone in the head. you will start to get the feel for it, IMO once you get it once or twice, (especially on bigger canopies) you will learn the sweet spot and go from there. What i did/do alot of is watching other people. i'm jumping a slightly wingloaded canopy now and its a different ball game to land it, ive talked with some people about it, but ive learned the most from just watching experienced jumpers come in and land.

But again, i'm still a low timer, Please talk with your instructor about it. id hate to see someone give up over one bad landing, if that were the case all of us would be very bored on weekends :D

[Genn 0]

Perhaps you can try radio assistance and a larger student canopy if available at your DZ.

Landing is the hardest part. The rest is just fluff.

[grannyinthesky 0]

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I was taught plf, i was also taught how to flair but when the moment came, I did everything the way i shouldn't. I just remember flairing only when i hit the ground and boy, the impact was strong!

You could be describing my first jump. It sure wasn't pretty. I definitely learned that you have to flare BEFORE you hit the ground. As others said, don't beat yourself up. I bet next time you remember to flare. lol You are still here, banged up a bit, but basically ok. I have 197 jumps now, so you can tell, it didn't discourage me. Talk to your instructors and then make that next jump.

"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

[peregrinerose 0]

You didn't do what you were taught to do and got hurt, so guess you learned first hand why we beat PLFs into your head, eh?

Give yourself a break... did you ride a bike flawlessly 2 seconds after you got on the thing for the first time? Have you ever learned any new skill perfectly in one try? Probably not. So why would you expect the new skill of landing a parachute/skydiving to be any different?

Review the video if available. Talk with your instructors to pinpoint exactly what you did wrong and probable reasons why. Once your body is up for it, practice PLFs until it is habit, until you can PLF in your sleep, until you can sprain your ankle walking across a floor and as you are falling you instinctively PLF to avoid hurting anything else (yeah, I did that once). PLFs will save your hide and prevent future injuries. Once PLFs are your instinct, landings will be much easier.

You have two choices.... give up, or understand that you are human, and humans need practice to get anything right. Whatever, it's up to you. If you're a quitter and don't want to learn, then skydiving isn't for you anyway. If you have a lot of humility, plasticity, and hunger for knowledge you will do well in this sport.

Getting hurt/killed is a possibility every time you get out of the plane. I'm sorry you had to be smacked with that reality on your first jump, but it is reality.

Whatever you decide to do, heal fast, keep us posted, and RELAX!!!!

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[fasted3 0]

I was mostly thinking about freefall just like you, (I think.) Busted my ass just like you. It hurts, huh? I was determined to never hurt myself again, and I haven't. You can do it too, if you want to. My landings are mostly pretty good now, but if they are not I rely on my Jedi skills at PLF, which I finely honed on 100 bad landings. If you concentrate on not getting hurt, (think falling off a skateboard,) you can make a really ugly landing and walk away from it. Just call those good landings and you have it made.

But what do I know?

[BIGUN 1,053]

All good, comments, suggestions and advice - including your own.
If you feel like doing a couple of Static lines so you can focus strictly on canopy control and landings, why not?
All jumps count.
You may also consider another tandem where the Tandem Instructor can help you tweak your landings... in-flight downwind, base & final, where to keep your eyes, how to feel the flare, etc.
Good luck and stay away from those stairs... I swear, there's more skydivers getting injured on stairs these days. sheesh.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[Rover 9]

Every landing was like that when you learnt on roundies....

2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

[peregrinerose 0]

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All good, comments, suggestions and advice - including your own.
If you feel like doing a couple of Static lines so you can focus strictly on canopy control and landings, why not?
All jumps count.
You may also consider another tandem where the Tandem Instructor can help you tweak your landings... in-flight downwind, base & final, where to keep your eyes, how to feel the flare, etc.
Good luck and stay away from those stairs... I swear, there's more skydivers getting injured on stairs these days. sheesh.

I disagree with the tandem thing... tandem would help if it was a landing pattern issue, but flaring a tandem and flaring a sport rig are different, so it won't help much with flare. Tandem landings are usually stand up or butt slide, and if butt slide, that's going to teach bad habits for sport jumping. The issue here was lack of flare and lack of PLF, neither of which a tandem will address.

A tandem might be a good idea to address the nerves, but won't solve the problems that caused the injuries.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[BUBLHED 0]

Yes PAIN will make you think twice about your choices, but you have made a choice to skydive. DON'T let it beat you!!

My suggestion is to get yourself a ladder, stand on it with your feet at about 12 feet high. Look around visualize coming in for landing, what does this height look like? How is your relationship to distant objects? Develope a general sight picture of this height and distance to the ground. Yes it will be slightly differant everywhere you jump but it should give you a good starting point.

As for PLF's from same ladder over soft grass practice first from 2' then from 4' then from 6' if you can learn to PLF from 6' you shouldn't have to worry about it anymore. Remember as a kid jumping out of the swings at full speed and as high as you could get? How did you land? Basically as kids we instintively did good PLF's without even thinking about it. You can do it just relax and practice your PLF's.

You'll get it if you don't give up. BSBD

ATTACK LIFE ! IT'S GOING TO KILL YOU ANYWAY!!!!

[BIGUN 1,053]

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tandem would help if it was a landing pattern issue, but flaring a tandem and flaring a sport rig are different, so it won't help much with flare.

I agree that flaring is different and in some cases very different. I may have phrased it poorly, but the intent was to communicate... setting up for the landing. Glide slope, head and eye placement, etc. Everything before that last inch.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[Chubba 0]

For gods sake beat that PLF into your head.

I got away with soo many butt landings/slides during my student jumps on extremely large PD f1-11 canopies.

Only took me 1 non-PLF on a smaller canopy to realise that this is probably the easiest way to break your back and end up paralyzed.

[erdnarob 1]

Do you consider you have had enough training for landing procedures or you just didn't follow anything you have learned ? What about the radio use for your first jump by yourself ?
Flaring is almost an art. The parachute is relatively fast and the timing for the flare is more or less a question of feeling.
Maybe you should train yourself specifically for it.
Before landing:
1) look at 45 degrees down in front of you because this is where you go.
2) at about 25-20 feet start slowly depressing your toggles progressively
3) If you see the ground coming faster than expected, depress your toggles faster in order to always have the full brakes at 6-12" from the ground.
Training: Get a gym strong elastic with 2 handles. Attach it vertically to have the handles hanging up one feet above your face. Grab the handles and depress them while somebody tells you how high you are with respect to the ground like : 30 feet, 25 feet, 20 feet, 15 feet, 10 feet, 5 feet and contact and these heights are told to you every second or so. At "contact" you have to be full brakes with arm fully extended.
The idea is to educate your brain and create a good coordination.
Skydiving is a fantastic activity. Don't let a bad landing giving you a bad impression. Expect on the next jump to be nervous before landing. But you should have a radio for a couple of jumps and follow the directions from the ground instructor.

Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

[Cari 0]

For my AFF 1, I had a radio and they guided me in. I mean, it's your first time doing something that most people aren't crazy enough to do. I'm kinda surprised that they expected you to be able to judge when to flare when you've never done it before. Them guiding me on that first time really made me better able to judge when to flare on subsequent jumps.

[Chubba 0]

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Expect on the next jump to be nervous before landing.

I sprained my ankle 3 times (among other injuries) during my student jumps, putting me out for weeks or months at a time.

Despite the past 25 jumps being soft standups on my Sabre2 170 it's still the worst part of every single jump for me.

Busting up your lower limbs really impacts every part of your life, it's very nerve wrecking.

[GLIDEANGLE 1]

LUCKY YOU!!!!

You got a low cost lesson to teach you that this is a high risk sport and that YOU have to keep yourself safe. "Low cost?" Yep, no wheelchair for life, no funeral... This sport appears safe when all goes well, but has the very real potential to hurt or kill us on every jump. Some new jumpers don't get this message until it is far too late. You have a head start!

Now that this sport has your attention, take the advice above and be forever vigilant. None of us is so skilled, so smart, or so cool that we are assured to survive our next jump.

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

[psyhunterson 0]

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Every landing was like that when you learnt on roundies....

what do you mean? sorry, english isn't my native language

Human mind is a parachute. It works when it is open..

[psyhunterson 0]

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Do you consider you have had enough training for landing procedures or you just didn't follow anything you have learned ? What about the radio use for your first jump by yourself ?
... you should have a radio for a couple of jumps and follow the directions from the ground instructor.

Thank you all for your advice and all your input in my case. I definately had a training in landing procedures but don't know if it was enough. obviously not. I practiced successful plfs around 10-15 times on the ground and the next day I did the jump.

I did have a radio and followed all the instructions from the ground. I was told that there was a change in wind direction so I should change my pattern. I did what I was told and while I was approaching the ground I remember the instructor telling me to be tight. then I thought I should flair but I hit the ground and got injured.

Later, I asked one of my instructors what went wrong, and he told me that he had the impression that I didn't flair at all. I landed quite far and obviously they couldn't see me well. Then I asked him if he told me on the radio when to flair 'cause I don't remember hearing "FLAIR!". He said he did tell me to flair. I don't know what happened. Seems that radio didn't help much in my case

It's the first time I discuss my injury as I didn't feel so far, like discussing it especially with people that have never jumped off a plane. They don't understand. I think that I look ridiculous for jumping and getting injured. People think that whoever does skydiving kinda asks for it to get injured or die. During the first week after me getting hurt and as I couldn't walk at all I thought that skydiving was over for me. Now that I'm getting better, all I think is how I could do this again the wright way. It's gonna take a while until I fully recover but I might try it again in summer time. I had an issue with the cold too, as I didn't feel my hands when I landed.

I guess time will tell. I hope i try it again when I'll be more ready for it and without injury as I can't afford it due to work related issues...

Human mind is a parachute. It works when it is open..

[mnealtx 0]

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Every landing was like that when you learnt on roundies....

what do you mean? sorry, english isn't my native language

Roundies - round parachutes like the Airborne troops use.

Higher descent rate, so you HAVE to plf when you land.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[SuperNerd1988 0]

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Then I asked him if he told me on the radio when to flair 'cause I don't remember hearing "FLAIR!". He said he did tell me to flair. I don't know what happened. Seems that radio didn't help much in my case

It was probably sensory overload and you just missed it. There is a lot to think about and it doesn't help that you have a planet coming up at you. When you feel up to jumping again, just try to relax and listen for your radio instructions. Stay aware, though, ground instructors can make mistakes and it is ultimately up to you to get yourself down safely. Hope the next one goes better for you.

There's a risk to skydiving that is not always mentioned; the risk of becoming addicted to it.

[Tuna-Salad 0]

Don't stress so much about it. People with thousands of jumps still have hard landings at times. I will give no advice on what to do or what not to do as I am not an instructor. Just brush off the dust and do it again. If I have learned anything from skydiving that is.. don't over think your objectives.

Millions of my potential children died on your daughters' face last night.

[Tuna-Salad 0]

Oh and something else...

"so I had to stay off my work telling everyone lies about the way I got injured (falling off stairs is the most convenient)"

Unless you think you are going to be canned for skydiving.. Don't lie about it. You should be proud you took a risk so many others are not willing to take. Don't advertise it, but be proud of your accomplishment.

Millions of my potential children died on your daughters' face last night.

[christelsabine 1]

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Oh and something else...

"so I had to stay off my work telling everyone lies about the way I got injured (falling off stairs is the most convenient)"

Unless you think you are going to be canned for skydiving.. Don't lie about it. You should be proud you took a risk so many others are not willing to take. Don't advertise it, but be proud of your accomplishment.

Nonsense. Job and skydiving do not always work together. Sometimes, it's really much better to conceil your passion - job comes first. "Falling off stairs" could be the better explanation.

dudeist skydiver # 3105

[erdnarob 1]

Don't give up, beginning in skydiving can be hard but I am sure one day you will be more confident and successful at landing. Some people are good at landing and very unstable in freefall. Think positive, you are good in freefall then try to find out what is not working for landing.
Some questions:
* What kind of canopy (make,model,size) are you jumping ?
* What is you weight ?
* What kind of ground are you landing on (grass, sand, crushed stone...)?
* what is the elevation of the landing site with respect to sea level ?
* Do you have a tendency to break bones easily?
* Are you doing any sort of physical conditioning especially for the legs like jogging, bicycling...?
I really want to try helping you but I need some data.

Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.