What sport helped dev. skydiving skills most:

[RichM 0]

Physically:
I've been a trampolinist for closing on 15 years (prior to that a gymnast and board diver) and it has helped me immensely. When I started AFF I had no problems with not being in contact with the ground and no problems with orientation being very used to rotating and spinning at the same time - I have a very well developed air sense - I always know which way up I am. It also taught me to use my body shape and position to affect the moves while in the air (long shape=slow rotation, tuck it tight and it speeds up dramatically, etc). It took me a year to pass AFF because I couldn't get to the DZ but I never failed a level.

Mentally:
6 years of Kendo and Iaido gave me mental discipline. Most of the sports I've done (the 3 mentioned about, horse riding, motorbike riding and racing, kayaking, some climbing) have been adrenaline sports where fear is the only real inhibitor to progressing, and so I have become used to forging ahead anyway despite any fear I feel.

Rich M

[blueshrew 0]

Literally everyone I've seen get good fast in freeflying of freestyle had a gymnastics/acrobatic background.
This guy who is an acrobat was doing perfect standups right off level 7.
I guess that gives you more body awareness than other sports.

[freebird 0]

I used to teach step aerobics full time, now I just sub. I used to roller blade more.

I have always ran. Im now starting to enter races. I enjoy the competitive aspect to running and the dash to the finish line. I will be in the Houston Fine Arts race on Feb. 1. Hope to come in at least 3rd in my gender group . Its only a 5k. So I will be sprinting?

Although I like this running sport.

Skydiving is by far the BEST. It puts a much bigger smile on my face at the end of the day.

[goose491 0]

Of all the sports I've participated in, the one that reminds me most of skydiving is the Pole Vault. Well at least in terms of the people doing it... To a normal person, a pole vaulter is just a little off-centre or a little on the crazy side. The sport is competitive but I've never jumped against anyone who wasn't thrilled to have met me and jumped with me. The crowd is a tight-nit community-styled group and everyones in competing more with themselves than anyone else. (My highest was 4.15 meteres)

I've been involved in many different Martial Arts for as long as I remember.

I was never a big team-sport buff but played Rugby thruought High school and LOVED it! (Fly/Scrum half - I know that's a bit of an odd combo)

Edit: Oh and I ski and snowboard...


Good thread!

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[FLsurfer 0]

I played football from jr high thru high school, db & wr, have been surfing since 10, waist high waves to double overhead + in size, raced motoX a few years and loved jumping off bridges or into rock quarries that had been filled with water. I think that these have helped in my skydiving, but mentally more so than physically. My hobbies have kept me in pretty good shape, a plus when participating in any high risk sport but they also taught me how to "focus and relax" in high pressure situations. Whether it's making a diving catch, staying calm after a vicious wipeout while monster waves are keeping you pinned down or trying to figure out how you are going to pass the racer in front of you when you get to the next corner. No matter what your hobby is, nothing is better than the buzz you get from being in the zone. That feeling you get when time seems to slow to a crawl and each of your 5 senses are acutely aware is such a rush.

One of my favorite things about skydiving is that, in the air we are all subject to the same factors. It doesn't matter how big, tall, or strong you are. Awesome fliers come in all sizes.

Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

[miked10270 0]

Hi there,

I read the question as which sport has done most to develope skydiving skills in general, not an individuals skydiving skills.

That's why I voted "Other". Namely WAR! OK, maybe that's stretching the definition of "sport", but were it not for the various conflicts in the course of the last 100 years I doubt that we'd be much further forward than the Edwardian balloon jumpers.

Mike D10270

Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable.

Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

[Vallerina 2]

I'm going with the gymnastics/dance that I've done has helped me. I got flexible from that, and I have kept some of that flexibility (and I still do some of the cool stretching exercises I did long ago....) I guess with the flexibility, I can jump alot and not feel too sore (that might be wrong, though.) I do get sore from hard openings and stuff, but not just from jumping.

There's a thin line between Saturday night and Sunday morning

[bobsled92 0]

Wind tunnel/living in "Space Lab" would help.
I did years of open tournament fighting. That only helped me keep me cool with different people at DZs.

_______________________________
If I could be a Super Hero,
I chose to be: "GRANT-A-CLAUS". and work 365 days a Year.
http://www.hangout.no/speednews/

[kallend 1,623]

Flying (especially gliders).

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[riggerrob 558]

Any aerobic sport - be it running, swimming or bicycling - will help keep the mind alert at exit altitude.
Weight training is important for tandem instructors, though frankly, doing chin-ups and push-ups on a regular basis is almost as good.
High adrenaline sports help you learn to control fear.
Aerobic dance helped me earn a PFF instructor's rating.
Yoga helps with flexibility and breathing.
It is easier to teach students who have background in skiing or dance, because they know how to control their feet.
Probably the best sport for pre-skydiving conditioning is martial arts becasue martial arts combine: stretching, muscle, flexibility, coordination, fear and some aerobic conditioning.
The farthest I got was yellow belt in judo.

[lizzieb 0]

gymnastics, diving, and dance have all helped me, mostly with flexibility and kinesthetic sense.

[Zenister 0]

forgot to add lots of rappelling experience that i'm certain helped dealing with freefall...theres nothing like the ground rush from an inverted trust fall to wake you up in the morning...

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[JohnnyD 0]

Power drinking - duh!

[ladyskydiver 0]

I spent 4 years studying Uechi Ryu Karate and still practice it although not at a dojo. I, also, do yoga, aerobics, weight lifting, and motorcycle riding. Hopefully, all of these things will help me with developing my skydiving abilities and probably do help to some extent already.

Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile.

[jlmiracle 7]

I was a diver in high school and I think that has helped me out.


Judy

Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

[Schroeder 0]

For me, it's was streetluging. The effect of subtle body movements and using the wind to my advantage got me right in when it came to controlling myself in FF

[relyon 0]

I got into skydiving via aviation. I'd been a pilot for years and had bought a plane, flown it, sold it, and then regretted selling it. I started looking for other things to do with no intention of taking anything up. Tried aerobatics, gyrocopters, helicopters ... hmmm ... skydiving .. that could be fun ... In hindsight it's no surprise I became a CRWdog.

I'm somewhat uncoordinated and it generally takes me longer than most to develop enough muscle memory to overcome it when learning a new trick. I was never really athletic or very physically fit until I started jumping and doing CRW. I spent a lot of my childhood bench warming and never really felt part of anything. All that changed when I got into competition CRW, so I guess one could say skydiving helped me develop a sport.

Bob

[skygirlpc 0]

The "sport" that has helped me the most is dance.

I also participated in softball forever.

Danielle

[SpeedRacer 1]

12-ounce curls.

Speed Racer
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[homer 0]

I'm to lazy to skim through 3 pages of posts but has anybody mentioned beer drinking and freakish sex? I mean these thinks help you get ready for the big boogies.

CSA #699 Muff #3804

[sarge 0]

Well, I'm verrrry excited about the data accumulated thus far. I am way to FROZEN and way too buzzed to comment otherwise at this time. I have some wings and a few beers yet to kill off before I crash.

CU-bye
.

--
I'm done with the personally meaningful and philosophical sigs!!

[sarge 0]

OK, so I see a lot of new people around here and I am still interested in collecting data on this subject.... so

Thanks

.

--
I'm done with the personally meaningful and philosophical sigs!!

[smiles 0]

from a different perspective...
In 1987 my first jump was tandem-
I had absolutely no idea about flight- had not watched any video- had no visualization in my head what the experience would be like- except for a still pic of tandem with passenger smiling.

I had never felt fear to the extent I did on that jump in my life....I was stunned, in shock and left d.z. very quitely...it took weeks to piece the jump together and try to squeeze recall of each second...
I could recall the exhilerating feeling in freefall stable, the opening and flying under canopy was so drastically peaceful in comparison to freefall-- as I could not recall the launch I was so intrigued to head back and try this sport again. I completed my training back then with static line progression because my desire was to experience that tandem again.
Learning to fly has not been easy for me and no sport has helped me develop my skills....as a child I do not even recall pretending to fly or dreaming of flying....although I did jump off my front porch with an umbrella open over my head!!

I feel that what has helped me develop the most is understanding "the merging of action and awareness" and my mental attitude towards it....along with the fact that thought destroys flow.

example:
A tennis player who is intensely aware of the ball, and hitting it, does not reflect on the act of awareness....They are not bothered by thoughts such as: am I doing well, or did anyone see that shot?...once the second is split by thought it destroys the flow....the player has perceived their action from the outside....and flow halts.

The clarity of response that I receive while skydiving offers fast and direct feedback. There is no sense of myself in the period of flow, but merging of action and awareness.
My body receives the sense of ecstasy associated with the most intense moments of flow....

My skydiving developed when action and reaction became so well practised it was automatic/ I was able to leave the aircraft and fly....without thought of how to do it.

Smiles

[skybeergodd 0]

The sport that got me into skydiving and helped develop my skills would have to be beer drinking and bar hopping
I got the idea to start skydiving while talking with friends at a bar and have been given an incredible amount of great advice while sitting in a bar after a good day of jumping.

My only chance at Olympic gold is to make beer guzzling a reconized olympic event.

[wmw999 2,122]

I'd have to say that skydiving helped develop those skills. Really. I was only 20 when I started, and I've never been particularly athletic. Active, yes, but not athletic.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)