Looking for answers to this

[BFK 0]

My Fiancee and I are putting together our budget and I am trying to figure out how much monthly money I should put toward skydiving. How many jumps a month do you need to make to get really good at this sport?
I'm thinking of budgeting for 15 jumps a month. But I really want to know how many jumps the rest of you are making a month first. I want to be able to instruct AFF and Fly video for tandems one day and I want to know how many monthly jumps I should be making to get good enough to do that.
Though I have over one hundred jumps, it seems that I am not progressing as quick as those people who have less jumps than I have, but who jump more often.
How many jumps do you folks out there make every month? Any suggestions for me in terms of monthly jump numbers I should aim for?
Brad Koch

[lazerq3 0]

Damn dude your doing better than me. Although I'm still going through AFF I've done the same calculating and I'll be doing really good if I can get 4 jumps a month, but then again with AFF prices and rental it'll be tough for now. I figure when I get my own gear(has hell frozen over yet) I'll be doing more!!!
jason

[Jimbo 0]

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My Fiancee and I are putting together our budget and I am trying to figure out how much monthly money I should put toward skydiving. How many jumps a month do you need to make to get really good at this sport?

My personal opinion is that that depends on two things:
* Your 'natural ability'. In this sport as in others, some people just get it while others have to work harder. You'll have to decide which category you fall into.
* Currency. Making more jumps more often can only make you better at this sport. It's called training and is necessary for everyone, even those with a natural tendency towards the sport.

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I'm thinking of budgeting for 15 jumps a month. But I really want to know how many jumps the rest of you are making a month first. I want to be able to instruct AFF and Fly video for tandems one day and I want to know how many monthly jumps I should be making to get good enough to do that.

I'm planning (weather permitting) on making approximately 35 to 40 jumps a month over the summer. That's expensive, I know, but I'm lucky enough to be able to afford it. Hell, what's money if you can't spend it!
It's probably going to be a while before you're ready for AFF. I believe, and I could be wrong, that you need a minimum of 500 jumps before you can even take the course. You shouldn't worry about this for now.
As far as flying video for tandems you'll have to talk with the other camera flyers at your DZ. They can help you with training, equipment, technique, etc...

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Though I have over one hundred jumps, it seems that I am not progressing as quick as those people who have less jumps than I have, but who jump more often.

As mentioned above, it's all about training, and the only way to train is to jump (or spend time in the tunnel). My advice, budget as much as you can afford and jump as often as you can.

[Shananigans 0]

It all depends on your goals. I plan on getting my D license before the end of the summer. Due to that, I spent $500 on skydiving last month. I'm trying to get at least 10 jumps a weekend.
It's all about priorities!! Have you started measuring your dinner bills in jump tickets yet??!! ;-)
Shananigans

[SpeedRacer 1]

Budget? What's that??
Speed Racer
"Blue Skies, Red eyes, Sore thighs!"

[Grogs 0]

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It's probably going to be a while before you're ready for AFF. I believe, and I could be wrong, that you need a minimum of 500 jumps before you can even take the course. You shouldn't worry about this for now.

The 500 figure is for Tandem Instructors. They also have to have at least 3 years in the sport. AFF Instructors have to have 6 hours of freefall time. By my estimates, you could reach that figure with about 350 jumps assuming you were jumping from 14K or so on every jump. For the jumpers from England or Washington State who have to make low level jumps all the time, probably many more than that.

[Stacy 0]

Last summer when I got off of student status at the end of June I was doing about 45-50 a month. I also worked on the DZ which made jumping easier, but I think doing this many really spikes the learning curve. There's so much to learn in this sport that, well, just has to be learned and is hard to teach. Muscle memory techniques are obviously learned more quickly through frequent repetition as well...
Hope this helps...
Stacy
http://astro.temple.edu/~sweeks

[tigra 0]

The number of jumps you make in a weekend certainly goes a long way in improving your skills and helping you stay current. But its not just about quantity, its about quality. Personally, I think I threw a lot of money away on zoo loads where I didn't really learn much, and which were kind of dangerous too.
My advice, don't be too quick to jump on big loads, and don't be afraid to be selective about who you are jumping with. I'm not saying turn into a total skysnob, but its your time and money. You have a goal, you want to improve your flying so that eventually you can teach others, and you can't do that on disorganized zoo loads. Find a few people around your level and jump with them. 3 ways, 4 ways, that kind of thing. Try and commit to 3 or 4 jumps together any given day. You would be amazed at how much you can improve your flying skills when your are consistently flying with the same people and don't try to put too much in the skydive. Also, try and jump with the more experienced jumpers whenever you can. They won't always take the low time jumpers on their loads, but when they do, you can learn a lot and have a lot of fun. Any other jumps you have the time and money for, do what you want. Sitfly, freefly, organize for newbies, anything.
Anyway, its not just about numbers. If you can only make 4 jumps in a weekend, make them count! Last year I made less jumps than I have since I started jumping, maybe 60 when I had been doing between 100-150 in a season. But I had more fun and learned more, too. This season, though, I hope to be back up to my regular pace, which would be around 8 every weekend, maybe 25-30 per month.
Hope that's helpful!
Maura

[BFK 0]

Thanks for the advice. It's funny because I do look at things in jump numbers sometimes. I was going to go whitewater rafting with a bunch of friends, but cancelled when I realized that it cost about 10 jumps tickets for the trip. Same goes for a ski weekend in which I went up to Tahoe, but didn't ski to save money.
I think some of you might be saving money for 6-8 month jump seasons. But being from California (temporarily) I need to save for a 12 month jump season. I can't imagine being able to do 40 jumps a month! That would be great.
Another consideration is that I am combining my money with my Fiancee's, so technically half of the money either of us spend is coming from the other person. She is very cool about skydiving though. I think I could talk her into 20 jumps a month when I own my own gear again (I had to sell my original set to pay a retroactive student loan bill that I had let slide).
On rental gear it will be tough, but I will try and get off rental gear as soon as I can.
I would like to say that I feel very lucky to have met such a wonderful girl that actually likes paying for half of my skydives because it makes me happy. If that aint love, then I don't know what is.
Thanks everyone.
Brad Koch