AFF Leg position trouble

[chemcat_ 0]

I've been discussing this issue with my instructors but wanted to check and see if anyone else has had similar issues and how they corrected them.

My legs! I cannot seem to hold them shoulder width apart. I am waaaay wide. I am planning on tunnel time on Wednesday to work on it, but it is aggravating to me. I do toe taps in free fall , i practice arching correctly on walls, but something just isnt clicking with that mind/body connection. Today during my AFF level 4 jump debrief my instructor had me do a proper arch on the wall in front of him and then spread my legs as wide as they are in my video. While obviously I can tell the difference in my height or whatever, as far as sensations in my hips/back the two positions don't feel noticeably different. Which is what I believe is causing the issue. (Too much yoga? My hips are too flexible? My lower back doesnt get fatigued by my improper arching technique because who knows?)

Intentional practice in the tunnel with AFF instructors is going to be my go to, but just wanted to check here for some helpful techniques or similar frustrations.

[ajay 1]

I had a similar thing going on during my AFF. My instructor noted that when I was trying to drive forward, I wasnt getting anywhere - footage revealed my legs too far apart and effectively not creating a platform to drive off.

Positive pressure on the shins is a good way to stay aware of your legs. You just need feedback, and for me, that was a game changer.

It did a few things for me: stopped backsliding or breathing in a formation (be it a 2 way or 20way), and kept me driving into the center. It made flying my legs a lot more intuitive (turning, stopping, side sliding etc) and it made me much more aware in tracking - less delta, more flat.

That's just my experience so take it with a grain of salt, but find your feedback and that will unlock it.

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[kat00 11]

If you are progressing and the only issue is wide legs you are doing alright! You can go to the tunnel and fine tune things. You have like 4 mins of flying so far and a lot of that is probably a blur still. Go in the tunnel if you want but body position is something that is a work in progress and you will continually fine tune.

I think one jump I had wide legs then the next was too narrow. There is always something to work on in skydiving even after hundreds of jumps.

[mrubin 0]

Too much yoga is probably not the problem. I started doing yoga to help my skydiving and the body awareness I learned helped a lot, so stick with it. You only have a few minutes of free fall and are hopefully more focused on safely completing your dive than getting the exact body position that you want. More jumps and some time in the tunnel will get you more experience, which will help allow you to expand what you are aware of in free fall. The more experience you have, the less overwhelming all the sensations are and the easier it is to be aware of the smaller things.

For now, stay safe, have fun, relax, and breathe.

"I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

[daffes 4]

might help to think where your feet are instead of where your knees or legs are, there are hand signals for legs too wide, practice responding to it on the ground and your instructor should be able to correct you on the sky. Wide is tempting because it gives you more stability, but makes maneuvering harder.

[JohnMitchell 14]

It's a common problem. You jump out and you're so AMPPED that those legs just fly apart.

I like to put the student on a creeper, put their feet at the right spacing, then have them push the tops of their feet downwards against my supporting hands (I become the "wind beneath their wings"). I do this mostly for correcting the "lazy legs syndrome" so common, but I think it also reinforces correct spacing.

With that said, I often fly too wide myself. If you can hover and get forward motion, you're doing alright.