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Tumas

AFF student

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Hello,

I started my AFF course back in May after thinking about it 6 years after I did my tandem jump. I was always thinking that I'd love to be a skydiver but never managed to save some money for it. I finally got a better job with a good pay so I saved up a little and signed up for a course. I planned to complete my course in 1-2 months. I thought I won't rush it and just enjoy it. Unfortunately 5 months later I'm still struggling with L7. I went to a tunnel twice. I work on some of the weekends and it happens to be a bad weather when I'm not working. I jumped 12 times and failed 6 times. I decided to go to Algarve for 4 days and try to complete it all. Somehow, from a very enthusiastic student I became just meh and I feel maybe it's just not for me. All I can think is that I'm going to fail my L7, i's hard to believe in myself. I thought I would just share my experience as I would love to get involved in sport more, but it seems that the fear of jumping out and failing is so big and that is pushing me away and I can't enjoy. Thanks for reading this.

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Hi Tumas :)

What is the problem with your Level 7? How long were you in the tunnel and were you stable in the tunnel? Then it should work outside as well! :D

Very good that you didn't give up so far :) I'm also very new in the sports and I had big problems in the beginnig. Not so much with the levels themself, more with too much fear. After level 5 I stopped for 3 months because of the fear :( And I thought over and over agai: "maybve skydiving isn't for you" But I tried it again and now I couldn't be happier abt this decision. I just love it and it seems that you love it too! So don't give up you'll regret it probably! :) once you are in solo status it's awesome....

Good luck for you!

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Just keep working with your instructors. Maybe ask for different instructors; people have different learning and teaching styles and perhaps you just have not found the right fit yet.

Those 6 jumps of yours are not failures though. Even if you don't advance to the next level, you're still getting practice in freefall, you're still getting instructor coaching, you're still gaining experience flying your canopy. Try to remember that you still get to throw yourself out of a plane and have fun. Every jump should be fun in some sense. At my taekwondo school the instructor has a saying about belt testing: you can either pass and be promoted, or it's a "no change." I.e , it's not a failure, you're just not ready YET to be promoted. And usually it's in your head, not a lack of skills.
Max Peck
What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

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jungle

Hi Tumas :)

What is the problem with your Level 7? How long were you in the tunnel and were you stable in the tunnel? Then it should work outside as well! :D

Very good that you didn't give up so far :) I'm also very new in the sports and I had big problems in the beginnig. Not so much with the levels themself, more with too much fear. After level 5 I stopped for 3 months because of the fear :( And I thought over and over agai: "maybve skydiving isn't for you" But I tried it again and now I couldn't be happier abt this decision. I just love it and it seems that you love it too! So don't give up you'll regret it probably! :) once you are in solo status it's awesome....

Good luck for you!



Hello,

My instructors say that I need to relax during the free fall. I feel the same, when I relax it becomes easier. I tend to pass a level after a second try. I was in a tunnel for 22 minutes and again I could feel that I'm tensed so when I relax I become stable. It's supposed to be hot and sunny in Algarve next week, looking forward to that.

Thank you ;)

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AtrusBatleth

Just keep working with your instructors. Maybe ask for different instructors; people have different learning and teaching styles and perhaps you just have not found the right fit yet.

Those 6 jumps of yours are not failures though. Even if you don't advance to the next level, you're still getting practice in freefall, you're still getting instructor coaching, you're still gaining experience flying your canopy. Try to remember that you still get to throw yourself out of a plane and have fun. Every jump should be fun in some sense. At my taekwondo school the instructor has a saying about belt testing: you can either pass and be promoted, or it's a "no change." I.e , it's not a failure, you're just not ready YET to be promoted. And usually it's in your head, not a lack of skills.



Hi mate,

Thank you for your message. That's what I've been told as well - it's all in my head. I will try to change the way of thinking about not passing the levels. It's only level 7 that I need to worry, 8 shouldn't be a problem I believe.

Thanks ;)

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Hey Tumas,

I had a lot of problems with my early jumps (not AFF, a different schedule). It took me three times for level 2 and level 3 was only a partial success. It got into my head, and I was more worried about repeating the level and blowing money rather than going out of the plane. It took me a while to get over it.

I was also told to relax in freefall. I was trying to force my arch, force my leg positions, and it was counter productive.

My instructors also quickly corrected my statements that I failed the jump. Having to repeat is not a failure. I had to get to the mindset of not caring if I moved to the next level or not - I just had to say "F" it. That helped. Wind tunnel time helped me too. I had a great instructor that I had fun with in the tunnel. That helped move me to having fun in freefall. I ended up with about 58 minutes of tunnel time by time I was done.

You can get there. Consider going to just hang out at the DZ - a good DZ is fun to be at jump or no jump. Once you have your license, you'll look back at your AFF training in a different light.

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stick with it and get lvl 7 out of the way. Once you are on your console jumps you may realize just how relaxed you can be when you are not under scrutiny, no pressure :)

The best advice I was ever given was to smile. Even if you have to force it, smile. It works wonders...try it.

Good luck. I'll be out in Algarve in November, great DZ.

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I did some AFF jumps and also some ST (static line) jumps early in my student program. I then went to Florida during the winter and expected to knock out the AFF part and be rated for coached jumps. However at some point on my Florida trip I understood that I was not doing well and that repeating a jump several times was very likely going to happened. The idea of repeating a jump with the same results would cause me a lot of internal stress. I knew I could go back home and do SL jumps for $75 each. 2 jumps at $75 each without progressing was something I could endure. I my thinking was that someday it would all work out and I would make progress. I had also read where some others had terrible times learning, but finally got it figured out. That is what worked for me.

Dan
Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

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