Newbie, not yet licensed, off-season - dealing with fear

[CountZero23 0]

I had the fear something chronic up until jump 20 or so. Was a nervous wreck when that door opened and spent most of the ride on the way up freaking out.

Just after I got my A I spent two days up at the dropzone, after doing 4 jumps on the Friday I was on my second jump on Saturday morning and realized I was just excited to be getting back up there and I'd lost the fear.

Sure, I can still have some nerves on the first jump of the day - but that gut wrenching fear and the certainty something is about to go wrong (like being in a scene from Final Destination) is gone.

Hear the same kind of story from pretty much all the jumpers I've spoken to.

Next time you go jumping try to stay up at the DZ for a couple of days and get as many jumps as possible in

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.

[DrDom 0]

Well, I had the weird experience of doing 6 AFF jumps, each one a decent success (tracking was atrocious, but I digress). I lost most of my fear on jump 6 when I got up, got out... and then the season ended and now 2 years I just lost my nerve again. I feel like if I went back I'd be the same as when I did level 1.

But the desire is strong and a person much wiser than I am reminds me regularly that being afraid is good, but having courage means working through that fear.

Advice? Never stop once you start. Travel if you have to. Make friends, encourage safety, live life to its fullest.

Remember that the reason this happens is psychology. You have fear. You think of the fear. You think of the bad things that can happen. When you're jumping you think of the bad things that happen but ALSO the things that DID NOT happen on your recent jump.

So... I wont say "suck it up" because... well... I haven't yet... but I will say that universally it gets better.

You are not the contents of your wallet.

[Hollywood5581 0]

Some pretty good advice on here. The only thing I can say is that being new to the sport can be rough. But like anywhere in life, new school, new job. Your new and don't know much. But as time goes on you'll eventually make new friends and get to know people. Just be yourself, don't try to be someone your not. Keep showing up and jump. And when all else fails, bring a cooler full of beer at the end of the day. Beer goes a long way in this sport.