Should I get coaching for every jump

[LeeChapman 0]

Hi

I am a new jumper, did aff1 last year, but I am off to Elsinore next week to do my "A".

So I have a question related to being off student status. I understand the value in coaching, but should I get coaching for every jump, or have 1 coached jump, and then say 2 solo jumps to work on the skill then get another coached jump to check progress.

Once on solo jumps, (the course is paid for up front, for my 8 levels) I have the money put aside for about 30 coached jumps or over 50 solos. So I am looking to get the most out of my time and also available funds.

Any thoughts please.
Cheers
Lee

[Deisel 35]

Most competent coaches should be able to train you in 1 jump. Not to perfection of course, but to meet the standard. So doing extra jumps in order to train the skill should not be necessary. Once you have completed the training I would recommend continuing to jump with coaches and small RW groups. Doing solo jumps will not allow you to judge things such as fall rate and level adjustments. Get video as much as possible - its a great teaching tool and allows you to see exactly what you are doing up there.

D

The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

[samlee 0]

If you're based in the UK, you'll need your Formation Skydiving (FS1) qualification to jump with others when you get back to the UK. The quickest and easiest way for you to do this is to crack on with 1on1 coaching straight off your Consols (assuming you are doing an AFF course with BPA instructors for a BPA A-Licence). Are you going out with British instructors? Have you spoken with them about coaching?

[LeeChapman 0]

Hi

Thanks for your advice.

I am a bit confused. theres some conflicting info in your post. well probably not but I could be reading it in the wrong context..

I am looking at coaching during the consols and further into progression for FS1. I don't want to blow all my money if I don't need to be coached for every dive. I know it's easier to train stuff wrong if your not being watched and corrected, but can I really go that far wrong on say 2 uncoached dives.

[LeeChapman 0]

Thanks Sam

I will be with a BPA Affi, and yes I will be working towards my FS1.

But coaching for every dive. Yes or No in your opinion.

As to speaking to the instructor. It's in his financial best interest to sell me coaching, so an unbiased opinion is what I am looking for.

Cheers
Lee

[Joellercoaster 6]

If you can afford it and have a coach handy, and the coach is good, then sure.

You might want to do some solos to just hang out and enjoy this crazy new thing you're doing now, but in terms of progression, then coaching is always better than no coaching.

Not all good coaching is expensive, and not all expensive coaching is good. But on balance, it's worthwhile.

--
"I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan

"You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

[dthames 0]

I was cleared for solo practice but advised to not do too many solo jumps because I might be developing bad habits that would have to be un-learned.

I think I did about 3 coached jumps per each 1 solo that I did, while I was a student. There were times I just wanted to practice something simple or to be free of performance pressure. But I wanted to get my license and the coaches had to sign off on the things that I needed to learn.

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

[riggerrob 558]

dthames

I was cleared for solo practice but advised to not do too many solo jumps because I might be developing bad habits that would have to be un-learned.

I think I did about 3 coached jumps per each 1 solo that I did, while I was a student. There were times I just wanted to practice something simple or to be free of performance pressure. But I wanted to get my license and the coaches had to sign off on the things that I needed to learn.

...............................................................................

Good plan.
Before your first jump - at a new DZ - ask a local coach or load organizer to brief you on local manifest, loading, seat-belts, exit order, traffic patterns, weather, etc.
Maybe ask a local coach or load organizer to accompany you in the airplane. Once you exit, their training value diminishes rapidly. Don't worry about paying staff load-organizers because they are paid by the airplane owner to keep the airplane turning and keep the injury rate low. If you still want to express your graffitied to coaches and load organizers, a sandwich or cool drink - in the middle of a busy day - is worth ten beers in the evening.
Once you understand local traffic patterns, do 2 to 5 solos to get comfortable in the air again.
Once you are relaxed in the air, do a series of coach dives to until you complete the free fall tasks for your "A" license. A good coach will also brief you on new canopy tasks and critique your landings. The best landing de-briefs include video shot by a videographer standing on the LZ.
Which brings me to another point, a coach does not have to jump with you every time because sometimes video is a more valuable de-brief. Sometimes the student/coached is better at critiquing his own left arm position (on video).

My point is that you need a high-low mix of coach dives. Definitely jump with a coach when learning a new skill, but once you have mastered the basics, it may be enough to de-brief the video with your coach. Sometimes, (e.g. landings) the best video is shot by a videographer standing firmly on the ground.

[LeeChapman 0]

Ok so lets take this on a slightly different track.

Tunnel time V coached jump.

my feelings say use the tunnel to perfect the skill somewhat, then get a coached jump to sign off the card.

I would like to do 10 minutes per day in the tunnel, along with 1 coached to 1 no coached jump.

Do you think that may be a better use of resources?

[Joellercoaster 6]

That sounds pretty good. Especially if you take the same coach jumping and in the tunnel.

[edit: It's possible to over-think this stuff though. These early jumps are important, but you're going to make a lot more in your life. Skydive ]

--
"I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan

"You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

[nigel99 143]

LeeChapman

Hi

I am a new jumper, did aff1 last year, but I am off to Elsinore next week to do my "A".

So I have a question related to being off student status. I understand the value in coaching, but should I get coaching for every jump, or have 1 coached jump, and then say 2 solo jumps to work on the skill then get another coached jump to check progress.

Once on solo jumps, (the course is paid for up front, for my 8 levels) I have the money put aside for about 30 coached jumps or over 50 solos. So I am looking to get the most out of my time and also available funds.

Any thoughts please.
Cheers
Lee

I don't know Elsinore specifically, but when I was jumping in the US (Skydive the Farm) there were a fair amount of up-jumpers who were very happy to do 3 or 4 way jumps with novices just for the fun of helping.

Far more value can be got from those jumps than solos. US allows you onto FS jumps as soon as you have your A. As someone else mentioned, getting camera is invaluable. As a suggestion if you find another 1 or 2 lower jump number people, your coach might be willing to jump camera and engineer a dive and you can split the coach fee costs between those of you on the jump

Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

[DSE 3]

are you coming over with an Expedition? Coming through on your own?

If you're not with an exped, I'd suggest grabbing Barry and asking him for his ideas. He's there on site, you're there on-site, get information from someone you can talk to, who can evaluate your logbook and you, your flying, and give you feedback based on his thousands of jumps vs gathering info from unknowns on the internet.

He's a great guy, and he very much likes dark beers.