should i continue aff?

[treehugger1978 0]

hi just after some opinions. i started an aff 2 years ago and failed my second jump. i failed cause i got sensory overload when i noticed the view then i completely got mixed up with what i had to do. i dont think it helped only learning the jump then going straight up especially when one of the jump masters was very intimidating. I missed skydiving so i have started the aff again at another club, i breezed the first two jumps but failed my third. they said that i arched so well that it caused me to drop quicker than anyone else they had jumped with. the jump masters had done 6000 and 4000 jumps. so they had to catch up and my stiffness in my arch apparently gave me little strength left in my arms to turn, i thought that you cant arch hard enough and i was worried about rolling over but they said there was no chance of that. it is embarrassing when you fail and you are not sure if you should continue as they seem very negative to you when you fail a jump. should i continue as i love it. the briefing master said next time he wont wear a jump suit with me so he can keep up and i need to learn to relax to have control in the jump and not arch so hard taking into (account you are always told arch hard). thx would love some responses!

[Andy9o8 0]

Quote

I..failed my... jump

Wrong. I've written about a dozen posts to students who say that.
Although each jump is expensive, there's no such thing as a "failed" student jump that you land safely.
An AFF jump is training - it's practice - it is NOT a test. If you have to repeat a training level to learn the skills, that's what practice is all about.
Get your head out of the mindset that the need to PRACTICE a training level more than once is "failure", or you'll set yourself up for needless and unwarranted discouragement.

If your instructors intimidate you or make you think that you "failed" a training jump, then you need to find new instructors or a new DZ.

[Krip 2]

Ditto.

One Jump Wonder

[D22369 0]

what Andy wrote is spot on.

your learning, you will make mistakes, the sensory overload fades the more you jump and it gets easier to relax.

Roy

They say I suffer from insanity.... But I actually enjoy it.

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

I was that guy in AFF. They clocked me at 170+ mph a few times once I learned how to arch. Once I went down to one instructor, only a couple of them would jump with me, no one else was sure they'd be able to catch up with me if they had to save my life.

You can keep going. I did. If you do, you damn well better make sure you're altitude-aware and pull at the correct time. You're just getting a head start in being responsible to save your life. Ultimately you always are, even in AFF.

Later on one of my instructors told me I was "the fastest falling, most altitude aware student I've ever had." One of my goals in this sport is to never have the AAD try to deploy for me. The most important thing you can do on any of your skydives is pull. No matter what else is going on, pay attention to that altimeter and pull when you're supposed to. If you can do that, by all means, keep going.

If you want to learn how to fly your body, do some time in the tunnel. It shouldn't take more than about 20 minutes in there to be flying about as well as you need to in order to get through AFF. Maybe spend another 10 doing practice pulls and some stability exercises (the ones where they have you put one or both hands on your head and then do a 360 degree turn is a lot of fun.) 30 minutes in a tunnel shouldn't cost much more than one AFF jump, so if it saves you just one repeat, it's about paid for itself. Get video, then you can watch yourself improve.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[BIGUN 1,053]

For about ten years now; there have been no levels (AFF Level I, II, III, etc.).
They are now categories (CAT A, B, C, etc.)

Students remain in a category until they pass all the Targeted Learning Objectives and then move on to the next category.

The only way to fail is if you give up and quit.

If you give up and quit you know what happens?
You leave the dropzone with your head hung down and drive away.
When you drive with your head down; you miss the mule on the side of the road.
The mule gets spooked and runs off into the cornfield.
When the mule runs in the cornfield; it gets lost.
When a mule is lost in a cornfield; it shits on the corn.
A farmer harvests the corn and takes it to the local market.
People buy the corn and take it home to eat.
When they take the corn home; they eat the shit while conversing with family members, hence the term "talking shit."
After a dinner; they go to the local bar and have a few drinks; then start talking shit about their skydiving.

The moral of the story is:

Don't be one of those people who goes to the bar and talks shit.

You have any idea how many skydivers were "not great" students but went on to become national, world champions. AFF Instructors, S&TAs, Regional Directors, Wingsuit Instructors? A buttload. You know how many people featured in "Parachutist" magazine answered "Flailer" when asked what type of student they were. Moreso than not.

The moral of the story is:

You know what you call the medical student who was at the bottom of their class?
Doctor.

You now what you call a National Champion who was a less than stellar student?
National Champion

Focus.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[propblast 0]

Andy9o8

Quote

I..failed my... jump

Wrong. I've written about a dozen posts to students who say that.
Although each jump is expensive, there's no such thing as a "failed" student jump that you land safely.
An AFF jump is training - it's practice - it is NOT a test. If you have to repeat a training level to learn the skills, that's what practice is all about.
Get your head out of the mindset that the need to PRACTICE a training level more than once is "failure", or you'll set yourself up for needless and unwarranted discouragement.

If your instructors intimidate you or make you think that you "failed" a training jump, then you need to find new instructors or a new DZ.

This is probably one of the best posts I have seen on this site since the 90s.

Propblast

[faulknerwn 36]

Your jumps don't sound bad at all.. Typical student stuff.. I have just under 10k jumps now - I posted my student logbook online a few years back because it gives people hope. Don't just read the static-line jumps - I become really impressively bad when I move to 10 second delays! The program I did at the time if I had done it all perfectly I could have graduated in 14 jumps. It took me 48! But I figured it out eventually. As I tell my students - as long as I can rely on them to pull and save themselves - everything else is gravy..

http://crwdog.servebeer.com/CRWdog/HowCRW.html

[wicodefly 0]

I had to repeat level 3 three or four times and level 5 once. I was starting to think I'd get the bowling speech. I was too stiff and dropping a leg causing me to spin. It was getting better, but very slowly.

My instructors were AWESOME and just kept working with me until I got stable and was able to move on.

Looking back some tunnel time may have been a good idea for me, but I loved every second of it!

I'm a newbie so please take my advice with a grain of salt. There is so much to learn in this great sport and it takes time, patience, and dedication. Certain things will click after a while as you learn.

Good luck!

Chance favors the prepared mind.

[steveorino 7]

I was ready to quit after about 13 IAD jumps. I SUCKED badly! I was about to call it quits but a buddy said come to his DZ and try AFF. I did and while I sucked less, i was not a natural by any means. Spanky and Pete got through AFF then Bigun and Justin (along with others) taught me how to fly. (this was before coaches -- they paid their slot and paid it forward) I never charged as a coach either (but I do as an AFFI and TI) I know have 3400 jumps and suck just a little bit less. If you like it, DON'T QUIT … persevere!

steveOrino

[DrDom 0]

Failure is not going back.

What you are experiencing is "not meeting a standard", it is different. The bar is set very high on purpose and a LOT of people have repeated steps. Hell, I'm not current and will probably have to repeat a substantial part of my AFF. Honestly, I don't even care. You shouldn't either. Its unnatural to exit an airplane. It's scary. Its a lot to learn and not a lot of time. There is little room for certain errors.

You jumped. You landed. You have stuff to work on. End of story.

You. Did. Not. Fail.

You are not the contents of your wallet.

[treehugger1978 0]

thx guys for the replies, been away to phuket. pity no shydiving clubs there. some of yous have got my confidence back. as an arborist may i say see yous at the top!

[treehugger1978 0]

what is the bowling speech

[dthames 0]

treehugger1978

what is the bowling speech

The bowling speech is when you are told, "You need to get into a different sport. Skydiving is not for everyone. Maybe it is just not something that you need to be doing."

I got the bowling speech. I wanted to fly a wingsuit and I have been doing that for more than a year now :)

Stop skydiving when you no longer want to skydive. It is just that simple.

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

[mjosparky 3]

treehugger1978

what is the bowling speech

After reading through your first post I would say you need to quit making excuses and blaming others for the problems you are having. If you feel you are not ready for the tasks called for on any given jump step up and say so, ask the instructors to go over it again. On the way up clear your mind of everything except what you need to do on this one jump. As was posted before there is no failure just practice. Be more receptive to criticism as there is room for it on every jump all of us make.

On the other hand if it too tough for you, just quit.

Sparkiy

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[Kat4821 0]

I'd like to put in a small comment….

I've been stationed in Japan for the last 3 years on a military tour…Since I have been here in Japan, I found Japanese Judo. If you know anything about martial arts its that Judo is probably one of the more difficult martial arts to be "proficient" at. I stumbled upon the dojo here and the Japanese welcomed me with open arms, little did I know there was a specific reason for it. I speak ZERO Japanese except for the Hello and goodbye.

Judo takes many years to understand how to effectively execute some of the throws that are in the book. In any case, day after day, I would show up only to get thrown around and beat up. I lost a lot of my confidence and got discouraged about a year into it. I started "making excuses" not to show up. Little did I know, that they were getting me ready for a tournament (again, I never understood what they were saying). Once I got over my "pity party", I went back and They showed me the flyer and I called a buddy who spoke fluent Japanese to translate what they were saying.

Long story short, I was the ONLY American there and came in 4th. In my book thats pretty damn good. Had I quit I wouldn't be where I am today. I still have a VERY VERY long way to go, but the moral of my story is to differentiate "Failure" and "setbacks". You haven't failed anything, and while it may be discouraging, it's important to remember that as long as you're having fun while training, thats all that matters… Keep going and keep practicing..

[tristansdad 0]

you only fail if you stop trying......period.