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shoeless_wonder

Jumped Cat-C1 Today

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About a month ago, I started skydiving. I had been hanging around the DZ with a friend who jumps, but my budget wasn't allowing me to at the time. I finally got my affairs in order and started my AFF classes. 1st 2 jumps went well. (Though I lost my shoe on my first jump) But than the weather went bad and I couldn't jump for a few weeks. Well today the weather was nice and I had the day off, so I hit up the wind tunnel this morning for some much needed practice (since I was going to do my Cat C, I figured I should work on my body position as much as possible before I went up). I felt that helped a lot on my jump today. My exit wasn't that great-I kind of launched myself out the door:P. But over all it went well. I had a bit of in issue with wobbling/osculating in free fall (my instructor called it chipping?). It wasn't bad, but it sure was annoying. Was wondering how I can prevent that? I was able to stop it after a bit, but I have no idea how I was able to do that.

All-in-all, it was a good jump and I was cleared to cat c2. I just cant get enough of it! Hopefully the weather holds out for a bit longer this year.
What is the point of life, if you don't live it?
To escape fear, you have to go through it, not around.

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I had a bit of in issue with wobbling/osculating in free fall (my instructor called it chipping?). It wasn't bad, but it sure was annoying. Was wondering how I can prevent that?



Generic answer - relax. The wind is not perfectly smooth, so your arms and legs need to be able to 'absorb' some of the 'bumps', or you get bounced around a little.

More specific answer - ask your instructor just to be sure there wasn't some other factor at play.

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Generally, yeah, relax. Sounds like you haven't actually jumped out of an airplane enough to relax yet. So when you do relax and flow so much better because of it you'll be all like "Oh! So that's what they were talking about!"

Funnily enough I usually tense up more in the wind tunnel than in the air. You can see that chipping on a lot of my youtube tunnel videos, including recent ones. A few months back I went in there with no objectives and as soon as I hit the air I relaxed almost to the point of being floppy. My flying was AWESOME that day, and I actually bought another 10 minutes after the first session because I was enjoying myself so much. Next time I went in there, I was listening to an instructor again and I'm all stiff once more. Like a freaking bread stick [:/]

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

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I was talking to my friend this evening and he said the same thing-relax. That hasn't really been an issue for me up until now, i think it was just my excitement and the fact that they let go of me this jump that I was a little more tense than normal.

As far as me not having jumped out of airplanes, it wasn't that-I am in the army with many static line jumps. So the thought of me jumping from a perfectly good airplane isn't that new to me. I think it was just me being a little nervous about them letting go.

I appreciate the advice. I definitely need to work on my legs. Now that I have had some time to really go over the jump in my head, I think that was a factor in it as well. Leg position and relax. :)

What is the point of life, if you don't live it?
To escape fear, you have to go through it, not around.

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Ah, the Potato Chipping problem. I think almost EVERYONE does it once or twice in training.

Arching and the "boxman" position is NOT NATURAL. We don't walk around like that. We could but... that would be weird. Anyhow, we tend as a species to curl forward especially when anxious.

In a fight, our body crunches in and pushes pelvis back to protect our genitals (our evolutionary "currency" if you will). When you jump from a plane, if you just "threw" an average person out with no training they would probably flail and curl foetal. You have to undo this by actively relaxing.

I used to de-arch on exit. I'd get tense and feel my instructor shaking me for a second or two. I thought "OMFG I'M UNSTABLE!" but as soon as I'd relax it was easy.

Best advice is right before exit take a deep breath and imagine EVERY muscle of your body from head to toe relaxing and maintain that out the plane. Then SMILE. I know it sounds stupid but the brain processes smiling to the amygdala (emotion center) and slows it down releasing tension. Smiling is not a fight or flight response, neither is breathing slowly. So you can unravel all that pretty quickly.

If you cant get yourself to relax, go to the tunnel and tell them you want them to put you in for 2 minutes at a time and do NOTHING but hold stable. NOTHING. No turns no flips no docks. Just learn the position. It helps, I did 6 minutes of nothing but floating. Head up, arms in position, legs out, **** to the dirt.

Finally, practice at home. lay on the floor prone, put your feet up on the couch and arms out. Try to look at the ceiling. Do some yoga and running stretches. Most men are not flexible where it helps, so start the stretch.

You'll be ok, a little chipping happens but the single best thing you can do in the moment is recognize it, and then increase your arch, check arms/legs, and breathe. Guarantee you'll stop it. If not I'll buy you a beer.
You are not the contents of your wallet.

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Thanks. I really appreciate the advice from everybody. I will post an update after my next jump and let you all know how it went. I feel confident that I'll put a cap on that problem. Especially after the advice from you all.. Im still a student, am still learning. I appreciate all the advice.
What is the point of life, if you don't live it?
To escape fear, you have to go through it, not around.

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You are overthinking this way too much...you did fine on the jump and this is such a minor issue that you need not worry about it. What we talked about in the debrief will fix it...and it's not that much of a problem, we are just trying to turn you into the best flyer possible. Be careful about soliciting advice on the internet...the one guy with 3 jumps really has no business offering skydiving instruction over the internet....think about it, he has exactly the same number of jumps that you do...what's the chance that he has it all dialed in? So relax, you're doin' fine, we moved you to the next jump, that wouldn't have happened if we were concerned with your performance on this skydive.

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BASE469

You are overthinking this way too much...you did fine on the jump and this is such a minor issue that you need not worry about it. What we talked about in the debrief will fix it...and it's not that much of a problem, we are just trying to turn you into the best flyer possible. Be careful about soliciting advice on the internet...the one guy with 3 jumps really has no business offering skydiving instruction over the internet....think about it, he has exactly the same number of jumps that you do...what's the chance that he has it all dialed in? So relax, you're doin' fine, we moved you to the next jump, that wouldn't have happened if we were concerned with your performance on this skydive.



I assume this is my comment you are responding to. I will not pretend to be dialed in, just trying to be helpful to a fellow student. relaxing has helped me a lot, I hoped to share that is all.

I guess the only advice I'd have is "talk to your instructors" and you can disregard the prior ;)

cheers to the both of you
You are not the contents of your wallet.

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BASE469

You are overthinking this way too much...you did fine on the jump and this is such a minor issue that you need not worry about it. What we talked about in the debrief will fix it...and it's not that much of a problem, we are just trying to turn you into the best flyer possible. Be careful about soliciting advice on the internet...the one guy with 3 jumps really has no business offering skydiving instruction over the internet....think about it, he has exactly the same number of jumps that you do...what's the chance that he has it all dialed in? So relax, you're doin' fine, we moved you to the next jump, that wouldn't have happened if we were concerned with your performance on this skydive.



Yes, you are right. I am over thinking it. The army's made me over analyze things a bit too much. :S Its a bad habit of mine. After I posted this, my friend kind of chewed me out for the same thing-he told me to stop thinking about it, listen to my instructors, arch, relax, and smile (he skydives, so he knew I'd get a kick out of that comment). Skydiving is my greatest stress reliever, so I get irritated with myself when-for example, I dont finish my flair, or I kick my legs out on accident. All is well though, its part of the learning experience. I look forward to my next jump with you guys. B|
What is the point of life, if you don't live it?
To escape fear, you have to go through it, not around.

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