stupid beginner question

[mickeyb117 0]

I have only made 2 jumps so far and while I have to say I absolutely love it I hate the initial feeling of my stomach dropping. It only lasts about 10 seconds but im afraid that when I finally make my first solo jump its gonna screw me all up. Is this something to worry about ? Will I just get used to it the more I jump ?

[Backintothesky 0]

Sorry I haven't had/noticed that feeling in skydiving, most people don't. Tandem jumps do have some differences from solo jumps, so it's possible you won't (for example tandem jumps involve a stomach drop feeling when you deploy as you release the drogue in order to deploy the main, dropping you faster for a second or two. Its called the trapdoor effect).

Either way, if you enjoy the rest of the experience, it will probably something you will grow to love or at the very least not really notice. When you are doing a tandem, you have nothing to occupy your mind and body, whilst jumping solo/fun jumping you will be focusing on exiting stable and (if doing relative work/freeflying/other disciplines) other tasks in your skydive. This could explain why most of us don't ever feel that dropping feeling you do, because we are hyper focused on other things.

mickeyb117

I have only made 2 jumps so far and while I have to say I absolutely love it I hate the initial feeling of my stomach dropping. It only lasts about 10 seconds but im afraid that when I finally make my first solo jump its gonna screw me all up. Is this something to worry about ? Will I just get used to it the more I jump ?

[BIGUN 1,053]

Anticipatory anxiety manifests itself in different ways in different people. Congratulations!!! You're normal. Well, as normal as skydivers can be

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

[mickeyb117 0]

lol It should be a fun ride though

[JohnMitchell 14]

mickeyb117

I have only made 2 jumps so far and while I have to say I absolutely love it I hate the initial feeling of my stomach dropping. It only lasts about 10 seconds but im afraid that when I finally make my first solo jump its gonna screw me all up. Is this something to worry about ? Will I just get used to it the more I jump ?

What kind of plane are you jumping from?

The physics of it are this. When you leave the plane, you're just beginning to fall downwards, so on a vertical vector you're weightless. However, because you hopped from an aircraft flying across the sky, the wind drag, as it slows you down, gives you an acceleration along your horizontal vector which feels like gravity. Not only is the wind relative when you first jump out, so is the "gravity". "Straight down" is somewhere towards the front of the plane first few seconds out the door.

The faster the plane, the more you feel this horizontal acceleration. This quick shift of your gravity vector may be a little disorienting at first. BTW, this is why skydivers pay extra $$ to jump from hovering helos and hot air ballons, to get that funny-stomach weightless feeling for a few seconds. We don't get that when we jump from airplanes.

It's also a lot of your perception. You say 10 seconds? Even jumping from a stationary balloon you'll be at 90% of terminal in 7 seconds or so. Relax, breathe, smile, enjoy. Make some more jumps and you'll soon be quite used to it all.

[DrDom 0]

mickeyb117

I have only made 2 jumps so far and while I have to say I absolutely love it I hate the initial feeling of my stomach dropping. It only lasts about 10 seconds but im afraid that when I finally make my first solo jump its gonna screw me all up. Is this something to worry about ? Will I just get used to it the more I jump ?

Just did my CatA and I think I know what you mean.
Realize this, you are going from no acceleration to 9.8m/s^2 from gravity less drag. Regardless of your forward movement, until you are at terminal velocity you are actually accelerating until wind resistance is greater than acceleration, then your acceleration slows and stops completely at terminal velocity.
Now, inside that helmet of yours is a complex mess of neuroelectrical activity that has a very astute "accelerometer". What you are feeling is acceleration. If you could get a car to accelerate that fast you would feel a similar experience. Astronauts in "zero G" are feeling this constantly. Some call it "hollow elevator stomach" or "stomach in their throat" or whatever, but what you are experiencing is your body's response to "you are accelerating, and it is downward".

What can you do about it? Well... you have options.
First, RELAX. If you hold your breath or tense up 2 things happen. You botch your arch (go fetal) and you accentuate the sensation by causing your body to tell the adrenal glands "MORE ADRENALINE! SOMETHING BAD HAPPENING!". Undo that. Breathe.
Second, RELAX. Remember that after a while, you're going to look at that feeling and say its just a reminder to arch hard. Don't think of it on the way suiting up. Don't think of it while in the door. Its a natural feeling and use it to your advantage: you feel "hollow", you arch. Soon it is like your alarm clock in the morning.
Lastly, if all else fails remember that its temporary. Once your acceleration slows and approaches steady state, the sensation will go away. Arch hard and it WILL stop.

Will you get used to it? You'll probably get excited about it because it means you're in freefall. I've done a grand total of 2 jumps (tandem and AFF CatA) and its already subsided a lot, as has my "door monster". My instructor said "If something feels weird, ARCH HARD. It works. I undid my arch a little out the door, felt weird and reminded me to arch hard, and got stable fast.

If you REALLY want to overcome the feeling you can use the psychological techniques of systematic desensitization or alternatively flooding. Find other things that give similar sensation that you can do a lot of CHEAP (roller coasters, ziplines, rock walls, etc) and just do a TON of it. Your brain starts to acclimate to the sensation over time since repeated stimulation leads to decreased output.

OK, enough science-y crap for today. Remember that "you" are basically your consciousness strapped to a machine you call your body. You can't truly shut it off, but you can have an effect on it.

You've done what most of the population can not do: jumped from an airplane. You have already overcome that evolutionary leftover. You'll get the rest :)

You are not the contents of your wallet.

[mickeyb117 0]

Great advice. Never thought of that as an alarm to arch. Ill keep that in mind when going through my AFF. Thanks

[DrDom 0]

mickeyb117

Great advice. Never thought of that as an alarm to arch. Ill keep that in mind when going through my AFF. Thanks

Use your own brain to your advantage. I told myself if I started to get afraid of the door I'd pretend the airplane was infested with spiders and if I rode down I'd be covered with creepy crawlies the whole way. I tell you what, if I could get that visual in my mind, I'd be out that door without reservation.

You are not the contents of your wallet.