Stupid Newbie Question

[Muffie 0]

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I do wish I'd worn some cheap knee pads, though. You can get a set of slip-on knee pads for about $12. They'll fit under your jumpsuit, & won't get in the way.

I would recommend against this if you can. I also had a tendency to land and then fall down on my knees when I was learning so had some beautiful bruises on the knees and thought I'd pull out the old volleyball knee pads to protect myself from further injuries since I certainly wasn't going to stop jumping for a few weeks to let the knees recover. Ended up pivoting on one of those knees in the doorway of the plane without lifting the knee and tore my meniscus. Doubt I would've done it if I hadn't been wearing the knee pads. Bruises go away in a few weeks, torn meniscus, not so much.

What? How the Heck did you do that? You sure it wasn't a prior tear you didn't know about earlier? Think carpet & hardwood flooring installers. Those guys spend several hours a day pivoting on their knees. If you had a weak knee that was about to go. It would've went anyway, pads or not.

No, definitely happened then. I felt something when it happened and about forty-five minutes later it swelled up and hurt like a mother which is a classic symptom. You have to figure that carpet and hardwood guys are moving forward and backward for the most part. I also think they wear a different type of kneepad than the volleyball type I was wearing. Maybe the prior bruising to the knee didn't help things much, but I really think it was the abnormal movement coupled with the fact that the knee pads kept me from feeling what I was doing as much. I was sitting with my heels tucked under parallel to the door and then went up on my knees and pivoted on that knee to face the door. I think it was only a few inches of movement before I felt something and lifted the knee, but enough for a moderate tear.

Anyway. YMMV. Of course, feel free to test it out yourself if you want...

[PiLFy 0]

It is possible to tear the meniscus while kneeling. I think you were primed by your previous impacts, though. Women also are more prone to knee injuries due to your anatomy. I hope you got away w/o needing surgery to fix the tear.

Please don't misunderstand. I'm sorry you got hurt. It just sounds like your twist by the door was the straw that broke the camel's back. Flooring guys are literally on their knees for several hours a day. Yes, they wear better pads. They still load their knees every which way, though. My knees took quite a pounding during my student progression. I've no doubt I took some years off them w/some of my landings. My point is that I wouldn't have pounded them so badly had I been wearing simple pads.

[pchapman 261]

While things may have turned out badly for you Muffie, there are tandem instructors who use knee pads all the time under their jumpsuits, if they are in poorly padded planes. While it is interesting that they can 'grab' and help cause an injury, in most cases they improve things in the long run for their wearers.

As for PLFs, I think a student should be mentally primed to do a PLF on landing, if they are having landing problems. If they can't perceive their motion vs. the ground well enough to pull off a good landing consistently, then they aren't going to be able to recognize at the last moment that, "Gee I've screwed up this flare, better start thinking about doing a PLF." So I'm thinking one should be ready to roll off to the side, and have enough muscle tension in the legs not just to crumple and fall forward or slam in on one's ass.

[Amyr 0]

You see in all my landings. The only time my feet have touched the ground was to pick my ass up off the ground. I am getting a video done today of at least my landing if not the whole jump. Its hard to PLF when my feet have never touched down first I actually think they maybe last to hit.at 10 meters up or higher or lower depending on which landing I had I have the memory of looking straight down.( I am working on looking out today ) and then slam ground. First non tandem I was going to end up in the briar patch I remember looking down seeing a hole thinking oh no and then slam head down on my left shoulder and head (I love my crash helmet). I got right up. Next landing I remember looking down and then on this one i know i lifted my legs out like a tandem and a whole body drag landing. Next one was the worst I was up Instructor said he yelled flair I had a working radio and I never heard it all i remember was slam right on my tailbone I actually felt my tail bone hit the top of my crash helmet I rolled and thought I am not going to lay here like a hurt animal and rolled again and jumped up thinking oh I never want to land like that again. My last i came in thinking only of not landing on my ass I did not wait for any commands at 25 feet I flared thinking I like walking much better then eating and would like to land on any body part other them my butt. On this one I landed on my shoulder in a real nice soft patch of dirt on my right shoulder not hitting my head on the ground this time. SO I have to listen get over my fear of landing on my butt that over rides my ability to be patient and wait for the flair but I still can not figure out why my feet have not touched the ground in order to PLF hope the video helps or maybe I will get it today That's the movie I got going in my head so hope it ends how I plan it to.

[pchapman 261]

I think your post also highlights the problem that starting with tandems sometimes messes up a student's leg position. Either because of slide in landings on a tandem (with an instructor who can make it work), or the tandem instructor wanting a student's legs way up high, a bad habit is formed.

The student's legs get too far in front and not enough down. On ground contact they push out infront instead of being able to cushion the landing or initiate a PLF.