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john101090

Need help with arch.

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This is a fairly common problem, usually caused by a perfectly understandable nervousness about plummeting toward the Earth at over 100 MPH. ;) Experience alone will help you to overcome this, but the process can be sped up by various relaxation techniques. Consciously taking slow, deep breaths from before exit all the way through deployment sounds too simple, but really does help most people. Another approach is to consciously think "altitude, arch, legs, relax" whenever you're not doing anything else, and give your arms and legs a little "loosen-up" shake when you think "relax". Talk with your Instructors about other techniques, but most of all, keep building that experience level!


"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." - Carl Sagan

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For me, it helped to just program myself to keep my chin up. If you are exiting presented into the wind, try to keep your eyes on the plane. If you are doing a diving exit, look at the horizon. In freefall, keep looking at the horizon (still check the altimeter of course ;)) Somebody once told me that your body follows your eyes. After that, it just clicked.

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You may think you're relaxing, but perhaps not actually doing it. Try these two techniques when you feel like you're stiff in freefall (they work for me every time):

1 - take a deep breath and force it out
2 - smile!

(the second one was taught to me by one of my tunnel coaches. you can't smile & NOT be relaxed in freefall!) :)

See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus

Shut Up & Jump!

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I wrote "DICK FIRST!" with a permanent marker on the top of my left (altimeter) hand.

As in life, so also in skydiving.

:P

Seriously though, it helped me do a nice deep body arch instead of a superficial (for want of a better word) chest/arm arch. Most importantly, it made me - and everyone who saw it - smile even when in free fall.

I saw it somewhere in these forums...

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The dreaded man arch. It's been the nemesis of many but, fear not, there is hope. As a former(and possibly world's worst) man archer, I have developed a fo sho cure.
A. stand, feet shoulder width apart.
B. look up.
C. Squeeze the butt cheeks.
This method has cured even middle aged man archers and should work for you. The key to understand is to get the hips forward. By looking up and butt squeezin' it will cause this to occur. If it was hard, none of us could do this. Good luck.

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I just got my A license last weekend, my arch got WAY better around my 10th jump from a coach having me do this:

Stand facing a wall with your toes about 5 inches away from the wall. Then, without moving your feet, shift your hips forward until your penis presses against the wall. Its not so much in the back/shoulders, its more of a hips thing.

Also, you can try toe taps every now to try to get a feel about your leg awareness. Dont look at the ground, keep your eyes on the horizon so that your chin stays up.

Good luck.
Skydiving is good for the soul

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