OUCH! That hurt!

[bocabruce1 0]

AFF Level IV jump yesterday. Had different student rig. Didnt like the way it fit, but did it anyways.
Good exit, good body position, good COA, good pull, good ride...then I flared too soon and landed on my tailbone which is bruised. Ouch!

bocabruce

[yoink 321]

PLF PLF PLF PLF PLF PLF PLF PLF PLF....


Your legs are built as shock absorbers. Your spine isn't!



edit: Not directed a the OP, more of a rant in general

I've mentioned it before in various forums, but I'm still amazed at how many licenced and 'should-know-better' skydivers routinely do tandem-style butt first landings.

I'm not a doctor, but I do have a degree in neuroscience, and I promise you, a broken ankle heals lots faster and lots better than your spine will in the event of an injury.

Why has this type of landing become fashionable? Why aren't the instructors and S&TA's saying 'look, this isn't a safe way of landing'? Honestly, all it'll take is a small rock you didn't see and you will be looking at some serious damage.

Please folks, don't do these landings unless you absolutely have to.

[LuckyMcSwervy 0]

OUCH!! I feel your pain, brotha!! I landed on a taxi way, bounced on my ass and then slid a couple of months ago.

OUCHIES is right!! Mine didn't set in until later that night, the next day.

Be good to your heiney!!

Always be kinder than you feel.

[skydude2000 3]

+1.

I HATE landing on my butt. I know first-hand, if you do it wrong, you'll regret it. Compression fracture to the L2 & L3, off jumping for 11 months. It wasn't even that I landed on my butt; landed on my heels, lost my balance fell backwards on a hard landing.

Even on the tandem I did afterwards, I was uneasy about the idea of landing on my butt. I'd rather land skidding in on my face or breaking every single bone in my leg. At least there'd be a damn good chance I'd walk again.

You don't even need to land on a small rock or anything to crack your tailbone.

FEET FIRST, PEOPLE!!!

PULL!! or DIE!!

[PolluxSJ 0]

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Why has this type of landing become fashionable?

I don't think it's fashionable, it's instinctive.

For me at least (student) I'm still no good at judging my speed / altitude when landing and flaring, so I've got my arms up, feet and knees together, and when I flare I'm expecting to stand-up the landing smoothly. When it doesn't happen my feet are already out in front, and the slide in landing just comes naturally.

PLF wasn't really enforced by my instructors during AFF. I think it came up once in conversation? We never even practiced it. Once, I even landed poorly (flared too early and dropped straight down), PLF'd, and my instructor wrote it up as "Stand Up" in my logbook. The only reason I know how critical it is, is because of DZ.com posts... specifically Incidents.

I agree that it needs to be a bigger part of training, but, every instructor and DZ is different. USPA can publish all the guidelines they want for training, but it's un-realistic to think that every student is going to get the same training.

[yoink 321]

Quote

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Why has this type of landing become fashionable?

PLF wasn't really enforced by my instructors during AFF. I think it came up once in conversation? We never even practiced it.

That's my biggest critisism, and it's not just of your dz - it's an endemic attitude, at least in my experience (and this has been bugging me for a few years!). Ask around and (in general) the only time a PLF is mentioned is in passing in a FJC, when in reality, it's a seriously important maneuvre for everyone to master - particularly as approach / landing speeds increase as we jump smaller and faster canopies and the energy you're carrying into landing is that much higher
.
It's all the more important to repeatedly highlight it, because it isn't instinctive. It needs that practise and muscle memory.

I consider myself a canopy pilot. I practise hard at flying and landing canopies, both on a dz and off, and the PLF is a core piece of knowledge IMO.
For example, as comfortable as the paraglider-type seated harnesses are for groundlaunching, One of the reasons I don't particularly like them is because they automatically put me in a position where my spine is the first to take an impact in the event of me doing something wrong, rather than in one I can PLF from easily.

People won't get a landing right every time, but the PLF should be a default landing option until all the conditions or variables are right for an alternative.
In the same way swoopers are actively taught 'you don't swoop unless all the parameters of your setup, pattern, lz are exactly right', similarly all skydivers should be taught that while a standup landing is optimum, a PLF should always be expected and a spine-first one should be avoided if possible.

[Matitemel 0]

OMG....poor guy ...!!!! hope that your ass is ok ! lol

Mélanie

Check out my new website!!! :) www.greentimes.com.au or the page on FB Green Times !!!

[TheLackey 0]

Oh to have had the presence of mind to plf and not sit and slide yesterday after an incredibly great AFF level 5. I was taught the plf and practice it daily, but shit happened. I watched several TI's slide it out with success before I went up.

No excuses though.

I think I flared too late, but my instructor said I didn't finish it which could also be true. My sit was on top of my left hand, and either that or the slide on top of it broke a bone as evidenced by the x-rays today. The hand specialist doc is tomorrow, and I hope to talk him out of a cast, if only because I did learn a valuable lesson and am a pretty active guy with plans that don't include plaster.
And I want to graduate from AFF this weekend.

It was all on me. No doubt about it. And I think that's part of learning to be safe and being able to keep jumping.
I forgot my training in the moment and got a relatively cheap reality check in the big matters of skydiving.

I slunk out of there quickly without talking about it in my debrief and after paying for my next jump while having a hard time signing my name.

I learned a valuable lesson early on and only hurt myself mildly in the process. I was lucky to have have gotten such a good end result.

From now I will plan on a plf all the way first. And I will ask the canopy piloting skills questions every time.

I really like that part of the skydive anyway.

[peregrinerose 0]

Quote

PLF wasn't really enforced by my instructors during AFF. I think it came up once in conversation? We never even practiced it. Once, I even landed poorly (flared too early and dropped straight down), PLF'd, and my instructor wrote it up as "Stand Up" in my logbook. The only reason I know how critical it is, is because of DZ.com posts... specifically Incidents.

This makes me cringe. At our DZ, we require PLFs on the first 3 landings minimum. Butt landings are the only things we will ream a student out for as they are so hazardous.

We actively teach that students should be leaning forward in the harness for landing, legs under to slightly behind them, so that on flare, the legs are directly under the body, not way out in front. This works beautifully to set up for either a PLF or stand up landing. We beat PLFs into students heads so hard that a lot of them have nice standups and go striaight to the PLF from that position, knowing that it's so important.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[Fast 0]

Quote

Oh to have had the presence of mind to plf and not sit and slide yesterday after an incredibly great AFF level 5. I was taught the plf and practice it daily, but shit happened. I watched several TI's slide it out with success before I went up.

No excuses though.

With your experience level (and anyone who is just starting out) don't just watch people on the dropzone do stuff and figure, "oh, ok I can go do that too!" cause you are most likely wrong. I am sure you have seen guys swoop in with some kind of speed inducing manuver too, doesn't mean it's a good idea to just go out and try it.

My students are warned that if they just go try something they read about or saw someone else do or think they are capable of, they will get to repeat the jump. Particularily on level 3, cause I have ha da few people think that it was a good idea to go do turns, even though that isn't the objective of the jump.

~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

[thrillstalker 0]

Quote

PLF PLF PLF PLF PLF PLF PLF PLF PLF....


Your legs are built as shock absorbers. Your spine isn't!



edit: Not directed a the OP, more of a rant in general

I've mentioned it before in various forums, but I'm still amazed at how many licenced and 'should-know-better' skydivers routinely do tandem-style butt first landings.

I'm not a doctor, but I do have a degree in neuroscience, and I promise you, a broken ankle heals lots faster and lots better than your spine will in the event of an injury.

Why has this type of landing become fashionable? Why aren't the instructors and S&TA's saying 'look, this isn't a safe way of landing'? Honestly, all it'll take is a small rock you didn't see and you will be looking at some serious damage.

Please folks, don't do these landings unless you absolutely have to.

i did the same thing on my first jump this past weekend. i was taught the plf in ground school and i even had to practice it multiple times by jumping off a gear locker about three feet high. i was telling myself "dont land on you ass" over and over but ended up doing it anyway. i think it has something to do with doing a tandem first, cause you slide in on your butt. luckily i dont have anything worse than a bruise or fractured tailbone, but i guarantee ill never come in on my ass again.

"Never grow a wishbone, where your backbone ought to be."