happythoughts 0 #1 February 2, 2009 There are a lot of freefall learning tools like wind tunnels and the availabilty of video to review. People can get in a tunnel and practice skills with a super-fast learning curve. At the dz, an experienced coach can review a video and point out details that would take a person 200 more jumps to identify. People can acquire the knowledge a lot faster. When I ask people, "What is your special knowledge that was acquired between 100 and 1000 jumps?", people don't answer with a description of air-skills. It has to do with mental viewpoint. For me - - My enjoyment of the sport is more social than it was. - I choose different skills that I want to work on. - I appreciate advice a lot more because I understand that almost all people mean it with good intentions. What have you learned? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wmw999 2,123 #2 February 2, 2009 I learned that it's a lot more random than I had thought (and I learned during the 70's when it was more clearly random). Sometimes knowing a lot doesn't help, and sometimes stuff just doesn't go your way. Sometimes you get luckier than you had any right to get. But that the luck seemed to favor people who didn't have to spend a whole lot of time thinking through all the options realtime. So the most important thing I got from that is the time spent listening to and thinking about options that could help or harm in realtime situations (i.e. emergencies). You can practice the actions. But what if the actions end requiring some thought and modification while you're doing them? You're potentially fucked if you haven't considered the possibility. Wendy W.There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #3 February 3, 2009 It has to do with mental viewpoint. For me - - My enjoyment of the sport is more social than it was. - I choose different skills that I want to work on. - I appreciate advice a lot more because I understand that almost all people mean it with good intentions. What have you learned? Wow...interesting question! "The first thousand is always the toughest." I use to hear that a lot when I was a n00b sittin' around the campfire...from old time skygods with triple digit D numbers. It's a great question because~ ~ the amount of time that it took to get Goldwings back then is drastically different than today. The knowledge and seasoning that comes with time in the sport as well as jump numbers, has to play a significant role in the mindset of the skydiver. It would be interesting to hear peoples reflections in regard to 'knowledge' acquired...and the amount of time it took to get the 1000 #. Me....I still haven't learned anything! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 3 #4 February 3, 2009 I think what I learned (and continue to learn) is that when I got to 200-400, I thought I knew it all. By the time I got to 700-800, I realized how little I knew. By the time I hit around 1200-1300, I realized I truly didn't know what I didn't know back when I thought I knew it all. Is that like the Benjamin Button of skydiving or what? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
crazydiver 0 #5 February 3, 2009 I just recently finished and defended my final paper for my master's program in Higher Education and Student Affairs. The paper focused on my experiences skydiving and utilized them to inform my work in Student Affairs. Anyway...a quote from my paper is... "As a testament to how skewed our perceptions of ourselves may be, I feel that I know now, after 4,000 skydives and finishing up my master’s degree, I know less than I thought I knew at 300 skydives and before graduate school. I have much more learning to do myself before I begin to think that I have it all figured out. Consequently, I shouldn’t go looking for a glass house just yet." I think, for me, it took a relinquishing of arrogance, an acceptance of weaknesses, and the importance of relationships to get me to jump 1000. But I could go on for hours about all the things I've taken away from skydiving. I can't imagine life any differently. What a great bunch of people! Thanks everyone! Cheers, Travis Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #6 February 3, 2009 Quote I think what I learned (and continue to learn) is that when I got to 200-400, I thought I knew it all. By the time I got to 700-800, I realized how little I knew. By the time I hit around 1200-1300, I realized I truly didn't know what I didn't know back when I thought I knew it all. Is that like the Benjamin Button of skydiving or what? I think I was pretty lucky, in retrospect. The club I began jumping at was mostly old timers, with a pretty hardcore view about letting anybody get cocky with their abilities...probably kept me from doing even dumber shit than I did. I remember when I got my GW award, one of the old guys reminding me than only now the real learning begins, and that one deceased member of our 'group', "had more dead-centers than I did skydives...and HE fucked up & went in." So ...maybe what I learned by a grand was that guys better than me are gone. It's a humbling thought, and it still rings true. It seeds a mindset that just might save yer life. ~IF ya truly believe it~ ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
format 0 #7 February 3, 2009 Don't you people think "no way it's the same as before" considering we're not sitting around the campfire, the privacy is gone. I mean "The thrill is gone"? _________________________________ fuck you - I'm between 100 and 1000 What goes around, comes later. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #8 February 3, 2009 Quote Don't you people think "no way it's the same as before" considering we're not sitting around the campfire, the privacy is gone. I mean "The thrill is gone"? _________________________________ fuck you - I'm between 100 and 1000 Do I think it's different today? ~SURE. Doesn't make the way it is better or worse than the way it was...just different. 'The thrill' is never gone, not doing a sport in which personal survival is only one, of the many challenges. ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happythoughts 0 #9 February 3, 2009 QuoteThe club I began jumping at was mostly old timers, with a pretty hardcore view about letting anybody get cocky with their abilities...probably kept me from doing even dumber shit than I did. I think that people remain the same. That can be a problem. At 100 jumps, people haven't seen more of the varieties of issues. They can handle everything that they know about. They may not respect the sport enough yet. Two weekends ago, I saw 4 guys with an inflatable sheep. All with 25 to 150 jumps. I asked them what their plan was. - exit. Who is going to spot? Climbout? Grips? Exit method? - safety. Make sure that no one gets over the top. - dive. What formation? 5 way? - breakoff. Who holds it on breakoff? Breakoff altitude? Can you track holding it? The great thing is, they stopped and listened. Not everybody does. It was cool meeting them and jumping with them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
format 0 #10 February 3, 2009 Cool it is, having you or such, achieving effective influnce. wonderfullWhat goes around, comes later. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
truckerjean 0 #11 February 3, 2009 Great thread. Bill! It brought me so way back! I have to say the best advise I ever got that still works to this day came from three people on three separate occasions: from Johnnie; "relax and have fun", from Sally, "Just GO there!", and from Pine in Deland, "Pretend your elbows are wing-tips." They taught me how to ride the bike, and I won't ever forget! So much wisdom, but the best wisdom I ever got came from people who were willing to laugh straight in my face! TeeHee! can I borrow a jump ticket real quick? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
truckerjean 0 #12 February 3, 2009 HA! That reminds me of a jump I did back at Z-hills after being gone awhile in 2000; I was driving truck and jumping everywhere and I still didn't even have my own gear. It was winter and lo and behold, a master/owner from a DZ in Pell City, AL was there and I had just been to her DZ!, I had like..25 jumps...She caught me with the student rig and asked me why I didn't adjust the side straps (I forgot there were side straps), and then she said my AAD wasn't set!!!! What a complete moron! I wanted to die, but I didn't want my friends to see. HA! I am very happy to know that my friends watch me be an asshole/moron now; i would prefer it to letting them see me die. "Peeps is good like dat!" can I borrow a jump ticket real quick? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
truckerjean 0 #13 February 3, 2009 Hey, wmw! Wisely said, especially the tagline. Thanks for the reminder; we, I, need that often. Blue skies, sis!can I borrow a jump ticket real quick? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
truckerjean 0 #14 February 3, 2009 No, Bill, it was AWSOME that you took the time to mentor! Without mentors, like johnnie and you and susan and oren and arch, and jeesh! all those peeps at z-hills, I would be a very broke wannabe. You helped me be safe and sound, and you helped me realize a dream. Keep mentoring, I would if I were there, and you know you have a legacy to keep up...ps, is my drawing still in the muff trailer?? My Mother Tree? It's a tree with a fox-squirrel climbing and a moon shining over the branches. I was always so proud that A-1 let it hang there... can I borrow a jump ticket real quick? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pirana 0 #15 February 3, 2009 QuoteI think what I learned (and continue to learn) is that when I got to 200-400, I thought I knew it all. By the time I got to 700-800, I realized how little I knew. By the time I hit around 1200-1300, I realized I truly didn't know what I didn't know back when I thought I knew it all. Is that like the Benjamin Button of skydiving or what? Sounds like a lot of activities. You keep hitting new plateaus and looking back each time and thinking "I didn't know shit." Finally you gain enough wisdom to know that the plateaus never end. There is no summit; and you just keep climbing." . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happythoughts 0 #16 February 3, 2009 Quote My Mother Tree? It's a tree with a fox-squirrel climbing and a moon shining over the branches. I was always so proud that A-1 let it hang there... I'd have to look. Probably, though, we don't do a lot of redecorating. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UDSkyJunkie 0 #17 February 6, 2009 QuoteWhat have you learned? More often than anything, I have learned that I'm not as good as I think I am. Over and over again."Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnskydiver688 0 #18 February 6, 2009 Beer tastes better when its free. Sky Canyon Wingsuiters Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 1,625 #19 February 7, 2009 Quote "What is your special knowledge that was acquired between 100 and 1000 jumps?", That several of my skydiving friends would die.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happythoughts 0 #20 February 7, 2009 QuoteQuote "What is your special knowledge that was acquired between 100 and 1000 jumps?", That several of my skydiving friends would die. Recently, I had someone tell me that they never would have gotten into the sport as a career if they knew how painful this would be. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #21 February 8, 2009 "What is your special knowledge that was acquired between 100 and 1000 jumps?", ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After 1000 jumps I realized that if the wind can blow a pack of cigarettes off the picnic table, it's too windy to jump...(Prior to 1000 jumps I used a 12 pack of Bud.) ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
