Tracking ...

[headoverheels 291]

I didn't miss his point at all. I doubt that an iron cross has any slower fall rate than a well executed track. The iron cross will not generate the required lift to match the flat glide of a decent track.

[br0k3n 0]

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Well, I know this topic has been talked about many many times, but I'd like some opinions from the hardcore trackers out there. Do you track with both legs kinda of together or separate, more than shoulder-width apart? I'm interested in hearing from people what works for them. Again, I'm talking hardcore tracking... not RW tracking, etc.

Thanks!

Whats your definition of hardcore????

Want to go fast, then get on your back, legs together, arms in palms down, hips up and head back. I reckon for speed you can go a lot faster on your back then on your belly.

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--+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+

[strop45 0]

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Instead of tracking with your palms facing the ground, track with your palms up....it will automatically give some roll to the shoulders. It works wonders. Give it a try next time.

Also makes it possible to read your alti while tracking

The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." -- Albert Einstein

[OSOK 0]

Thanks for the replies, all.

By "hardcore tracking" and "not RW tracks" I meant full solo tracking dives. In a big-way track (that's what I meant by RW tracking) you don't really get to max out your track, since you're usually following a lead and have to adjust to not overshoot, etc. I also didn't mean "hardcore tracking" as the tracks to gain distance before pulltime, since on those you really don't have enough time to get going on a good track, the kind of track that starts creating lift as your speed increases.

All that aside, I will try the palms up method on a day that I can get a few solo tracks in and compare how it 'feels' different one type after the other. I can't wait to get my GPS so I can have better numbers than just avg vertical speeds from my Neptune.

Thanks all! Keep it coming!

[Zenister 0]

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Not all skydivers track as if their lives truly depend on it.

only the smart ones do...

that said i dont believe leg position is as critical as upper body shape.. legs out is legs out you are going to get alot of drive from there already.. i think some serious experiments would have to be done to prove that a 6 inch gap was better than no gap or a 12 inch gap etc....wider tends to help with stability, which is good early on as if you tumble off your track or swerve while tracking you dont cover as much ground...

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Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[Zenister 0]

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Well, I know this topic has been talked about many many times, but I'd like some opinions from the hardcore trackers out there. Do you track with both legs kinda of together or separate, more than shoulder-width apart? I'm interested in hearing from people what works for them. Again, I'm talking hardcore tracking... not RW tracking, etc.

Thanks!

Whats your definition of hardcore????

Want to go fast, then get on your back, legs together, arms in palms down, hips up and head back. I reckon for speed you can go a lot faster on your back then on your belly.

tracking should be for distance, not speed... speed tend to imply a diving track.. which doesnt give you as much seperation at all...

ofc if you are comming out of a head down dive the speed you retain helps give you distance.. one reason i believe alot of free fliers are 'lazier' than RW types when it comes to the most effiecient track shape...

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Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[damion75 0]

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Did you miss the fatality in the incidents forum from a collision on opening?

Have they died because of the impact of the collision? Not really.... They died, because of the low cut-away.

I don't know about the incident report that you are discussing, but be sure that hitting an inflated/inflating canopy has killed people on its own before. I was there when this happened in Espace 2004.

Be under no illusions that hitting a canopy whilst still in freefall can cause severe injuries and/or death.

***************

Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

[phoenixlpr 0]

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Be under no illusions that hitting a canopy whilst still in freefall can cause severe injuries and/or death.

No doubt about that. Look the other aspect, if you don't have any visual reference how do you know how good you can track e.g RW jump?

A cliff can be a quite solid point of reference for tracking.

[Remster 24]

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Thanks for the replies, all.

By "hardcore tracking" and "not RW tracks" I meant full solo tracking dives. In a big-way track (that's what I meant by RW tracking) you don't really get to max out your track, since you're usually following a lead and have to adjust to not overshoot, etc. I also didn't mean "hardcore tracking" as the tracks to gain distance before pulltime, since on those you really don't have enough time to get going on a good track, the kind of track that starts creating lift as your speed increases.

All that aside, I will try the palms up method on a day that I can get a few solo tracks in and compare how it 'feels' different one type after the other. I can't wait to get my GPS so I can have better numbers than just avg vertical speeds from my Neptune.

Thanks all! Keep it coming!

I started replying to part of your post, but after a while. I gave up. You need to spend some time to learn what a track is and how to do it.

Remster

[billvon 2,426]

>I also didn't mean "hardcore tracking" as the tracks to gain distance
>before pulltime, since on those you really don't have enough time to get
>going on a good track, the kind of track that starts creating lift as your
>speed increases.

That is EXACTLY the kind of track good RWers use to get away from a formation.

[jakee 1,257]

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In a big-way track (that's what I meant by RW tracking) you don't really get to max out your track, since you're usually following a lead and have to adjust to not overshoot, etc.

Usually? Just how big are the dives that you 'usually' go on?

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I also didn't mean "hardcore tracking" as the tracks to gain distance before pulltime, since on those you really don't have enough time to get going on a good track, the kind of track that starts creating lift as your speed increases.

The very best RW trackers are gaining altitude on the formation before they've even finished turning away, and you'd better believe they're maxed out before pull time!

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[anewempire 0]

why do i instantly float out of tracking dives? right when we leave the plane everyone else falls away sooo fast and i'm keeping up with them but really really high above them and even when going into really really steep dives it's nearly impossible for me to catch them. i don't know what i'm doing wrong. do i just have a really flat track or what?

[damion75 0]

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why do i instantly float out of tracking dives? right when we leave the plane everyone else falls away sooo fast and i'm keeping up with them but really really high above them and even when going into really really steep dives it's nearly impossible for me to catch them. i don't know what i'm doing wrong. do i just have a really flat track or what?

You might want to ask about tracking dive technique in the FF forum, but what I can say is that you shouldn't confuse the sort of delta, steep track that you do on a tracking dive with the very floaty and fast flat track that one uses at the end of an RW jump to gain maximum distance for minimum height loss while getting away from the formation.

Two very different skills / modes of bodyflight.

***************

Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

[br0k3n 0]

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Well, I know this topic has been talked about many many times, but I'd like some opinions from the hardcore trackers out there. Do you track with both legs kinda of together or separate, more than shoulder-width apart? I'm interested in hearing from people what works for them. Again, I'm talking hardcore tracking... not RW tracking, etc.

Thanks!

Whats your definition of hardcore????

Want to go fast, then get on your back, legs together, arms in palms down, hips up and head back. I reckon for speed you can go a lot faster on your back then on your belly.

tracking should be for distance, not speed... speed tend to imply a diving track.. which doesnt give you as much seperation at all...

ofc if you are comming out of a head down dive the speed you retain helps give you distance.. one reason i believe alot of free fliers are 'lazier' than RW types when it comes to the most effiecient track shape...

when i was talking about speed i was refering to horizontal, not vertical. On your back you can form a much more effective body position and your "horizontal" speed will be much higher, and therefore speration will be greater...

Now I dont know about your DZ, but and most of the ones i have been to, when it comes to tracking jumps, you very rarely see a flatty on them, its all freefliers.

Tracking isnt just about one body position that is used to sperate you from your buddies at the end of a jump, in the same way flat flying is just falling on your belly.

IMO I would say that Freeflyers in general are better all round trackers, because we dedicate whole jumps just to tracking, fast, slow, steep etc, we also take docks whilst tracking and build formations.

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--+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+

[SkyProdigy 0]

hey what is the best thing to wear when you are going to be doing tracking dives?

any specific jumpsuits people can recommend?

[br0k3n 0]

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hey what is the best thing to wear when you are going to be doing tracking dives?

any specific jumpsuits people can recommend?

I belive the most important thing to wear is your rig...apart from that any jumpsuit will do, shorts and tshirt if its hot..

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--+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+

[OSOK 0]

Ok, let me try to explain what I mean, in my terms.

RW track = tracking dive with buddies where you work on taking docks, flying your slot, etc.

pull-time track = track where you turn and track away from the formation, tracking for a few seconds before pulltime.

hardcore track = usually solo, the whole dive is a track, and you achieve lift/speed much greater than in any of the two above.

Sorry if my terms are a bit unorthodox. So, back to my original question, for the hardcore trackers: how do you do it?

[br0k3n 0]

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So, back to my original question, for the hardcore trackers: how do you do it?

on my back....

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--+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+

[headoverheels 291]

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RW track = tracking dive with buddies where you work on taking docks, flying your slot, etc.

pull-time track = track where you turn and track away from the formation, tracking for a few seconds before pulltime.

hardcore track = usually solo, the whole dive is a track, and you achieve lift/speed much greater than in any of the two above.

Your "pulltime" and "hardcore" track are the same. Same technique as I posted above. Your "RW" tracking dive will usually be steeper, and not as fast, so that the participants can have some range to match the velocity of the leader.

[penniless 0]

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IMO I would say that Freeflyers in general are better all round trackers, because we dedicate whole jumps just to tracking, fast, slow, steep etc, we also take docks whilst tracking and build formations.

That has NOT been my experience. I have found RW people better at docking in tracking dives, and also track faster and flatter that the FFers I have tracked with.

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