Fear

[Lew 0]

I am interested in hearing my fellow skydivers discuss personal experiences, opinions, and how you went about dealing with fear in the sport of skydiving.

I had to take a break from skydiving when I moved to Alaska for a year after 41 jumps. I am now getting ready to begin jumping again, and I am feeling nervous about it. In 2002 I did my first tandem jump. I loved the experience and couldn’t stop thinking about it, but the thought of jumping with my own parachute terrified me. So I spent about a year or so talking to skydivers and reading as much information as possible to help me get over my fear and to prepare for the student program. Finally I started and completed the student program. Now I feel as though I need to build myself up again. I know that I can get myself there. I will probably feel better once I do my refresher ground training. I would love to hear what anyone has to say on this topic.

Thanks!

[artistcalledian 0]

I started AFF in September last year, i took 14 jumps to pass, now i'm working my way through my consol jumps

I almost packed it all in a few weeks ago, the fear got to me. I thought it's not for me if i'm this scared about it

I started to think just what it was that i was scared of, and narrowed it down to 2 things

1. Spinning up and not being able to stop myself
2. The initial feeling of going head down as i dive head first out of the door, before i catch the wind under neath me to get stable on

I kept thinking this through and through...asking myself if i could see any way i could stop the fear i was feeling

i work out both of them out in my head....

1. I knew i would not spin if i relaxed, so i just relaxed and stopped trying to do anything but just stay relaxed and stable - i want to do a few more jumps building my confidence that i can just do this simple task, seems very easy to big jump number people, but to me its the best feeling knowing i can just stay stable and pull on time

2. I decided to change my exit from a diving head down one out of the plane, to a feet down, facing into the relative wind exit... the same as static line students do, and when i'm happy doing that, i'll go back to diving out head first

What i'm trying to say is this....

Just take some time to try and work out the areas that are scaring you, and talk to experienced jumpers or instructors about your fears, everything can be worked through and changed for the better with the help of people who know what you're feeling

________________________________________
drive it like you stole it and f*ck the police

[Lew 0]

Sounds like you go through the same sorta ups and downs I'm dealing with. It's nice to know I'm not the only one.

Thanks

[rsmn17 0]

I think I'm the queen of fear. I'm scared of EVERYTHING having to do with skydiving! Everytime I get on the plane I tell myself this is the last time, but somehow, I keep going back up. The weirdest thing is that it's not that I'm scared of getting hurt or dying, I'm scared of the FEAR I'll feel before it happens. I'm scared of the feeling I'm going to get on my first cutaway knowing that I'll be alone. But I know I'll get over it a little when I get more confident in it. For me, the longer I wait between jumps, the worse it gets because I think about it all the time. There was one weekend where I jumped three times and I couldn't believe how much better I felt with each jump. So I decided to hold off on training until I have the money to do a few jumps each week. Until then, I'll do an occasional tandem and keep trying to learn as much as I can so I'll be ready when I go back to it. I think it's so hard to get over the fear because you really have to think about what you're doing when you're up there and you can really only count on yourself. That's a ton of pressure to deal with when you know the clock is ticking and the ground is getting bigger! All that thinking just leads to lots of anxiety which messes you up even more, but the more you do it, the less you have to think about EVERY single action you make, the easier it gets and the more fun it gets!

[NWFlyer 2]

Check these search results. Brian Germain, who is finishing up a book on managing fear, has started some very thoughtful posts on the topic. It includes a lot of info from Brian's research as well as others' thoughts on the topic.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[artistcalledian 0]

when i spoke to one of my instructors about it, he asked me how many lessons i took learning to drive i said i wasn't sure... around 20 or something. He then said "well, you had 20 hours of learning to drive, and how good were you after that"

LOL

I said i was crap to be honest, and he then pointed out that i've only had about 15 minutes in freefall so far, so just how good did i expect to be?

that put it all in perspetive for me, this is a LONG, SLOW road of learning, and it takes TIME to get over our fears

________________________________________
drive it like you stole it and f*ck the police

[rsmn17 0]

My friend makes fun of me ALL the time and calls me a wuss because we both started jumping and doing AFF together and now he has almost 50 jumps and an A license, and I'm still scared to jump with instructors holding on! I guess that's the difference between 10 minutes of freefall and 30 minutes of freefall. I never thought about it the way you just described so thanks...I feel a little bit better now.

• Quote

[dmetz 0]

Throughout my short jumping career, I had about a 2 year lull after 40 jumps for various reasons. After the first four month or so, I got my shit together, went down to the nearest DZ (which was a new one for me as I had moved) and got some recurrency training and did a couple jumps. Good stuff, I'm back. I did a couple jumps a month or so later, and then a year went by. Went back to the dz, and had a bad experience trying to get training. As it happened, the was a boogie going on and an AFFI course. So they used me as a guinea pig for the AFFI students to train...no big deal, right? Well it ended up taking a lot longer than I expected and I didn't get near the attention I should have for recurrency training purposes. Amongst a few other issues, I felt as though I was really getting ripped off. After that, I was fed-up and didn't want to go back to that place and still had my own issues that I was trying to handle differently to allow for jumping time, so another 8 months went by. Then a new song came out that was on the radio every day that mentioned skydiving; so it put it back into my head all the time just like when I first started. The passion was back. Then I moved again, found a great dz, got some great training, and have been regular since.

The many times I was in the air after a long time, my biggest fear was fucking up and putting someone else in harms way. I was confident in taking care of myself, but I was very nervous about hurting someone else. Even though all necessary measures were taken to ensure that didn't happen, I worried.

Bottom line: If you want it bad enough, nothing will stand in your way.

_________________________________________

"If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?"

[CSpenceFLY 1]

Quote

I started AFF in September last year, i took 14 jumps to pass, now i'm working my way through my consol jumps

I almost packed it all in a few weeks ago, the fear got to me. I thought it's not for me if i'm this scared about it

I started to think just what it was that i was scared of, and narrowed it down to 2 things

1. Spinning up and not being able to stop myself
2. The initial feeling of going head down as i dive head first out of the door, before i catch the wind under neath me to get stable on

I kept thinking this through and through...asking myself if i could see any way i could stop the fear i was feeling

i work out both of them out in my head....

1. I knew i would not spin if i relaxed, so i just relaxed and stopped trying to do anything but just stay relaxed and stable - i want to do a few more jumps building my confidence that i can just do this simple task, seems very easy to big jump number people, but to me its the best feeling knowing i can just stay stable and pull on time

2. I decided to change my exit from a diving head down one out of the plane, to a feet down, facing into the relative wind exit... the same as static line students do, and when i'm happy doing that, i'll go back to diving out head first

What i'm trying to say is this....

Just take some time to try and work out the areas that are scaring you, and talk to experienced jumpers or instructors about your fears, everything can be worked through and changed for the better with the help of people who know what you're feeling

All of this from the same person that asked if we should even acknowledge static line jumpers and up to this point has referred to experianced jumpers as skygods.I don't get it.Wheres the british humor in you tell her to just suck it up.i'm very disappointed in you.With your 45000 plus jumps and 71yrs in the sport how could you abandon your true self?


.


.

[Andy9o8 0]

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For me, the longer I wait between jumps, the worse it gets because I think about it all the time. There was one weekend where I jumped three times and I couldn't believe how much better I felt with each jump.

And that's a lot of it right there. For many (most?) people, currency has a great deal to do with overcoming jump fear (and lack of currency helps cause it). Now that probably goes for everybody, but it especially applies to novices. When I was a student, I often did no more than 1 jump per weekend, 2 jumps per month. And sure, the jump fear on the plane ride up was pretty standard. But I clearly remember that on the first weekend I ever did "multiple" jumps, I think I had about 15 jumps at the time, when I did 4 or 5 in one weekend - by the 4th or 5th jump I had almost no door fear. It felt pretty good! Clearly, that's because of currency. To this day, when I take a few weeks off, I get more jump fear - starting on the drive to the DZ - than when I'm more current.

[mcezmac 0]

I think almost all of us new jumpers feel that way. I thing that I want is to not let fear get in the way of me doing something that I so enjoy!

[cruzit 0]

I had a lot of trouble as a student and as a young skydiver. I spent my entire ride to altitude thinking all these really dire thoughts. It took a horseshoe mal at 82 jumps to really enable me to work it all out. After talking to other jumpers and reading about the malfunction, I figured if I could properly deal with it, I most likely could deal with any other malfunction.

Just as an aside, you may want to look up a book by Arno Ilgner called the Rock Warrior's Way The book's primary function is to deal with working through fear when rock climbing. However, since I do both, I found the book very insightful. It explains why we fear as much as anything else. I highly recommend it to anyone working through fear in a high risk sport.

J

[yamtx73 0]

Fear isn't the word for what I felt when I went up for my AFF 1 jump, terrified is more like it. But I went out the door anyway, for AFF 2 I still felt fear but it wasn't as bad. This past weekend I did 3 jumps, while I still felt a certain level of anxiety on the 3rd jump I wouldn't say I felt fear. My guess would be the more you jump the less you fear it.

The only naturals in this sport shit thru feathers...

[skylord 1]

All the advice is excellent. I don't want to tie up needless time, but do a search on my posts over fear and jumping. If I can overcome it, so can you. I wrote much of this over real time, so feel free to call or PM me. Search "skylord", and enjoy!!

Bob
760-458-2153 (cell)

Bob Marks

"-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

[LuvToFly 0]

Study, train, ask questions, and understand what to do in any given situation. If you can do that, you will have not only faced, but dealt with "unreasonable" fears.

I say, "unreasonable" as this is not to suggest that we ever lose the fear which can be called respect for gravity. There are much safer sports to engage in, and risk, no matter how good you are, will always be there. As a matter of record, it's some of the most experienced skydivers that have had some of the most serious of accidents from low turns by not putting enough fear into the equation to provide that conservative margin of safety. We believe we can pull it off every time - and that can lead to complacency. Complacency is much more dangerous than a healthy (the non-freezing kind) fear in this sport from my humble observations. Knowing what to do by heart if things don't go as expected is 1/2 of the key. The other half is common sense. Stay on the ground if the wind is too strong. Don't make a jump if you don't feel up to it. The hell with peer pressure. Use good judgment. If you can keep both of those in check, you may have a very positive experience in the sport.

PS: I am NOT an instructor. Consult yours for any training recommendations.

"The helicopter approaches closer than any other to fulfillment
of mankind's ancient dreams of a magic carpet" - Igor Sikorsky

[NelKel 0]

: Re: [artistcalledian] Fear by CSpenceFLY
Post:
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In Reply To
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I started AFF in September last year, i took 14 jumps to pass, now i'm working my way through my consol jumps

I almost packed it all in a few weeks ago, the fear got to me. I thought it's not for me if i'm this scared about it

I started to think just what it was that i was scared of, and narrowed it down to 2 things

1. Spinning up and not being able to stop myself
2. The initial feeling of going head down as i dive head first out of the door, before i catch the wind under neath me to get stable on

I kept thinking this through and through...asking myself if i could see any way i could stop the fear i was feeling

i work out both of them out in my head....

1. I knew i would not spin if i relaxed, so i just relaxed and stopped trying to do anything but just stay relaxed and stable - i want to do a few more jumps building my confidence that i can just do this simple task, seems very easy to big jump number people, but to me its the best feeling knowing i can just stay stable and pull on time

2. I decided to change my exit from a diving head down one out of the plane, to a feet down, facing into the relative wind exit... the same as static line students do, and when i'm happy doing that, i'll go back to diving out head first

What i'm trying to say is this....

Just take some time to try and work out the areas that are scaring you, and talk to experienced jumpers or instructors about your fears, everything can be worked through and changed for the better with the help of people who know what you're feeling

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



All of this from the same person that asked if we should even acknowledge static line jumpers and up to this point has referred to experianced jumpers as skygods.I don't get it.Wheres the british humor in you tell her to just suck it up.i'm very disappointed in you.With your 45000 plus jumps and 71yrs in the sport how could you abandon your true self?


.


.
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Spence, your not alone, many have called him a troll, I think it is obvious he does not have 71 years and a kabillion jumps!

_________________________________________

Someone dies, someone says how stupid, someone says it was avoidable, someone says how to avoid it, someone calls them an idiot, someone proposes rule chan

[LuvToFly 0]

Michael Jackson is much too tall to be considered a troll...

"The helicopter approaches closer than any other to fulfillment
of mankind's ancient dreams of a magic carpet" - Igor Sikorsky

[bodypilot1 0]

Quote

I am feeling nervous about it.

Learn to trust yourself.

Quote

but the thought of jumping with my own parachute terrified me.

Learn to trust you gear.


At that time you'll be ready to jump again.


Be safe
Ed

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[Eule 0]

Quote

Now I feel as though I need to build myself up again.

I started jumping in June 2005 and I've jumped at least about every other weekend since then. I still have
a certain amount of getting psyched up for a jump, especially if it's the first one of the weekend. I find
that most of the time, I get somewhat anxious on the ground and more anxious on the ride up, but when
it's time to get in the door, I just click into the routine of the dive and start focusing on what I'm going to
do, rather than be scared about it. Sometimes it lasts until I'm out the door and down a thousand feet,
and then I really settle into the routine and quit thinking about being scared. The next jump on the same
weekend is almost always a little easier.

Eule

PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

[Lew 0]

I just wanted to thank everyone for the replies. I do need to trust myself, my training, and my gear. I really appreciate the links to any sort of reading material on this topic! Just reading the words of my fellow skydivers makes me feel so much better. I can't believe that I thought I was alone with my battle of fear in this sport. Thanks everyone!! The financial forecast will have me jumping again by the end of January!! I am excited!

[pjchis 0]

What everyone said... but also try this breathing exercise on the way up to clear your mind.

Breathe in, control your breath. Doesn't have to be slow or fast, just deliberate. Literally think the words "I am..."

Breath out, control your breath. Same stuff as above but finish mentally speaking the sentance with "calm."

Very basic meditation technique called, guess what, "I am calm breathing." It works on many levels to calm your body and your mind. (ie. the physical responses to slow and controlled breathing and the psychological response caused by self-fulfilling prophecy or self-assurance or whatever.)

But it DOES work. And it's not just for skydiving.

[GAZ14 0]

This works for me too. Really chills you out. Try it!

[Orange1 0]

Quote

I can't believe that I thought I was alone with my battle of fear in this sport.

I would think those who have never battled fear are by far the minority! fwiw, I agree with the posts above - currency does a lot to reduce fear, and deep breathing on jump run fools your body.

Sample of the new Brian Germain book called "transcending fear at http://www.bigairsportz.com/pdf/sample-trans_fear.pdf

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[artistcalledian 0]

Quote

Quote

I started AFF in September last year, i took 14 jumps to pass, now i'm working my way through my consol jumps

I almost packed it all in a few weeks ago, the fear got to me. I thought it's not for me if i'm this scared about it

I started to think just what it was that i was scared of, and narrowed it down to 2 things

1. Spinning up and not being able to stop myself
2. The initial feeling of going head down as i dive head first out of the door, before i catch the wind under neath me to get stable on

I kept thinking this through and through...asking myself if i could see any way i could stop the fear i was feeling

i work out both of them out in my head....

1. I knew i would not spin if i relaxed, so i just relaxed and stopped trying to do anything but just stay relaxed and stable - i want to do a few more jumps building my confidence that i can just do this simple task, seems very easy to big jump number people, but to me its the best feeling knowing i can just stay stable and pull on time

2. I decided to change my exit from a diving head down one out of the plane, to a feet down, facing into the relative wind exit... the same as static line students do, and when i'm happy doing that, i'll go back to diving out head first

What i'm trying to say is this....

Just take some time to try and work out the areas that are scaring you, and talk to experienced jumpers or instructors about your fears, everything can be worked through and changed for the better with the help of people who know what you're feeling

All of this from the same person that asked if we should even acknowledge static line jumpers and up to this point has referred to experianced jumpers as skygods.I don't get it.Wheres the british humor in you tell her to just suck it up.i'm very disappointed in you.With your 45000 plus jumps and 71yrs in the sport how could you abandon your true self?


.


.

i fear meeting you more than i do jumping out of planes

________________________________________
drive it like you stole it and f*ck the police

[AFFI 0]

Fear can be a good thing and it feels so good to overcome!

Don’t abandon the foundation of safe skydiving skills and knowledge that I know you received. Keep it simple and have confidence in yourself, you are an outstanding individual and were a great student – there is no reason to not have confidence in your abilities. Practice EP's canopy piloting and remember to clear your air space and watch out for the other canopies in the air.

If you make alterations to the foundation of skills and knowledge you acquired make certain the change is a good idea. It is life and death up there so make certain that the source of the advice you get concerning safety and gear is sound…

Texas is a better place with such a wonderful person like you back!

Andrea says hi..

Mykel AFF-I10
Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…