Relaxing in freefall

[relax 0]

Hi all - I'm currently at AFF level 5 and things are generally going well but I'm a bit tense in freefall and a little wobbly as a result. Any advice on chilling in freefall?

(apparently chugging a 6-pack before a jump is not an option :o)

cheers

[kelel01 1]

Breathe, and shake out your hands . . . I had to do it all the time.
Hopefully I'm not overstepping my bounds here . . .

Kelly

[NeedToJump 0]

As Kelly said: breathe and shake out your hands. Breathing and relaxing is key to skydiving.

Another thing to do is lie on the ground in your box position and try to relax your body as much as you can. Remember that feeling and try to apply that feeling the next time you get back in the air.

Also smile
The trick is to not try to hard to relax

Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

[jjiimmyyt 0]

stick your tongue out at your instructor, always made me relax

"This isn't an iron lung, people. You can actually disconnect and not die." -Dave

[noname 0]

I was told to imagine my instructor standing in the door with a big smile .... and a piece of lettuce stuck in his braces.

Worked for me

[mjosparky 3]

Wiggle you toes in your shoes.
Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[rkdavenp 0]

Keep in mind that you have plenty of time, I have tended to get task loaded, and hurry up to get things done but if you just think about it plenty before the jump it helps. visualize the jump at least 3 times or more in your head on the plane ride up.. and it will go easier

[obelixtim 100]

If you can imagine long hair blowing out behind you in a strong wind.....let your arms and legs relax and let the relative wind blow them back like that......your body will naturally fall stable.....

My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

[relax 0]

"The trick is to not try to hard to relax"

Which is exactly what it feels like I'm doing at the moment!

Thanks for the advice all, like the idea of shaking out hands and wiggling toes.

[Nightingale 0]

I had an instructor (Vinny!) make funny faces at me on my level three. it really helped!

[Ncrowe 0]

I had the same problem and it was cured by doing a Relax dive with no objective other than having fun. Soon as I got out of the door I put a huge smile on my face and it all finally clicked. Its been cake ever since.

"Don't Mess Around With the Guy in Shades- Oh No!!! "

[bigtim 0]

Hang in there.... you are at about the number of jumps where something clicks inside and you start to enjoy your jumps. It takes a few jumps to take the pressure off of yourself. Anyhow, one tip for you would be to watch the plane upon exit for at least a few seconds. This gives you a good arch and stable exit and also helps to take you focus off of the ground and focus more on the sky around you...
Have fun and... welcome!

[relax 0]

Absolutely NO question about hanging in there - loving it, but bummed I can't jump for 2 weeks 'coz of work = frustration!

[Hazarrd 1]

Enjoy that tense/nervous feeling. It will be gone before you know it.

.-.

[markn 0]

One thing that I would add it to recommend that you pactice relaxing before the jump. This may sound a bit silly, but think about it. Trying to relax right before the jump without ever practicing it would be like trying to execute emergency procedures without ever having practiced them. To be good at it everything takes practice, even just relaxing.

You don't have to wait until you get to the dropzone to practice relaxing. Do it at home when you have some free time, do it in a car while waiting for a traffic light to change. Don't worry if you relax too much and don't notice the light change, someone behind you will remind you to go. It works every time.

As you state yourself the key is to not think about relaxing. So close your eyes, breathe deeply and imagine you are doing something you really enjoy, be it riding a horse, riding a bike or just watching a sunset. Imagine as many of the details of the event you are imagining as you can. Remember the feel of the wind or the sun on your face, remember the sounds you hear, etc. Do this for a few minutes and I can guarantee you that you will be relaxed.

While in freefall don't think about the jumps as a test or a set of tasks you have to pass to get to the next level. Treat it as a big, fun ride made for enjoyment and you will do fine.



--
Mark N

[firstime 0]

I corrected that by looking around in between moves.
I would do, thats east ,look at the alti, thats north ,look at the alti.. etc.... But just to relax as the instructor tells you is the key, it will rid you of the ole potato chip synrome.

[crzjp20 0]

SMILE!!!!

--------------------------------------------------
Fear is not a confession of weakness, it is an oportunity for courage.

[sweep 0]

Quote

As you state yourself the key is to not think about relaxing. So close your eyes, breathe deeply and imagine you are doing something you really enjoy, be it riding a horse, riding a bike or just watching a sunset.
--
Mark N

Or indeed skydiving! I have found it helpful to spend time through the week picturing dives - maybe while taking a screen break at work, just sitting back in the chair, closing eyes, chilling out and remembering a jump or imagining one. Makes the brain associate the images more with being relaxed than nervous.

Also helped me to buy and watch some good skydiving videos with good music and watch them often. Then in the plane if I'm nervous I imagine the music from the film and visualise the jump I'm going to do. I see my jump as perfect and as visually stunning as the footage of the pros in the vids...

Still not all the way there, but I'm much more relaxed than I used to be.

Sweep

[shropshire 0]

Hey, you're on a low number of jumps at the moment (but that will soon change), so you're not going to be relaxed falling out of a plane -t'aint natural! - Give it time and as other have said - SMILE & enjoy.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[dj-seus 0]

greetings

from one newbie who has struggled with relaxing...

music is a very good thing... when the door opens, i've normally got some great song so thoroughly stuck in my head, that i'm bobbing up and down, humming, singing... practically dancing on my way out...

it makes me look like a weirdo at times, but hey - i've got the funk in my soul! :)

confidence also helps... of course, don't fool yourself into being complacent, but a good dose of "hey, I can DO this!" can certainly help!

of course, for some odd reason, as soon as i'm out the door, there is no such thing as "nervous"... once the air hits my face, it's all gravy baby...

;)

blue skies and smiling faces

-dan

[TheBile 0]

One thing that's always confused me with this relaxing thing is if your forcing your muscles to maintain an arch, how can you relax those same muscles for stability ?

Gerb

I stir feelings in others they themselves don't understand. KA'CHOW !

[daveom 0]

Quote

One thing that's always confused me with this relaxing thing is if your forcing your muscles to maintain an arch, how can you relax those same muscles for stability ?

If you feel you're forcing the arch, take a DEEP breath and as you breathe out push your hips forward, then just lay there with the wind blowing your arms and legs back. The wind can take your weight. Then just try to keep most everything symmetrical!

Dave

[kelpdiver 2]

Quote

One thing that's always confused me with this relaxing thing is if your forcing your muscles to maintain an arch, how can you relax those same muscles for stability ?

It doesn't take much to maintain the arch, but that's easier said than done for us students, no? I'm much better than I was before this past weekend, but am still pretty bad about the stiff shoulders and claw like hands.

Tunnel time is great - you can spend an entire 2 minute leg just working on the arch and relaxing all over.

[fred 0]

Quote

One thing that's always confused me with this relaxing thing is if your forcing your muscles to maintain an arch, how can you relax those same muscles for stability ?

Standard disclaimer: I don't have many jumps, I'm not an instructor or coach, and I'm not very good, so take this for what it's worth--not much.

But when I was training, I kept hearing the same thing. Relax! When I did finally manage to "relax" on a freefall, I came to realize that all the advice about relaxing is not "relax your muscles and let the wind shape them", but instead, "relax your mind." Take a deep breath. If you start spinning or chipping or going unstable, relax, take your time, and then fix it. The majority of my problems with stability (and ooh doggy did I have a lot of them) were because when I was unstable, I would try to fix it, realize I'm still unstable, try to fix it, and repeat, about 80 times in a second. I believe in the skydiving world this is called "flailing." I never gave my corrections a chance to work, and all of my "corrections" were making things much worse.

It's a lot easier now that I'm trying to learn to sit fly, and the advice is now, "Relax! But push those legs down hard!" When I inevitably end up spinning around, I just lay down on my back, take a moment, and try again.

[relax 0]

Thanks again for all the advice - gotta say that skydivers are a top lot when it comes to this. Not like other forums I know that seem to have permanent flame wars going on!

take it easy....