Picking a discipline

[LittleOne 0]

Since I got my A license, I chose to pursue both freeflying and RW simultaneously. One year and over 100 jumps later, I cannot pick one or the other. This is not because I am an indecisive person. I just enjoy both so much that I cannot see forsaking or postponing one for the other. (I know there are other disciplines but I am not ready for swooping, sky surfing, wingsuit, etc just yet.)

Everyone I know at my level has already made the choice. Their reasons vary but I am the only one left, seemingly, on the fence. I do not aspire to compete or attain ratings. My volatile work/travel schedule creates lengthy layoffs followed by intense periods of jumping.

I know that if I continue to pursue both, my progression in both will likely be slower. I have already felt this effect since I have been doing a lot of RW lately and have seen my sitflying skills degrade. However, I love mixing it up on any given day and like having a larger pool of people to jump with.

My questions are:

To the people at my level, is there anyone else out there pursuing RW and freeflying simultaneously? How are you going about your progression?

To the more experienced people, is there anyone out there who did pursue both from the early stages? What was your progression like and what advice might you offer?

Generally, is this a really bad idea? thanks all...

[NWFlyer 2]

I have about the same number of jumps as you and I've done both - concentrating mainly on RW till I had over 100 jumps, now I'm getting into freeflying, but slowly. The way I approach it is if there's no one around to jump with or one slot left on a plane, I'll go do a solo and work on my freeflying (though I do get coaching from time to time to give me feedback and things to work on). If there's folks around, I'll do RW.

My goal is to be able to fun jump with pretty much anyone, so I'd like to get skills in both. So far, I'm much more comfortable jumping with others in RW, but before long I'll be ready to at least do two-way freefly. I'm like you - no real aspirations to get competitive, so I'm just learning to fly my body.

I, personally, don't think you *have* to choose, but like you said, progression may be slower. If that's okay for you, who cares what others think?

"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

[Dougiefresh 0]

I'm doing both. I flew with a rookie RW team this summer, and practiced freeflying whenever I got the chance. I've found it works well -- my pool of potential jump partners is much larger than if I'd only pursued one or the other. I'd like to think it makes me a better skydiver, as I am forced to keep up with people in any orientation. Plus I'm learning from different people all the time, so my knowledge pool is large.

There's nothing saying you have to do one or the other. Just do what's fun.

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

[skybytch 259]

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Everyone I know at my level has already made the choice.

They decided to become one trick ponies. I think that's a shame.

There are so many different ways to play in the sky. Why be limited to only one way?

If you don't have a driving need to become really good at any one thing, keep playing on your belly, back, butt, feet and head. In the long run they may be able to fly circles around you in one body position but you'll be the better overall skydiver.

[adamUK 3]

The only discipline I stick to is the one to have as much fun as possible!

Why does it matter if you choose to do a bit of everything? As long as you are enjoying what you do then that's all good.

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[kelpdiver 2]

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I have about the same number of jumps as you and I've done both - concentrating mainly on RW till I had over 100 jumps, now I'm getting into freeflying, but slowly. The way I approach it is if there's no one around to jump with or one slot left on a plane, I'll go do a solo and work on my freeflying (though I do get coaching from time to time to give me feedback and things to work on). If there's folks around, I'll do RW.

I've just started with this same plan in mind. Sometimes I just want to get out alone on my belly and enjoy the view, but I'm going to push most of those solos towards working the FF angle now.

It may take longer to get good at one aspect, but I'm not racing anyone here. Ultimately I want to be able to fly my body in any orientation, like I can underwater.

[Elisha 1]

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Everyone I know at my level has already made the choice.

They decided to become one trick ponies. I think that's a shame.

There are so many different ways to play in the sky. Why be limited to only one way?

If you don't have a driving need to become really good at any one thing, keep playing on your belly, back, butt, feet and head. In the long run they may be able to fly circles around you in one body position but you'll be the better overall skydiver.

Oh, btw, I think you owe me jump at the boogie at the very least....maybe force me head down to practice freeflying. And yes, this statement was deliberately provacative.

[skybytch 259]

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maybe force me head down to practice freeflying.

What, so you can tell everyone how badly I suck at freeflying?

Be glad to jump with ya, but it'd be safer for both of us if we fly on our bellies. I really do suck at freeflying...

[nael 0]

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Everyone I know at my level has already made the choice.

They decided to become one trick ponies. I think that's a shame.

There are so many different ways to play in the sky. Why be limited to only one way?

I disagree. At his (and my) level we don't have a whole lot of jumps to try different things if we actually want to be good at something.

I decided to focus on rel work straight off student status simply because I was not at a level yet where I felt I was good enough to say "ok, done that, what's next?".

I'm happy to be a "one trick pony" at this stage, because it means I'm (maybe) ok at rel work as opposed to sucking at 2 disiplines (no offence to anyone). I have friends who went straight to freeflying and they arent too good at rel work now, but I have never tried freeflying and know they would fly circles around me if I did a freefly jump with them!

As for the original post and choosing a discipline, it was fairly easy for me because of my competitive nature and the jump restrictions placed on intermediate 4way (in Australia). If I had 400 freefly jumps I'd have a hard time getting into an inter 4way team here, inter freefly doesnt have the same restrictions, so I persued 4way and am saving freeflying for later.

Even if you're not competetive, wouldnt you rather focus on one thing at a time? Even if you make a choice now, that's not the be all and end all, you can always do 200 freefly jumps now, and then 200 rel jumps or whatever. Good luck with the decision.

www.TerminalSports.com.auAustralia's largest skydive gear store

[kelpdiver 2]

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Even if you're not competetive, wouldnt you rather focus on one thing at a time?

That's a personal preference. I find variety to be more pleasing. It's not about stopping midway, it's more about sharing some of the air time with other facets now that progress has slowed on the first one. The great thing about beginning FF is you need to do a bunch of solos anyway to get good enough to do 2 ways.

[nael 0]

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It's not about stopping midway, it's more about sharing some of the air time with other facets now that progress has slowed on the first one.

If progress slows on one perhaps getting a coach or jumping with different people would help that.

I'm not disagreeing with you, I'm just saying that doing one discipline over a period of time will make you more efficient at that discipline than if you've been sharing that time between multiple disciplines.

I guess it all just depends on what you want out of skydiving. Personally I don't want to be a "good" skydiver, I want to be a "great" skydiver so I focus on one thing and go for it.

www.TerminalSports.com.auAustralia's largest skydive gear store

[kelpdiver 2]

oh, no doubt.

But diminishing returns kicks in to the point where you're plateau'ing a lot. It's nice to have a side interest where there's more movement. Not to mention a purpose when you're jumping alone (for whatever reason).

IMO, a 'great' skydiver can do more than one type of jumping. For those oriented toward competition, that's absolutely wrong. I'm not at the competency level yet where competition lies, and given the amount of time I intend to dedicate to this one sport, likely never will. (Just as there is the choice to specialize within the sport, there is the choice to dedicate one's time to just one sport.)

[skybytch 259]

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I guess it all just depends on what you want out of skydiving.

Bingo. I'm in this to have fun, not to be "great." I'd rather be adequate (ie safe) at as many things as I can be than to be a world champion at any one thing but hopeless at everything else.

Different strokes. YMMV. See ya in the packing area.

[nael 0]

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IMO, a 'great' skydiver can do more than one type of jumping.

IMO most great skydivers DO do more than one discipline and they do it well, which is what makes them great, they just have a gazillion more jumps than us!

And Skybytch - isn't comepetition fun?

Seriously though, I find competition fun, that's why I want to do it!
Different folks, different strokes.

www.TerminalSports.com.auAustralia's largest skydive gear store

[rehmwa 2]

Being a one trick pony really does stink and restricts a person in the amount of fun they can have. It also gives people a crappy attitude towards others - which is the worst of all.

I'm competitive also, and choose to really work hard at 4-way. And I'm loving it and getting great payoff in skills and fun. But it is more focused and some "fun" jumpers don't see how that can be as fun. They are normally very frustrated jumpers that just do boogie type jumps 100% of the time. So we make a point of taking these people out once in a while and showing them the fun of getting an awful lot of points and moving fast - most get hooked.

But I also freefly and do CrW and play with my canopy whenever I can and will learn other disciplines as they come. The only tough part is when I have a free jump from 4-way and want to find an experienced FFer to show me something new, I also have requests to do the same for others in RW - so which jump to choose is very hard (give back vs learn something new.....)

Surprisingly, the RW and FF skills complement each other greatly (it's all just using the air). Once the stable body position is dialed in, the moves and feel are very similar. So do CrW and swooping complement each other, too.

I'm a big believer in being as good as possible in one discipline but still being competent in a couple others too. And to never bash the other disciplines (except in fun).

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Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[mjosparky 3]

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I guess it all just depends on what you want out of skydiving. Personally I don't want to be a "good" skydiver, I want to be a "great" skydiver so I focus on one thing and go for it.

What do you do for recreation?

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[rehmwa 2]

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What do you do for recreation?

For some people, going for it and challenging yourself and competition is recreation and fun. Not everybody thinks an airbath and boogie exits are as fun as dialing in a new block move or FF manuever.

And they exist in every discipline (despite what people think, no single discipline is more 'fun oriented' than any other. It's usually more of a relative skill level and presence of a lot of inexperienced newbies than anything that drive the whole false "hey lighten up it's just 'skydiving'" attitude). In fact, I find the self proclaimed "laid back" types to be the most intolerant of other people's definition of what's fun for them. Strange isn't it?

Trick is to find others that feel like you do and avoid projecting your style onto those that aren't comfortable with that. It's tougher at small DZs, but they make up for it with a tighter knit crowd usually.

different strokes - that's another thing that makes it fun, all the different personalities

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Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[skybytch 259]

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And Skybytch - isn't comepetition fun?

Yeah it is (did I say it wasn't?). If I could afford it I'd be competing in both RW and freefly; would definitely help my skills in both disciplines.

I just think all forms of freefall flight are fun and see no reason to limit myself to one body position.

[nael 0]

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What do you do for recreation?

For some people, going for it and challenging yourself and competition is recreation and fun.

Exactly. I love competition, always have and probably always will. I like to challenge myself and that is the reason I started jumping - because it scared the hell outta me!

We're all basically in agreement here I think. Of course participating in more than one discipline is a great thing to do, and if you read over what I wrote, I actually said that was my grand plan, but all I'm saying is when I start out at something I'd rather focus on one thing to build my skills up and then later move onto something else.

It's all skydiving in the end, and when I do get into freeflying you can bet your ass I will be competing in that at some point too. For me, it's all about challenging myself, and I've found the best way for me to do that is through competition.

www.TerminalSports.com.auAustralia's largest skydive gear store

[bob.dino 0]

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What do you do for recreation?[Shocked]

She teases the front float (point) .

[skydivefive 0]

I don't think there is anything wrong with picking one direction, but so far I am having some troubles doing this. I love freeflying, but I am having a lot of fun getting in on some good bellyway.

Basically I show up to the DZ, look around at who is there, and then pick a suit. I told myself I would dedicate one day to each discipline, but as the croud shifts, so does my flying style.

When I started trying to sit-fly at about 50 jumps people told me I had to stick with one discipline, but I don't know that anyone can decide that for you. I would be bummed if I was just starting to sit fly now.

Sunday I did an 8 point five way and got my first unassisted sit fly dock (which I am really proud of!). All in all, it was a good day, and I am glad I am able to do these things.

It isn't what it could be, or it what it should be, it is what it is.

[nael 0]

Maybe I havent made myself clear. I never said people shouldn't do multiple disciplines, I said that you will be better at the discipline you choose if you only do one (as a new jumper especially). Is that clear now?

And Dave, I have to tease Matt - he makes me laugh! I couldn't think of a better FF for our team!

www.TerminalSports.com.auAustralia's largest skydive gear store

[riddler 0]

I felt the same until I realized I wanted to get my AFFI. Now I just fly on my belly to get good enough to do that. After AFFI, I'll probably pick up freeflying again for fun.

I think it is possible to do both. Like has been said already, the progression is slower. But if you have the money to spend a lot of time in the tunnel, you can do both at even better speed than someone who never goes to the tunnel and only practices one discipline.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[Andy9o8 0]

I can understand developing a preference for a particular discipline (although that’s not my personality; I enjoy sampling everything). But I just don’t understand the mentality that you “must” choose a discipline in skydiving, kind of like you “must” declare a major in college. Sounds too much like work to me.