What Jump Did The Nerves Go Away

[Kramer 0]

I'm curious, on what jump did you really notice that you weren't nearly as nervous as you once had been before, or did your nerves just sorta tapper off over the course of time?

I've only made five jumps, and I (as does most any student), get pretty nervous before each jump, and I wanna know when that's gonna go away.
Thanks.

-Kramer

The FAKE KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMER!!!!!!!!!

[mazevedo 0]

My second jump was the worst. I was just thinking what I was doing it again... But after that I was just sure I love that sheet.
The nerves goes away but when you lost the fear, you problably will get yourself hurt.
Respect the nature. Enjoy your jumps and land safely.

[FrogNog 1]

I have 30 jumps and my nerves are still tapering off. I talked to some multi-hundred-plus jumpers and instructors and two pieces of advice I got were "about 50 jumps, give or take" and "it's all about 'times out to the airplane.'".

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[atsaubrey 0]

i only have 3 jumps...but i will say the 3rd jump was by far the worst. All went great but...you ask yourself why your doing it. All i can say is....well...i was not having any kind of fun whatsoever. But i havent given up and will hope to complete AFF on nov 1st and 2nd. (hope this starts getting fun pretty soon.) Are my feeling normal or am i just "odd".

"GOT LEAD?"

[kelel01 1]

My nerves went away when I did my first solo (for the most part anyway). When I was a student, I would get SOOOOO nervous before every jump (losing my breath and all), and then when I went to do my first solo, I felt fine. Still a little bit of dry mouth, but no kidding, I felt about 500% better. I think a lot of it was performance anxiety! Hope that helps!

Blue Skies!
Kelly

[KenKnight 0]

With me it isn't so much how many jumps but how long since the last jump. I usually jump every other weekend and they're pretty much gone at 70 jumps. If I wait a 3rd weekend, I notice a little. If I go a month, they're back in full force for the first jump of the day.

_______________
D28695 PoPs #9237
"Mix ignorance with arrogance at low altitude and the results are almost guaranteed to be spectacular"
— Bruce Landsberg

[skybytch 259]

The "I could easily ride this plane back down" kinda nervous went away for me around 50 jumps. I still have to make the butterflies fly in formation if I haven't jumped for a month or so, or if I'm doing something new/different/big.

[Fast 0]

The "i don't know why the hell im doing this i don't care that it will be ok in freefall and I don't know why i'm getting on this plane why oh why" (rambling for emphasis) went away at about 11-14 jumps. I landed off, downwind by 13 and after 14 i was feeling much better about jumping.

~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

[kai2k1 0]

I just made my 8th and 9th jumps and I was more nervous than I was on my first tandem. But I made it through them OK

There's no truer sense of flying than sky diving," Scott Cowan

[towerrat 0]

fear never goes away. It will be slowly replaced by awareness. If you aren't scared you are stupid.------------------------------------------------

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes!

[SkydiveNFlorida 0]

I wasn't really even nervous about the first jump. What did nerve me was not knowing if i'd get all the stuff in level (5 or 6?) done. Like FL, BL, 360s, tracking... all in 1 dive. But, fortunately, I did:) Nothing better than being out of AFF, no one you have to impress then:D Just do whatever you please(within reason)

Angela

[colintri 0]

Quote

The "I could easily ride this plane back down" kinda nervous went away for me around 50 jumps. I still have to make the butterflies fly in formation if I haven't jumped for a month or so, or if I'm doing something new/different/big.

I'm the same way. I'm not scared about jumping out of planes anymore. Now, I'm more like too anxious to get out of the airplane! I do get nervous whenever I'm trying something new. For instance, I was doing my first Hybrid jump last Sunday and I couldn't stop thinking about how it has to be perfect!

Too bad it was a bust but still managed to have fun!

[SkydiveNFlorida 0]

Quote

fear never goes away. It will be slowly replaced by awareness. If you aren't scared you are stupid.------------------------------------------------

That's a ridiculous generalization! Not everyone has a fear about this. It doesn't make them stupid, nor does it mean they are unaware. Of course as you get more jumps your awareness increases, but to generalize and say that prior to that you had to be scared in order to be considered smart is absurd.

I wasn't scared. Nor do I consider myself stupid. I went through the course, I was completely confident when I got out there, I was very aware or altitude, and my awareness of surroundings came with time and is still increasing every jump. There's nothing wrong with being scared, but there's nothing wrong with NOT being scared, either.

Angela.

[Harksaw 0]

Its replaced by both awareness and fun. For me at about 25 jumps until I was thinking more about the jump than the fear. I know its just different definitions of "scared", but I dont think you have to be "scared" to be mindful of the risks, and I think you can be safer when you arent rigid with fear.

__________________________________________________
I started skydiving for the money and the chicks. Oh, wait.

[flygirl03 0]

At only 5 jumps, I am not even close to being rid of my nervousness.
I just get anxious at the door... once Im out, everything is Great.
I expressed this uneasiness to some of the other jumpers. They all told me, they Still have a little anxiety... one guy said he has 2300 jumps and still feels it. Im sure in his case it is more the adrenaline kicking in, not really nerves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
earthbound misfit

[wmw999 2,166]

1st freefall. I think it was my 9th jump. I have no idea why I kept jumping before then, because I was sick-scared. But that first freefall was absolute magic.

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)

[SDiver218 0]

I'm on jump 25, and for my first jump I wasn't really that nervous. It was on my second jump that I was scared. After that, it just eventually went away, particularly on my solo jumps. When you do your first solo successfully, and realize that you don't need anyone with you to complete a skydive safely, then your confidence increases tenfold. Now there isn't any real fear...just the occasional apprehension (which keeps me on my toes).

Although I will say that the first jump of the day is always the worst. Once I get that out of the way, my comfort level goes way up.

Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. - Benjamin Franklin

Ah that's just drunk talk, sweet beautiful drunk talk. - Barney Gumbal

[aero04 0]

About 50-60 jumps the nerves started to subside.

[andy2 0]

first load of the day: a little antsy on the ride up. After that the rest of the day I dont notice any extreme fear, just a little nervousness that I hope never goes away.

ps I've found doing a hop/pop from 3k or so for first load of the day is a good way to break yourself into a hard day of jumping. Hop/Pops are excellent fun too!

---------------------------------------------
let my inspiration flow,
in token rhyme suggesting rhythm...

[Casch 0]

I haven't really noticed any nervousness since around jumps 10-15 or so. But it wasn't until last weekend at jump 47 that I noticed that I wasnt nervous. On the way to altitude I was talking about how rubbing shaving gel on your paintball mask will keep it from fogging up. After that conversation I realised that I have zero nervousness. I don't have any fear either. Awareness and safety conciousness has replaced both.

[dterrick 0]

I must be a wacko because the nerves disappeared after jump #2.

I did IAD and on jump #1 (also student #1 from the Cessna) JM yelled 'door' and there was the wind and the noise. I though to myself "am I really going to do this... yes, I am" and just did it.

Jump #2 I was still a little tentative on my climbout but everything else went fan-frickin-tasatic.

Jump #3 I actually asked to borrow an altimeter and for more canopy tasks ... then took a packing lesson form a senior. I knew I was in deeeep trouble then.

Maybe it's mind over matter. Maybe I'm just crazy. I dunno.

***

Have you ever experienced and overcome anxiery in other areas - like school exams? You may find the key to releiving the stress in past experiences. Chat with your coach / instructor and try some techniques. If they work, you'll likely be over the anxiery in another dozen jumps - if they don't work it might take 12 jumps instead . Seriously, part of the thrill (and fright) comes from the unknown and as soon as you have a basic feeling forthe whole process you'll be over the worst of it.

Keep at it.

Dave

Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

[Michele 1]

At 40 jumps, I learned how to fly my canopy by taking a canopy control class...and the fear was greatly reduced then. But it wasn't until about jump 65 that I landed, and realized I hadn't been fearful at all...tense, anxious, yes, but not fearful.

Of course, some DZ.commers conspired to make sure pretty much everything went wrong with me in one day (aside from a mal...)...ie a rodeo and fruitloop (unexpected) in one jump, getting funneled at 6.2K when we were supposed to break at 5.5...and getting sucked low on the last jump (I pull at 4.5, and I pulled under 3 that time...)...Airweenie was my nickname until that day...and it left because of those jumps. I learned that I could handle stuff like that...which had been a great concern...and that I could manage to deal with whatever was going wrong. That was the boost I needed.

Ciels-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[Kramer 0]

Quote

For my first jump I wasn't really that nervous. It was on my second jump that I was scared.

I was the exact same way. My first jump I was completely calm...I would be surprised if my heart rate was over 100.

My Mom was watching the video later that night, shaking all over with nerves just from watching, she looked at me and was like "how can you be so calm?", I told her to wait for the second jump to come up...then you could tell I was nervous.

-Kramer

The FAKE KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMER!!!!!!!!!

[Squeak 17]

I have 175 jumps and if I go a couple of weeks without jumping I get really nervous on the climb to alti. Once in FF I'm Fine again

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[themitchyone 0]

For me, AFF2 I was the most nervous. I thought, okay, I've done a tandem and AFF1. Do I need to keep doing this??? Yes!! I completed level 4 a couple of weeks ago. Even though I was concerned about having to try to land without radio guidance, I felt relatively calm, and I realized afterwards that I practically dived out of the plane. Kinda weird for me since I wouldn't go on Xelerator at Knott's Berry Farm!

"If the Bible has taught us nothing else, and it hasn't, it's that girls should stick to girl's sports such as hot oil wrestling and foxy boxing." - Homer Simpson