Knee Turns.....visualisation

[Zoter 0]

Hi y'all.
Im an AFF graduate and have 30 odd jumps so far....I've started practicing relative work and am experincing a sticking point !.

Im trying my hardest to get knee turns down pat....but seem to really be struggling. I think Im focusing too much on getting it right and TBH will spend 5-10 secs IN FREEFALL before I try...just trying to cooordinate movements before I do it..

Sometimes it works .....but most of the time ...nop....i just start rocking and doing a real lazy turn

Any body got any good tips to visualise/practice the movements required for things like knee turns etc.

This is my wall.......and Im climbing it brick by brick...cept this wall just seems to go on forever!

Thanks As always

[michaelflying 0]

start freeflying

www.skydivekzn.co.za

[skydivejersey 0]

Try the windtunnel in Paris. That will sort your turns out.

[Ron 7]

Practice on a bed.....Alot.

Get all the thinking done before your next skydive.

That way you will not waste time in freefall.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[bmcd308 0]

Ron stole my post.

Seriously - freefall is way too expensive to learn mechanics there. Get someone to show you what to do, then practice on the floor in front of a mirror or on a beanbag or on a bed. If you can, have someone with more experience watch you to make sure you are doing it right. Also consider ordering the Airspeed Basic Body Flight video. I think it is under $20, and it explains upper and lower body turns well.

Brent

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www.jumpelvis.com

[smiles 0]

knee turns?
how about leg turns....?
I do recall before being totally aware of my whole body in freefall (was more aware of upper) having problems with flat spins as one knee was down- and I was trying to control upper body to correct.

An instructor got me to lay arched on top of a huge wooden wire spool- and taught me leg turns. He would turn the spool according to direction I would turn when using my legs (without dropping a knee)
It helped me to learn to fly with my legs and do leg turns.

SMiles

[drenaline 0]

The key in skydiving is "Dirt dive" and "practice practice practice".

Get a big pillow, do your belly, arch, turn right, coast, stop, relax, repeat; after doing it 20 times, go for left, then again and again and again.

I dunno if it will work but a thing I do to visualise is that the knee I put down is where my lower part will move. Right knee equals lower part moving to the right, making you turn to the left.

HISPA 21
www.panamafreefall.com

[Zoter 0]

Thanks All....and thanks Brent...I have that video already (in fact the tape is starting to get worn !!)

My difficulty is in what movement should I do with my leg to effect the turn....I have difficulty with that...should I think about dropping my leg fom the foot...or bending a knee up towards my waist....or maybe something else...!!

[Luna 0]

I just got back from the Airspeed tunnel camp, and this is what one of the coaches told me: He said when he was learning knee turns, and they say "drop a knee," he got all confused as to what that really meant. Instead, think of it as "lift a knee to your chest." That is roughly the movement you are looking for. The leg should also be slightly bent toward the outside of your body as well, but that's a fine point. And like everyone else says, practice on the ground as much as you can first. Good luck!

I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

[jmidgley 0]

Hi

I don't know whether this is exactly what you mean but - I had real problems remembering which leg I was supposed to be using to turn with - it just didn't seem intuitive. Then someone offered a top tip - think of it as offering your leg to someone for them to get hold of. It clicked right into place then - say out loud - 'here, take my leg' and round you go.

John

[tdhibberd 0]

I spent a long time struggling to change from a box-man to a mantis and I'm still only about 1/2 way there! Still, To change to knee turns i spent a long time watching tv on my bed in a mantis position and practised the arms and knee movements to build up muscle memory. This ment that when I went to jump I did the turns without really having to think about it.

[Zoter 0]

......which is frustrating because im usually well coordinated in just about all other activities i do !

Thanks to everyone for all your advice...its been very useful !....Im not going skydiving for a while!...gonna' just practice in the pool ( Im sure someone is going to think Im drowning!) and on my bed watching TV...lol....

No seriously.....your advice (everyone) has been very much appreciated

Ta !

[174fps 1]

Imagine your body as a propeller,
when doing shoulder turns you dip the shoulder in the direction you want to turn.
When doing knee turns, the legs become the other side of the propeller. You would dip the opposite leg.
Trying to dip a knee often results in dearching so instead of dipping the opposite leg, raise the leg on the side you want to turn.
To practice, lay on a creeper, pillow etc.
To turn right raise your right knee, opposite for other way. Remember to counter to stop the turn.
If you combine the shoulder and knee turns you have a centre turn.


Andrew

[jumpgod 0]

hmmm. knee turns are the sh!t.

think of it as the law of opposites. right knee downward = left turns ... left knee downward = right turns.

this, in conjuntion with arm movements will help you create a pinpoint turn with great accuracy and precision and speed.

my advice, practice and don't think, just do. in a few jumps, it will be second nature.

[Zoter 0]

Thanks.....Yoda

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