Luna 0 #1 March 24, 2003 I've had a pretty discouraging student progression so far, from losing altitude awareness on my first AFF jump and barely passing, to a cutaway on my 3rd. My freefall was deceptively great all the way until the 180's & 360's jump, where my spin problem surfaced. After 3 attempts at that level, I moved on, barely passing the instability levels because of my continuing spin problem. I did several solo jumps after I was cleared to try to work on the spin problem. Finally did a coached jump where we worked on countering the spin. Well, that worked, but I was still spending most of the dive countering. Still, did my tracking jumps, which didn't go well at all, but I got tired of not progressing, so I decided to move on to my real coach jumps, finally (jump 16). So, I can tell all of you students who struggle, and have to repeat dives, and get all discouraged that I totally sympathize! Every time I went up I would think to myself that maybe I'm just never going to get it, and maybe I should just quit. I've been there, as I know a lot of you have, too. What I want to tell all of you who are going through this is, DON'T GIVE UP! I did 2 jumps this weekend, and they were 2 of the best jumps I've done! All of a sudden, it's clicking. I'm staying stable, I'm not tending to spin or turn. My tracking is on heading now. My deliberate turns are easier. I was supposed to be doing forward motion to docking from ten feet, which I successfully did three times on my second jump, but on my first jump it turned more into a swoop & dock (without docking) where I had to cover something like 75 feet to get to my instructor. And I did!! On heading, with no problems. It just took me until breakoff to get there (I need booties!). I never would have believed that it would have all just fallen into place like it did on these jumps, but it did, and I cannot tell you how exhilarating it was, and how ecstatic I am. It totally erased all of the discouragement I have been feeling. Getting through these levels is the hardest thing, but hang in there, because you will get it, and it will feel SO good! I just wanted to offer some encouragement to those who have been in the same position that I have been. Good luck to all of you. We'll have our A's before we know it! I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luv2Fall 0 #2 March 24, 2003 Luna - thanks for the words of encouragment as your words do mean a lot to us who are having problems......................... It sounds to me you will be buying beer soon! Congrats! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sducoach 0 #3 March 25, 2003 You go tell Jim that J.E. said he owes you a beer!!! Tell him if he's a cheap skate to put it on my tab. Great Post. I'm going to put it up at the DZ!! Blues, J.E.James 4:8 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Push 0 #4 March 25, 2003 Quote DON'T GIVE UP That is really true. It took me 8 TRCPs to get cleared to freefall. Every problem a student can have, I hadThe best part is the satisfaction you get after finally succeeding. Keep trying! -- Toggle Whippin' Yahoo Skydiving is easy. All you have to do is relax while plummetting at 120 mph from 10,000' with nothing but some nylon and webbing to save you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CrazyIvan 0 #5 March 25, 2003 Sometimes the worse students become the greatest skydivers. Wave...Arch...PULL!! __________________________________________ Blue Skies and May the Force be with you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snowflake 0 #6 March 25, 2003 Theres a woman at my DZ it took her 40+ AFF jumps and an hour of tunnel time, BUT she finally passed. It was close and she almost got cut off a few times, but she stuck with it. I probably would have quit so I gotta give it up to her. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luna 0 #7 March 25, 2003 Quote You go tell Jim that J.E. said he owes you a beer!!! Tell him if he's a cheap skate to put it on my tab. Great Post. I'm going to put it up at the DZ!! Blues, J.E. Awww...thanks! I'll tell Jim, but I gotta say, he has been so great through all of my troubles. And I still feel indebted to him for the lost freebag. He is actually the one who I did my first dock on this weekend on my second jump. Thanks for the nice words. I just know how it feels, and want everyone to know that it does get better! And as someone said, the feeling you get when you finally get it is just incredible. I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndyMan 7 #8 March 25, 2003 Luna, I don't intend to be mean... but I can't imagine anyone being let off student status who can't keep a heading. The thought scares me, and if I were running the show I'd be looking into why they let you graduate if you can't fall stable. I hope that the DZ's I jump at would not be so generous. _Am__ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michele 1 #9 March 25, 2003 Quoteif I were running the show I'd be looking into why they let you graduate if you can't fall stable. Andy, I don't intend to be mean, but I don't understand why you can't congratulate her on getting through her challenges? If you were perfect, and never made a mistake, why haven't you offered her some hints and suggestions about how to deal with her challenges successfully, instead of questioning her DZ and her instructors? Look, she put up a post which encourages others, which is a great synopsis of what she has had to handle (including a cutaway on level 3...), and it's a great post, and will support those who are having difficulty right now...and it details her struggles. Why lambast her for that? Why not just say "Hey, good deal, congratulations! Everyone who's struggling, keep at it!" You're not running her dz, you're not the one who jumped with her, you're not her instructors, and you don't know what she went through. Luna, you rawk. Good deal, and I am proud of you for all of your hard work and struggles. You are amazing, and I am thrilled to know you've gotten to the "clicky" part. Go Girlio!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY Heather! Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luv2Fall 0 #10 March 25, 2003 Luna is a wonderful person who doesn't give herself enough credit and is hard on herself. No one at the DZ has a problem jumping with her. Our DZ and its instructors are second to none IMNSOH. I can attest that these people aren't as generous as you may think. I'm doing C-2 for the 5th time.....I'm not spinning anymore, I just have a very, very slow turn.............and am stable w/o need of JM docking on me at pulltime. This still isn't cutting it at the DZ so pray tell who is generous? Jim & his crew rocks! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ladyskydiver 0 #11 March 25, 2003 You go, girl! Congrats! Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shark 0 #12 March 25, 2003 Heather, Congratulations! Sounds like you are progressing just fine. When I went through AFF, I had to repeat Level 4 because of a rotation. I remember the JM giving me a legs out signal and toe taps. I thought I was responding and correcting, but the video showed differently. I watched the tape a few weeks ago and wondered why the student (me) was not responding very well to the signals. The student's legs were also asymetrical causing the rotation. This is one reason why I recommend to students to have video during their training jumps. It does get better after you do your homework and get back up in the air. Just relax and have fun. You can also inspire others with your good attitude and encouragement. That A license will be in your hands pretty soon! Take care, Shark AFF-I Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luna 0 #13 March 25, 2003 Well, several people have already had a bit to say. What I want to say is, I don't intend to sound mean, but you haven't jumped with me. Consistently, I always got stable when I went to pull. And on my last "AFF" level for you old school people, my very experienced instructor and former school owner who jumped with me did say that he should not be having to come and stop me from spinning at the level I was at, but that he did not feel that I was a danger to myself or anyone else in the air, and so he did clear me to solo. He advised me to do several solo jumps where I could learn to relax, which is my main problem (you should ask Michele what a cutaway on your third jump does to your ability to relax during a jump). Yes, it's legs not symmetrical and arms probably not either, but if I weren't so stiff it wouldn't be as big a problem. Anyway, I took his advice, and I refused to move on to the rest of my training (with the new ISP, you don't just run off jumping with anyone on the DZ until you have completed coaching jumps where you learn the basics of formation skydiving) until I felt that I had fixed my problems. As Robert so wonderfully put it (thanks for the very nice words! I'd also like to clarify something else: I was having a problem with spinning. I wasn't careening around the sky. I would submit that I was less of a problem in the air than a beginner freeflyer who in fact does careen around the sky, but nobody seems to think that they shouldn't be allowed to learn to freefly on their own. The heading problem I referred to was with tracking. I did TWO tracking dives where I had this heading problem. FYI, according to the new ISP, your tracking dive comes after you are already cleared to solo, and should be ONE solo dive where you track three times for five seconds each. This is obviously self-checking because there is nobody else there to see how well you really did. That is across the board, not just at my DZ. So, I could have lied (as I'm sure others have and will) and said that my first try at tracking was great. But instead, I was honest and went up for another try at it. It still wasn't perfect, but WHO IS on their second attempt at doing it? Were you? I doubt it. (Quick review for you: all students following the ISP should do a solo tracking dive after they have been cleared to solo, and I'd like you to tell me that the majority of students are not going to have problems holding a heading on their first attempt at tracking, please. So, explain please how this fits in with your idea that anyone who will not be holding a heading should be jumping with someone else. Or maybe you should suggest that they change that part of the new ISP.) Starting in the coach jumps, the instructor evaluates your track. My first coach jump, I still had a slight turn in my track. My second time, it was perfectly on heading. Obviously, not a full delta position, but give me a break here! This is what learning is about. I'm not creating a danger for anyone else, or for myself, or my instructors would not have cleared me. I am not about to jump with anyone but a coach or an instructor until I get my A license. Damn, why did I just spend so much time defending myself? (Michele, I know...I can't help it) Despite what you or anyone else might think, I am proud of what I have accomplished so far. You aren't going to diminish that for me. Thanks again to everyone else for all of your kind words and encouragement. Sheesh, you'd think I should stop trying to encourage others with my story. Or maybe Andy thinks I should have just packed it in after my cutaway. No worries, I'll be sure to stay away from your DZ so you don't have to worry that my training isn't up to your standards. By the way...they ARE using the ISP at your DZ, aren't they? Because you know a lot of places still aren't. Even though it's the most comprehensive training program, including learning a lot about canopy flight, and it's what the USPA recommends that every DZ should be using right now. My DZ is. I have no concerns about my training or the competency of my instructors. I'm sorry for you if you do. I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michele 1 #14 March 25, 2003 Quote (Michele, I know...I can't help it) Quote Despite what you or anyone else might think, I am proud of what I have accomplished so far. Out of all the other sentences, I liked that one best. Rawk on, Heather! Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Muenkel 0 #15 March 26, 2003 Heather, I for one am enormously impressed with your guts and determination. This is an inspiration for me. As for learning, let's hope you never stop learning! The sky is now your playground...enjoy it.Chris _________________________________________ Chris Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adamjenner 0 #16 March 26, 2003 woohoo thanks for IAD! but yeah my progression has been pretty sad too. I have a stability problem Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sducoach 0 #17 March 27, 2003 Like I said, tell him to put it on my tab. Blues, J.E.James 4:8 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sducoach 0 #18 March 27, 2003 AndyMan, Take a deep breath and sit down. I'm sure that you are a very experienced instructor and only wanted to point out something you thought you were reading between the lines. Fact is, she's doing GREAT. Give her a big pat on the back for sticking with it. Experienced instructors know when to push someone out of the nest. Luna's learning curve and ability are going to shoot up off the chart. Hope you can keep up with her. Blues, J.E.James 4:8 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sducoach 0 #19 March 27, 2003 Luna, don't give AndyMan a second thought. His words come from a man who posted 40 times the first day he joined dropzone.com just to try and get off newbie status. A little "vain"?? J.E.James 4:8 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JumpingKayAus 0 #20 March 27, 2003 Hey baby....how YOU doin? xoxoxo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shark 0 #21 March 27, 2003 Quote Hey baby....how YOU doin? xoxoxo How YOU doin?! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BMFin 0 #22 March 27, 2003 Quote DON'T GIVE UP! In our DZ there is one jumper who jumped about 150 jumps before getting her license..( average here about 50 jumps) I really respect that kind of a persistens... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sky1flygirl 0 #23 March 27, 2003 Congrats! I new you could do it. I only wish I could have been out to see it. You have shown more determination than anyone else I have come across. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dreamsville 0 #24 March 27, 2003 Uh, Luna, I have seen others go through what you went through (as I myself did for a while, not that I am a sky god). Some of those same people are now on placing teams in the Nationals (not that the Nationals are the end-all of goals). I guess you are realizing that if you can get this far against a great challenge, that there is a lot more you can do as well. You may find that you are a more resilient learner than some others because you now know that sticking with it pays dividends. Hold that thought. Keep going and you will have many fun and rewarding days in this sport. Enjoy, onward and upward (you lose points if you don't smile)! | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luna 0 #25 March 27, 2003 Hey!! I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
