rmcvey 0 #1 December 22, 2002 Any instructors have to tell a student that skydiving just wasnt for them? If so, how and why. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drenaline 0 #2 December 23, 2002 Am not an instructor but here is what I would go for: How: take the student away from the crowd to make it a private conversation and tell him "I think you should quit skydiving because...." if he/she wants to continue then he/she should go get another instructor to get a second opinion. Why: gets in panic (freeze) with the simple thought of an emergency or never gets it right when practicing the cutaway handles, has a mental illness that doesnt lets him act in time, is to stupid to understand a thing of what you said. Use your judgment, ask another instructor to be sure that your thoughts are right and then tell the student, hey you will be saving his/her life. HISPA 21 www.panamafreefall.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wmw999 2,134 #3 December 23, 2002 I have. The brother of a regular was way too immature and scary. Fortunately, he was under 18; I told him he had to wait until at least 18 to jump because he wasn't taking it seriously enough. I also told his sister, so that the stories wouldn't get mixed up. Another was too stupid. Really. Cut away and left his canopy in a 2-3 foot tall bush, because we told him not to try to get his rig out of a tree. We were VERY clear on the difference between trees and bushes. So I told him that the inability to remember basic stuff like that (he forgot the part about staying with the gear) indicated that skydiving wasn't for him. 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) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 558 #4 December 23, 2002 Fortunately, most scary students never come back. Thank God! Over 20 years of instructing I have seen a few students that I never want to see again. Just last month I told manifest that I want nothing more to do with "Dread Lock Boy." I dropped him the day after his first jump course got rained out. When he showed up, I quizzed him on procedures that should have been covered in his first jump course. He gave me so many wrong answers that I spent the next 90 minutes re-teaching the first jump course. His classmates confirmed that he was not paying attention in class and was inventing "novel" procedures far faster than the ground school instructor could teach the correct procedures. About ten years ago I told a pair of "fat bottomed girls" that skydiving was not their sport. Something about them not having enough leg muscle to lift their feet off the step. On several ocaissions, first jump instructors have discretely introduced their worst students to (tandem instructor) me and suggested that they do a tandem jump. I have also told a bunch of students to jump on a regular basis or don't jump at all. Those were all static-liners. Sloppy PFF students are usually smart enough to retire on their own. When tandem students flail, I just smile and hand them their certificates knowing full well that they only intended to do one jump in their lifetimes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
