Newly Rated T/M

[SCR10480 0]

Hello Everyone!

These Forums have been very good to me, (thank you!) and I call upon you for help once again.

I just earned my Tandem CERT, and have been hearing lots of horror stories about the "student from hell" and so on...What I want to ask is: What is the most common student caused concern I should prepare for? Tell me your worst, in vivid detail, and what action you took to correct it. I feel that Tandem is VERY serious, and NOT just another Skydive.

Many Thanks!


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[TALONSKY 0]

I know the best advise I ever received is do not try and fix the students body position just out fly it. I spent my first 60 or so tandems trying to fix the students body position mainly ankle locking and try to fly with my upper body. This quite often made for fighting for real control. Since then I have learned to just out fly them. That your legs are a tandem instructors biggest tool and should be used for control not ankle locking. In the beginning I had a few tall guys that I had ankle locked because of leg position and then they kicked out and took me for a ride

[SCR10480 0]

Kirk,
Thank you for the heads up. Student body position IS one of the "wouldn't wanna be you" scenarios. I've heard of (and tried) the ankle lock bit, but like you said...it takes away lots of control, and does very little good.

By the way...We're Neighbors!

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[LawnDart21 0]

Congratulations!
Tandem skydiving is the most rewarding discipline of our sport in my humble opinion.
All I'll say is that when things go bad (which is rare) they go bad QUICKLY. It amazes me how fast a "swimmer" is able to screw up a good exit....lol.
Be confident in yourself, and be decisive. If you see a problem starting, fix it. The longer the problem exists, the more time it has to build up momemtum and get worse.
Be safe, be proactive and have fun!

--
My other ride is a RESERVE.

[TALONSKY 0]

There are afew threads in the past few months on this subject too so you may want to do a search.
KIrk

[AggieDave 6]

I'm still a fairly new TI with just a bit under 500 tandem skydives, so bare with me. What I've learned thus far is fly your ass off. You can fix some things by fixing body position with a student, but overall it tends to be a waste of time.

As for things I see happen more often then others...arms blowing up and back like a screwed up track and knees bent and under the body. No matter how much time I take training, some people are just idiots and will put their body in whatever position they want.

Also, I wear tinted sunglasses to keep my eyes out of the videos, it helps take my personality out of it, since it is their video, not yours. Remembering that it is all about the student will help you create a fun but learning environment for them.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[SCR10480 0]

Ummm.... yeah Kirk, there are tons of threads dealing with Tandem. Trouble is: I can't sift through them all to get the spcifics I need. Anything you ever needed to know is on this site, in these forums. And, if you can't find it...just ask.

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[SCR10480 0]

Oh Geeze! I'm on here asking for advice, and I get a "Rookie" with ONLY 500 Tandems?! Including my latest Tandem, I have like...oh...5!

Damn Dave!

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[tandemphil 0]

With about 850 tandems, I still have a lot to learn, Hopefully I'l ALWAYS have a lot to learn. The dangerous time in this sport is when you think you know it all. That being said,.... like the others said, don't try to fix a students body position, just outfly them. At the begining of your tandem career, wearing lots of drag will help you fly the exits, though it might cause you to chip a bit in drougefall untill you learn to realy relax. One things tandems do have in common with any other skydive is that you will not be truly smooth untill you are truly relaxed.

hope that helps.
.

to do is to be
to be is to do
do be do be do

[mfrese 0]

I've got about 700 tandems, Vector and Eclipse ratings, 3 years experience at 4 different DZs. Here are a few tips based on what I've seen and done.

1) Wear a jumpsuit with a lot of surface area, and Cordura in the seat and knees.

2) As everyone else has said, fly the exit, not the student. Once the drogue is out, make some small effort to control the student if they're in a bad position; if it doesn't work, arch hard and fly them and you.

3) Always have an extra pair of goggles in a jumpsuit pocket.
4) Don't get fixated on standing up your students in all conditions. Doing pretty standup landings is not your goal, it's getting you and the student to the ground in one piece uninjured. Besides, once you get a few under your belt, you'll start getting all the big guys for a while anyway...so be prepared to slide. A lot.

5) Student out of the toggles, both flare toggles in your hands by 1500', unless they're helping you flare (and they'll only do that with me on a Cat B tandem).

6) Don't forget the Tic-Tacs!

There are probably 50 more, but that's good start. You'll develop your own list soon, and can pass it on for the new guys! Good Luck!

Mike

Doctor I ain't gonna die,
Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

[jrcrackers 0]

after spending this weekend at Madras watching you, I would say RELAX. Your golden in the air. You still have a few experienced jumpers to take & work the bugs out.Thanks for leaving me alone with Big John on sunday, He took me for a ride. Ask him about our exit!!

[billvon 2,400]

>What is the most common student caused concern I should prepare for?

Short, fat, out of shape people who don't arch. You'd think they'd be easier to control than the 6'2" skinny types, but for some reason they're not.

[tetra316 0]

I just got my rating last month so bear with me. One idea that I found works for me after I get the drogue out is to grab the student under their arms and push them up and center them under you. I was surprised that you can actually move them up several inches even with all the straps tightened down as much as they'll go (the students even help me tighten them more than I could myself) It helps me to stay more stable and get more leg surface to fly with. It takes two seconds and works better than anything else I've been told to do. Just my two cents.

[SCR10480 0]

Oh my God! Jeff...you poor thing! Did Big John scare you? I'll rough him up if you want.

I'm supposed to be his "passenger" this weekend.

[BIGUN 1,053]

Quote

grab the student under their arms and push them up and center them under you.

Whereas; there is a concern of doing anything with your hands or arms that could allow the student to trap them.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[tetra316 0]

A good point - but who's to say they are not going to grab your hands when you are using your arms to fly, all they have to do is reach back and grab you since your arms are behind theirs. I just make sure I tell my students never to grab anything behind them or me. If they need to hang on to something to grab their harness. Anyone else have thoughts on this?

[AggieDave 6]

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Anyone else have thoughts on this?

Yeah, telling your student "don't" is a sure fire way to have them do that thing.

Example: Don't think of a pink elephant!

I bet you thought of it, didn't you.

Basically I tell my students that after I tap them they can move their arms to here (insert picture of me showing proper arm position), then I say "if this is uncomfortable, it causes pain or if you just get nervous, feel free to bring your arms back in (insert picture of me showing them how to hold on to the harness, just like how they were for exit).

Beyond that I don't say anything and I keep my arms out of their reach. Generally speaking you'll know while in the plane if you have a student that will end up being a problem student in those regards, atleast that's been my experience.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Shark 0]

Congrats!

Just watch out for the little girls!

[tetra316 0]

I didn't think of it that way about telling them what NOT to do. Maybe I won't be doing that anymore. I have't YET had any real problem students. Makes me what to take a few more skydivers up and have them go all crazy all me to see if I can handle it.

Edited to add- or rather just to get some experience handling students from hell.

[SCR10480 0]

Thanks Tara...Keri also told me to "scoot" my student around if needed.

Congrats on your S/L Instructor rating!

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[lewmonst 0]

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Congrats!

Just watch out for the little girls!

and the tall skinny boys...

peace
lew

http://www.exitshot.com

[John4455 0]

Congratulations!
Advice;
Generic Ibuprophen in the large bottles is cheaper and just as good as the name brands.

How do ya like it Johnny?

[TALONSKY 0]

Up till about 150 tandems when getting video I thought it looked kind of cool after pulling to look at the cameraman and give him a two thumbs up with my arms extended down in front of my student. Well that changed after I had a 250 pound guy looked like a Mack truck grab a hold of my arms when I had it in that position. Also just last week I had a 6’ 3” tall 200-pound guy just grab a big hand full of each of my legs just off the plane and really grab hard. The point of this is you never know what your student is going to do so I would suggest not doing anything more than necessary when it comes to getting your body part near enough to be grab by the student. From my experience (just still a newbie with 210 tandems) it does not matter how many time you tell them to do this or not do that, the second they are off the plane it is the fight or flight mode and some just do not remember any of what they have been told.
Kirk

[jrcrackers 0]

Didn't scare me, but the look on Keri's face after we left the plane was not a look of reassurance one might hope for. He actually did very good after that. Good luck with being his passenger, are you guys coming up, cause he still need supervised jumps at this point. The Otter is pretty nice to practice from and unlike your place we have plenty of volunteers to strap yourself to.

[SCR10480 0]

I would love to come up your way, but I thought there was a problem with a "Nazi" neighbor?

Yeah, I bet the Otter makes exits a bit more sanitary.


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