Boosting a student's confidence

[webcomsystems 0]

Had a student that I trained a few weeks ago that I was getting kitted up for her first jump.

She was visibly nervous, almost shaking in fact.

I was wracking my brains to think of some funny story or words of encouragement to help her relax a little.

Anyone got any good stories/techniques for relaxing a nervous student?

[Beverly 1]

A lot of girls and guys get really nervous! Being a girl I can sometimes do the soft spoken words of encouragement.

The best is telling them to breathe.
Ok, normally "Ok you can start breathing now!" While I am checking the 3 ring system, normally gets a smile on their face.
I also tell them the story i was told of the small breaths we take when we get nervous, coupled with the thinner air climbing to 3500-11k (We are 5k ASL) and telling them they are starving their brains.

A quick breathing session - In through nose, out through mouth - normally sorts it out.

Also a non-sexual squeeze of their upper arm prior to exit helps.
Human contact is proven to assist with nerves.

If it is really bad, DRASTIC MEASURES - I carry lip balm in my jumpsuit pocket. Dry mouth is terrible!! And possibly offer a sip of water.

Hope it helps.

I think true friendship is under-rated

Twitter: @Dreamskygirlsa

[AFFI 0]

There are so many ways you will learn as time goes by. Personally, I have found that the more familiar they are with the gear, how to use it and its reliability before we skydive produces calmer students sooner during their progression (knowledge dispels fear). Naturally every skydiver is nervous at first, if you ever have on that is not then that is a red flag...

Keep at it...

Mykel AFF-I10
Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

[kelpdiver 2]

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Also a non-sexual squeeze of their upper arm prior to exit helps.
Human contact is proven to assist with nerves.

Not sure there's such a thing as a non sexual touch, esp from a gal like you!

After taking a half year out to refind my nerves, it seemed helpful having a woman do my refresher/wind/release jump. (I'm sure it was intentional on their part to match us) She was very positive throughout. As opposed to the main guy I had before I paused who tended towards the grumpy, 'get your shit together' type speeches. Though that approach can work, I think it's particularly bad for those whose nerves are hurting performance.

[riddler 0]

Man, first jump is hard. If they've been on a tandem, at least they have an idea of what to expect. In my case, there were four weeks between my FJC and first jump (due to Sept 11). In that time, I spent every day practicing the entire drill, from exit to landing - three times a day, every day. By the time it came around, I barely had to think about it, so I wasn't nervous. Level 2 made me more nervous

Mike Pintamo was my tandem instructor and I asked him to be on my first few AFF jumps as well. He has a great laugh and always makes you feel relaxed and confident with the things he says. Here's a few of the things he told me when he could see that I was frustrated/nervous:

"Remember that we do this for fun."
"Smile - that's all you need to do. If you smile first, you'll remember everything else."
"I've got control of you up there. Relax, and if you forget what to do, look at me and I'll tell you."

When I do coach jumps with students that seem nervous, I use a hypnotic technique for talking to them. I talk in a slower (not too slow) measured cadence, taking a pause and an exaggerated belly-breath (not TOO exaggerated) before each statement. It's funny how this works - if they are a sympathetic person, they will subconsciously see your breath and hear your voice cadence, then they will start to mimic you, including taking that first breathe before they say or do anything. It helps them get in a relaxed state of mind and body. When they feel relaxed about the coming jump, they get more confident.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[Beverly 1]

Quote

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Also a non-sexual squeeze of their upper arm prior to exit helps.
Human contact is proven to assist with nerves.

Not sure there's such a thing as a non sexual touch, esp from a gal like you!

After taking a half year out to refind my nerves, it seemed helpful having a woman do my refresher/wind/release jump. (I'm sure it was intentional on their part to match us) She was very positive throughout. As opposed to the main guy I had before I paused who tended towards the grumpy, 'get your shit together' type speeches. Though that approach can work, I think it's particularly bad for those whose nerves are hurting performance.

I initially thought that being a girl would be a hinderence, but it is really not. People respond to the calmness and smiles more.
But some people respond better to a man. I have found that some people do not respect a woman's opinion and so I when I realise they are not listening to me, I pass them onto a guy coach or inst.

I think true friendship is under-rated

Twitter: @Dreamskygirlsa

[bch7773 0]

I've found reminding them of how many hundreds of students who've done the same jump as them helps.

also telling them to close their eyes in the plane, relax and visuallize their jump. that seems to calm some of them down.

MB 3528, RB 1182

[BrianM 1]

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I was wracking my brains to think of some funny story or words of encouragement to help her relax a little.

I like to ask them if they're nervous. When they say yes, I say "That just proves you're normal - I'd be worried if you weren't". It usually gets a laugh, and also lets them know it's ok to feel that way.

Just before opening the door, I like to tell them that if they forget to have fun, I'll make them do it again! This one seems to work really well.

"It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

[AFFI 0]

Today I was working with a student who was having serious issues in freefall, very nervous and totally unable to relax. I spent 2 hours with her doing a through gear and EP review so she understood how the system worked and built confidence in the gear and her ability to use it. Then we went out and made her 5th and 6th solo. On her 6th solo I was finally able to release her and she did great. Afterward she thanked me for going the extra mile with her and told me that after more confidence in the gear and her ability to use it properly was instilled she was finally able to relax in freefall – it made all the difference in the world to her.

Mykel AFF-I10
Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

[wildchild 0]

I had a pretty nervous girl I dispatched on her second static line jump on Sunday. Spent some time on the ground reassuring her, and she did a fabulous jump.

During the debrief I complimented her on her confidence, and she said to me that she was sitting in the door, and looked at me and the pilot (who has over 6000 jumps), and realised that we wouldn't be doing this if we didn't have full confidence in our training and the fact that we were doing it as safely as we could, and that made her feel a whole lot better!

I never thought of that approach before...

____________________________
"If there is doubt, there is no doubt." - Tonto

[tdog 0]

I can tell you what worked for me... AFF instructors who had a fun, laughing, smile with a tongue sticked out, in freefall...

The second I saw that, I felt 500% better.

I think Riddler has something with setting the tone... I have seen AFF instructors run to make a back to back, and that last minute panic can do nothing but hurt the student, especially when they are out of breath trying to teach the student before the now call. Compare that to someone who slowly approaches the student, talks in a quiet and calm voice, with great enthusiasm and confidence...


And, I have jumped with a few people who just got their "A"s. A couple of them seemed real nervous, so I added "smile" to the diveflow... "Eye Contact, Deep Breath, Ready, set, go, smile." It is so hard to be nervous when you have to smile. ;-)

[peregrinerose 0]

What worked for me... learning the most important hand signal for things going well... the beer signal, made me laugh every time.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[MissyOutTheBox 0]

You speak the truth on that note! As a student with 2 jumps the more I knew about the gear made me a hell of alot calmer. My instructor went over every inch of the student rig twice and asked if I wanted him to expand on anything and it made me feel way better. Although I was a tad nervous especially when I was coming down my radio was spouting the NOAA weather channel on my first jump I was so much calmer than if I wouldn't have had the familiarity with the rig. Thank You oh mighty JM Jeff!
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Have always wanted to be a social butterfly but now I have the wind beneath my feet.

[Silverchic 0]

Knowledge dispels fear! I love it! 5 years ago at a dropzone I swore black and blue that you would never, ever get me near that thing...4 years on and hanging out more at the dz watching, listening and learning before I started jumping certainly helped to calm the nerves a bit!

How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

[JohnMitchell 14]

There's no magic way or funy joke to calm a student. Best thing to do, IMHO, is to simply connect with them. Ask them how they feel about the jump, and listen. Most will come up with specific concerns, questions, doubts, what have you. From there you can educate, train, or reassure them, as neccessary. First, though, find out
what's going on inside their head.

I do like the "If you weren't nervous, I'd be worried" line. It's calmed down a lot of people,

[BirdBoi 0]

I initially thought that being a girl would be a hinderence, but it is really not. People respond to the calmness and smiles more.
But some people respond better to a man. I have found that some people do not respect a woman's opinion and so I when I realise they are not listening to me, I pass them onto a guy coach or inst.
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I definatly think a (hot) women instructor would have taken my nerves away, on the flip side it may cause distraction

Things that also made me feel better as a student is before you jump the good old corney "are you ready to skydive??"!!
I think some insturctors need to chill out a bit aswell.. not on saftey and stuff, but giving all the smiles and maybe saying "Let have sum fun" thats why we do it and i think he word FUN should be used alot more by instructors.

peace