nigel99 144 #1 November 25, 2011 I am looking for a bit of guidance and feedback. Yesterday my wife and I did some time in the tunnel, with me showing her some docks and getting practise. We were under the loose supervision of a tunnel instructor, but I was essentially an informal coach. I was flying very relaxed and didn't notice that she was really struggling to stay down with me. She was maxed out. The tunnel instructor gave her some weight but she still struggled. It was only afterwards when we could talk that the tunnel operator pointed out how much she was struggling. As an instructor or coach, how do you ensure the other person is comfortable? They don't have the knowledge to speak out. Also what is the best way to tell that someone is in the middle of their control range? Simply by observing position? Final note. I am not a coach yet as I am waiting for my C license. But I do enjoy jumping with lower time jumpers. So building my awareness and skills is a priority for me.Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
holie 0 #2 November 25, 2011 Hey, is that your actual skill? Jumps 130 In sport 1 years then do a lot of jumping and keep your eyes open and your mind free of distraction. As long as you have to keep any of your attention on yourself to be relaxed you don't have much resources to get the things on the otherside. Do you have a teach skill in other sports or business? this will come through more and more while you practise your own flying skills. so, work on, it will build up automaticly. :-D Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nigel99 144 #3 November 25, 2011 QuoteHey, is that your actual skill? Jumps 130 In sport 1 years then do a lot of jumping and keep your eyes open and your mind free of distraction. As long as you have to keep any of your attention on yourself to be relaxed you don't have much resources to get the things on the otherside. Do you have a teach skill in other sports or business? this will come through more and more while you practise your own flying skills. so, work on, it will build up automaticly. :-D I have 2 or 3 hours in the tunnel. My time in the sport is complicated. I was on the dz every weekend for about 5 years but only jumping once a month. I took a 15 year break and have been back in the sport for a year. When I was saturated in dz life I helped out with students. Non instructional, but driving the arrow for landing, helping kit them up etc. I guess what frustrated me about yesterday was that I didn't realise why she was struggling. Perhaps it is all part of learning. It is something that I know to look for next time.Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
obelixtim 100 #4 November 25, 2011 Let her go in the tunnel by herself, and observe from the outside. You should be able to pick up problems quite easily. You should easily pick up if she is relaxed or not. Most problems come form the person being too tense.My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
matthewcline 0 #5 November 25, 2011 QuoteI am looking for a bit of guidance and feedback. Yesterday my wife and I did some time in the tunnel, with me showing her some docks and getting practise. We were under the loose supervision of a tunnel instructor, but I was essentially an informal coach. I was flying very relaxed and didn't notice that she was really struggling to stay down with me. She was maxed out. The tunnel instructor gave her some weight but she still struggled. It was only afterwards when we could talk that the tunnel operator pointed out how much she was struggling. As an instructor or coach, how do you ensure the other person is comfortable? They don't have the knowledge to speak out. Also what is the best way to tell that someone is in the middle of their control range? Simply by observing position? Final note. I am not a coach yet as I am waiting for my C license. But I do enjoy jumping with lower time jumpers. So building my awareness and skills is a priority for me. Instructing/Coaching is not as simple as some would think, nor is it so complicated you need a Masters Degree. It is about Observation and Communications Skills. Then you will also need all the right tools for the job, that includes: experience, Jumpsuits, Coaching for your self, evaluation etc. You can tell if there will be fall rate issues before you even suit up most of the time. If your stocky and thick, she is small and petite, your short and light, she is big etc. The it is a matter of trying to figure out if various "tools" will equalize your fall rates, fast tight nylon on her (maybe a little lead, maybe, a little) and a larger baggier cotton suit on you. But the biggest tool is knowing when to say "No". Know your limits, then slowly work on making them strengths, but never fail your student by not being able to do your job, due to your pride. For now, let others work with here in her comfort range and watch and learn, soon enough the two of you will fly comfortable together. MattAn Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skydivesg 6 #6 November 25, 2011 ----------------------------------------------------------- (quote) I guess what frustrated me about yesterday was that I didn't realise why she was struggling. ----------------------------------------------------------- There have been some good points made so far. Just because you have some tunnel time doesn't mean you have the skill to observe someone else and then know what it is you are seeing, (especially someone so close to you). Matthew Cline said: "It is about Observation and Communications Skills." I've been coaching in some form or fashion for 35 years in several sports and have taught others how to coach. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to recognize what it is you are actually seeing and then know how that affects the person you are trying to help. Let's say I'm trying to help your batting swing in baseball and I notice that you are not keeping your front shoulder locked in as you swing. Just because I see it and point it out to you, doesn't mean it will help you unless I can explain to you that locking in the front shoulder will prevent your head from coming out and your front side from bailing on the pitch which prevents you from getting a good look on the pitch. So when Matthew said: "never fail your student by not being able to do your job, due to your pride," I couldn't agree more. My son grew up in the sport with me and was extremely prepared to go through his AFF training which he did in a day and a half. Even though I was on the DZ the whole time, I purposely stayed away from him and his training and did not get involved other than some small chit chat now and then when I saw him on the way to the plane. I saw no upside in adding the father - son pressure-to-do-well that naturally exists. Instead I found people I trusted and turned his training over to them. I know he appreciated it. With the cost of tunnel these days you may find it more effective to hire a coach to help your wife and then you listen in on his briefs and debriefs to further your abilities. It may help you later on that night when you're once again trying to "debrief your wife". (if you catch my drift) Not just a hat rack my friend.Be the canopy pilot you want that other guy to be. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adagen 0 #7 November 25, 2011 If coaching someone is new to the tunnel, first thing is to work out what wind speed is comfortable for them, not to default to your speed. If you are taking on a coaching role you need to focus on the student first. Tunnel where I train we have a hand signal to request a lower wind speed. I usually fly on a relatively low windspeed, and coaches a fair bit heavier than me can adapt to fly with me, especially when a higher speed would make it difficult for me to learn something. Have you tested your own ability to fly on lower speeds?Anne Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joellercoaster 6 #8 December 2, 2011 Experience! You will learn to pick up cues from your student's body position - and that includes feedback about fall rate. There's been good advice upthread about jumpsuits - but technique comes into it too (and that comes from experience). Watch really good tunnel coaches teaching flat skills whenever you can. In particular, you'll notice that they can demonstrate technical things from a variety of different base body positions! The obvious one is when they show people to drop a knee, but don't turn themselves until they want to. But it extends to matching fall rates while still demonstrating faster/slower fall, and so on. Learn to isolate your inputs and play them off against each other. You can practise this stuff on your own too.-- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
