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soulbabel

My freefly progress after 21 tunnel hours

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I still have alot to work on: cleaning up my flying style, breaking some bad habits, etc... but I thought I'd share my progress anyways. I'm kind of a sloppy, slow learner, so don't learn from watching me. Get yourself some quality coaching from the actual instructors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqPxzglOCJI

I jump at Skydive Suffolk in Virginia, if you're ever around looking for freefly jumps.

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Looking good, and after 21 hours of time, I wouldn't consider you a slow learner, I have a few more hours than you do, and your head down would kick my head down's ass!:P



Thanks for the compliment, but perhaps we are both slow learners, lol. I actually have 26 total hours, but 5 hours were all belly, and 21 were dedicated to freefly. And everytime I tried to learn a new discipline (even belly), it always took me twice as long to pick it up compared to whatever friend I had with me. I'm definitely not a natural by any means, and I really have to work my ass off to learn a new move compared to the the other flyers at Paraclete.

Also, I'm pretty spoiled to have Paraclete as my home tunnel. Once you get to a really stable head down, and start learning to carve, all the extra space you pay for really starts to show its worth. I think if you flew in there as much as I did, your HD would definitely kick my ass. B|:)

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Sweet flying!! I am jealous you have that huge space to fly in!!
Im just curious how your progression has been with doing like 3 or 4 ways in the tunnel, or in your case you can do up to 8 ways;), ?
Ive got around 15 hrs and thats where I find the challenge is with flying with multiple people turning points!

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Sweet flying!! I am jealous you have that huge space to fly in!!
Im just curious how your progression has been with doing like 3 or 4 ways in the tunnel, or in your case you can do up to 8 ways;), ?
Ive got around 15 hrs and thats where I find the challenge is with flying with multiple people turning points!



A few months ago, after I had my backflip hd transition worked out, I started flying with 2 or 3 more people during our member hour to practice taking docks, etc. After that though, I started working on carving instead of VFS, so I've been flying solo in the tunnel for the most part. Sometimes I'll practice turning points on an instructor, and my transitions are generally level and on heading, but nowhere near as good as the other Paraclete members who do VFS and fly together.

When I first started, we used to pile like 6 people in the tunnel and sitfly. While it was fun, it felt like I didn't really progress, because I was always flying as safe as I possibly could. When I'm flying solo, though, I am more relaxed when I try new techniques. Since I don't have to avoid crashing into other people, I find it easier to discover my flying limitations and push them further, while developing a better self-awareness of my own flying abilities.

I think eventually I will participate more in VFS, but right now I'd rather play games of "follow the leader" and carve around the tunnel with multiple people. Also, I find that all that carving experience is a blast to take into the sky and makes it especially easier to catch less experienced freeflyers.

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good job!! I would love to get in some FF jumps with ya, unfortunately, I'm a little further south. :)

If you disbelieve everything because we cannot certainly know all things, we shall do much-what as wisely as he would not use his legs, but sit still and perish because he had no wings to fly.-JL

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About the first 8 hours of my freefly progression were coached. The first hour was backfly, then about three hours of sit, and four hours of headdown. At the end of each of those progressions, I was only stable enough to fly alone without spotting.

I think you'll progress faster than me as long as you don't make the same mistake I did early on, which was not allowing yourself ample time to recuperate and evaluate your progress between training sessions. While learning sitfly, my friend and I flew alternating 2 minute rotations in one hour blocks. We didn't have alot of time to rest, and our coach was only able to point things out on video after our session. Do yourself a favor, and try and fly a max of about 7 1/2 to 10 minutes out of a 30 minute block, and have some breaks inbetween to watch your video so you know what to fix during your next session.

Also, throw in a few rotations where you just play around in the tunnel practicing the things you have learned. Sometimes your brain needs a break from following someone else's direction, and you need to relax and just fly whatever feels natural at your own pace.

I'm not sure how condensed your 20 hours of flying will be, but over the summer I saw a guy from New Zealand getting coached at Paraclete everyday for like three weeks. He flew roughly about an hour a day, and when I saw him fly during the last few days he was there, he was about as good as I was.

The coaching and facility are going to be top notch in Arizona, just make sure you allow your body enough time to recover. Sitflying will destroy your arms, and headdown can tire out your legs considerably. If you schedule your time based on knowing what your body can take, you'll probably leave that tunnel a better flyer than me. Have fun and maybe we'll meet in the sky someday.

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