Booties

[Pammi 0]

What has been your experience with booties? I hear that they are great for better tracks but you have to keep in mind that it takes less movement with your legs to make a turn, for instance, so good positioning of your legs is a must while wearing them.
What is everyone's ideas on them or what have you found while using them?
Pammi

[Craig 0]

I have not used Booties yet but I think you nailed it. Better tracks, more efficient turns, and can also help to "balance" you a bit if you fly head high.
Craig

[Tee 0]

Hi Pammi. I LOVE my booties for RW. Once I got them I noticed a HUGE difference in my abilities while in formation. Once you get into more serious RW, turning mega points, there are more choices in how you turn (not just with your arms) and booties certainly help with that manoeuvrability. And tracking rawks with booties, my track has flattened out considerably since getting them. I would recommend them for anyone getting into RW. I bought my suit after about 20 jumps and I can say it helped me enormously.

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[Pammi 0]

Great! Thanks guys. I opted for booties on my suit that I ordered because she said they would be made where I could tuck them away if I decided I didn't want to use them on a jump and they would be much harder to get on later properly then to just add them in now. Glad I got em!
Pammi

[Shark 0]

Hi Pammi,
If you are going to pursue RW, you will NEED booties. My first jumpsuit (got another on order), I did not order it with booties since I planned on using it for CReW, too. Well, It's been hard to get together with a bunch of crewdogs and much easier to jump rw/freefall with other people, mainly chicks in my case. I had a backsliding problem that was corrected with some "strap-on" booties that work great. They are also removable, secured by elastic and velcro. My next jump suit will be *faster* with booties built-in. When you get it, try a tracking dive from altitude and you will really experience what they can do. Also, leg turns come much easier; read quicker. Hard to believe but I'm becoming a bit of an RW freak lately doing 2 way skills, all the way up to 16 ways. Kinda fun, too! You and Merrick should plan on Elsinore's 4 way camp in the summer if you are in the area.
Shark

[Pammi 0]

Thanks Shark! That's what I keep hearing, is that they are really great at improving your track and turns (hopefully my unplanned turns will stop first before I use them I know booties are mostly for RW stuff, and I *do* want to freefly also, but my ultimate goal is camera flying. Soooo...one step at a time and I figure it will take me some time to get my belly-flying to the skill level I want it to be at so I don't mind the 'you're a belly flyer!' crap I know I'll get :-) I've seen some of those RW guys do amazing things the way they can get around the sky with such control..it's impressive!
Pammi

[Dutchboy 0]

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Thanks Shark! That's what I keep hearing, is that they are really great at improving your track and turns (hopefully my unplanned turns will
stop first before I use them ). I know they will be great for Merrick who already started doing a couple of four-ways last weekend, my only
concern was with my spins in freefall, if they will worsen that again. I had a violent spin my first my first real freefall a few weeks ago (read:
make ya puke spinning and massive line twist!), then did two more jumps last weekend which I video'd. My spin is now at a slow turn since I've
stuck my legs out better and pointed the toes, and I think will cease completely with harder arching. Back to my concern, anyone think I should
wait to wear the booties until I can hit it without the spin?

They only thing that will make you spin is unsymetric air deflection, not how hard you arch. Arching harder seems to be many JM's answer to everything. I remember one of them telling me I was potato chipping because it didn't arch hard enough. I was forced to do a couple of my AFF jumps with Chris Wagner (Golden Knights) and he told me this was BS. I was potato chipping because I had either my legs or arms out too far and didn't have equal lift on both halves of my body. Another thing he told me is that arching gets you stable, but symetry keeps you stable.
Most of my problems have been due to not relaxing. When you relax you normally release some tension in your body that had you locked into an asymetrical position and everything gets better.

[Pammi 0]

LOL! Yeah, I def'ly hear 'arch harder' a lot! I think you hit the nail on the head with me, though, that relaxation will help me out in all ways. Here's the deal...after FINALLY getting up to altitude 3 jumps ago...first one was a very violent spin. I was pretty nervous because this was my first freefall after my low-pull, and second jump after not having gone for 5 months or so. So...extreme stiffness I'm sure. So this last weekend, got video and did two more jumps, this time more of a two-way sort of exit with my coach/JM. We went out with him holding on to me in an AFF sorta way while he worked around me helping me with my form. The first one you can see how friggin flat I am and fairly tense, but better. Second (next day) was quite a bit better, more relaxed therefore a bit more arched (but still a very slow fall from still being more flat then I should be).
Moral I guess is that I think with me relaxation will help the arch which will help the spin and all will be good! I've gotten over my low-pull scare I think (plus the stress of worrying that I'd do such a thing again as not look at my alti enough! That won't happen! Even pulled on time in my violent spin.) so relaxation is getting easier :)
Pammi

[Craig 0]

Here is a little to add to what Dutchboy said. I have heard this said often, and I was told the same thing before my release dives "If you can start a turn, you can stop a turn". If you are feeling yourself starting to spin, you may be getting more tense and in effect "locking" your body position in that spin and just trying to arch to get out of it. Instead, you could try to relax and lets say you are turning to the right, lower your left arm and shoulder to counter it. If you are not sure which direction you are turning, just pick a shoulder and lower it....if you speed up it was the wrong one, try again. My first release dive I started into a brisk left turn as soon as the JM let go. After about two or three times around I dropped my right shoulder and it stopped. The rest of the dive, which was just a right and left 360 degree turn be alt. aware. It was kinda like balancing a ball and trying to counter any movements the rest of the dive. Once you get it it will come more natural, the more jumps you make, the mory you will probibally find that you are no longer thinking about what you are doing ie. turn left, turn right, body position, etc., it all starts to come natural and less thinking takes place to get a desired result IMHO.
Craig