Looking for sit advice

[Skitzo 0]

I can hold a stand for an entire freefall but when I try to take it into a sit it gets ugly. I called a friend from back home and he said loose the FFsuit till I get it, to put more drag on top and none on the bottom. I tried that yesterday and it helped quite a bit, I actually sat most of the fall, 'till I thought to myself "Oh yea I got it", then I went unstable. Can anybody offer me some more help?
~Kim
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"How do you keep your feet on the ground when you know you were born to fly?"

[Zennie 0]

Heh. When you start thinking about it is when things go bad.

It really is a lot like learning to ride a bicycle. You'll sort of be unstable for a while and then one day it just sort of clicks and after that it's just sort of second nature.

I mean you have to think about it a bit when you're learning technique, but you seem to have the right approach. Drag up high, no drag low.

Just keep practicing. And try to get one of the experienced freefliers to come up and take video. Video is a fantastic learning tool. Much more effective than trying to re-invent the wheel while you're learning.

Good luck!

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[BMFin 0]

Similar thing happened to me as well. I was trying to learn to sit for about 6 jumps and never learned during those jumps. (at that time I had about 20-25 jumps). Then I got the idea to try FS-suit wich was really thin material. Immediedly I learned to sit, to turn in sit, to make backflip and sit again, to stand, to make frontflip and sit again. I managed to do all those things in one jump. And all becouse of the suit.
Later on i noticed that the reason why my earlier suit was not too good (wich was an student jumpsuit) was that the "trouser legs" allowed air to flow straight in. As I just sipmly tied the trusers at my ankles there was no problem at all.

[Skitzo 0]

Thanks so much Unfortunately there's only one other person FFing at my DZ, and hes flying (the plane) half the time and doesn't have a camera. Looks like I might need to venture out to Skydive America or Zhills for a weekend.

~Kim

"How do you keep your feet on the ground when you know you were born to fly?"

[Zennie 0]

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Looks like I might need to venture out to Skydive America or Zhills for a weekend.

That is a very, very good idea. You'll be in good hands. Just try to find someone who will video you without charging a "coaching" fee.

Don't get me wrong, coaching is good and very helpful, but you shouldn't have to pay every camera-weilding freeflier a fee just to get him to jump with you.

I don't. Hell I'm not nearly good enough to call myself a "coach". That doesn't mean I won't go up with my camera helmet, have a fun jump and then offer what few tips I can when we look at the video afterward. But I don't have the audacity to charge someone for my slot either at this point.

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[grega 0]

stand is probably (just guessing) easier for you because you don't have to push your legs down, you just hang on your arms and control balance with them. (and whole body of course).
But when you are sitting a lot of muscles is working even if you are not feeling like that.One day after my first successful sit jumps muscles in my legs, back (actually everything) hurt.
To sit you have to push your legs down quite hard, don't let wind blow them up and torso has to be straight (think tall ) but you still have to be flexible enough to correct small mistakes that would make you unstable.

And like everything in freefly one day i will just say "CLICK" in your head and you'll know how to sit - Just practice

Hope that helps

"George just lucky i guess!"

[Skitzo 0]

Thanks
~Kim

"How do you keep your feet on the ground when you know you were born to fly?"

[Professor 0]

Try to remember to keep your legs spread nice and wide, breath and relax. Try to feel around for a stable 'sweet spot'. Good luck and keep at it.

Ted

Ted
Like a giddy school girl.

[Snowflake 0]

A couple more points make sure you have your legs apart.... you might be keeping them together when you come out of the stand. Also try to keep the 90's when you first start sitting 90 degrees between Torso and upper leg, 90 degrees between upper leg and lower leg.

[dida 0]

i'm just finally getting stable in my sit. there was a link to an article somewhere here about a week ago that was so helpful...i don't have time to search for it right now...

the one thing that it mentioned that REALLY helped me is to keep your elbows bent at a 90 degree angle. it seemed odd when i first read it, because i swear i've never seen anyone sitfly like that, but when i tried it, it made a world of difference. i felt so much more in control, even though i was wearing baggy pants and i was positive i was going to be flipping all over the place!

another thing to remember is to keep your hips pulled a bit forward - don't let your back arch when you try to sit up straight. keep the whole "center of gravity" concept in mind.

i'm certainly no pro - but i tried these things and WOO HOO!!! there was my sit!

spiral out...keep going...

[dida 0]

hey! the links to the articles are in the thread on this forum titled "Helpful Freefly websites with colorful pictures" i thought there was some really great stuff in there...

spiral out...keep going...

[ramon 0]

shee.... you are in camera debt big time.

You owe the sport

"Revolution is an abrupt change in the form of misgovernment.", Ambrose Bierce.

[wlie 0]

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Try to remember to keep your legs spread nice and wide, breath and relax.

Sounds like it's coming from a pervert!

My other ride is the relative wind.

[Zennie 0]

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shee.... you are in camera debt big time.

You owe the sport

Heh. And I'm payin' up.

Did 3 sit jumps with Doug yesterday and gave him my video from all 3.

I figure another couple years & I'll be paid up.

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[Skitzo 0]

Thanks everyone, so much! I can't wait to get back at it this weekend.

~Kim

"How do you keep your feet on the ground when you know you were born to fly?"

[Professor 0]

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Try to remember to keep your legs spread nice and wide, breath and relax.

Sounds like it's coming from a pervert!

Pervert, freak, what's the difference?

Ted

Ted
Like a giddy school girl.

[michaeljanzen 0]

i would like to tell you i am the exact opposite i got into a sit first try and held it 90% of the freefall. by 3 trys i could rotate and flip any direction in and out of a stable sit. but for the life of me i can't stand.
4 trys now and as soon as i drop my legs i'm outta control.
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"the sweet just aint as sweet without the bitter "

[Skitzo 0]

Wow, thats funny, well..not funny, I mean funny like weird. Know what I'm trying to say? I'm sure you do. So after this little display of me trying to express myself, I'm sure you understand why I won't even bother being the one to try and explain to you how to stand.

"How do you keep your feet on the ground when you know you were born to fly?"

[Rottenmilk 0]

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i would like to tell you i am the exact opposite i got into a sit first try and held it 90% of the freefall.

That's interesting! This weekend I made my first attempts at sit, and by the second jump I thought I had it (of course, very sloppy!). However, from what I've read and heard, I understand it takes quite a few jumps to actually sit. So on my third jump I took a FF buddy of mine along to see what I was really doing. He had us do a "leg-lock" exit which was super fun! After we seperated, I made a few attempts to get into a sit position (so far, actually getting into the sit is the tough part for me. I found it fairly easy to enter into the position while on my butt). Once I got into what I thought was a sit, I held it while he evaluated. When we got down he said I did fairly well. Although I was tracking forward quite a bit. Anyway, my first attempts were a blast! However, is this common for some people - to somewhat sit on their first few attempts?

J.

[Professor 0]

It seems like it depends greatly on the person. I've seen some people get into a fairly good sit real quick, and some just can't seem to get it. It took me quite a while to learn to stand, then about 5 jumps to get into a stable head down, but I couldn't sit for the life of me. Finally I gave up on it, and just flew HD for about a hundred jumps, then, one day, just playing around solo, tried to sit and got it. It sort of just clicked. Everybody is a little different.

Ted

Ted
Like a giddy school girl.

[Skitzo 0]

Well, I went out to SDA, LOVED it, (knew I would, been there before) turns out, I've got a hilacious backslide! I'm having the hardest time sitting up straight and getting my legs at 90 degrees. Arghhh! I dont consider myself to be a weak person either, I work out several times a week. Its kind of frustrating.
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"How do you keep your feet on the ground when you know you were born to fly?"

[Professor 0]

hmmm, it shouldn't be too much of a physical strain, just a little to keep your arms down. It's hard to say what you're doing wrong w/o seeing you fly. Too bad you aren't in TX. Then again, you can probably dig up some OK freaks at SDA . Just keep at it, but don't let yourself get to frustrated. Have fun and relax.

Good luck
Ted

Ted
Like a giddy school girl.

[Skitzo 0]

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Just keep at it, but don't let yourself get to frustrated. Have fun and relax.

I'm keepin at it! Its all fun. I love every second of it! I just wish I could go up there and "Just Do It." Ya know, "be like Mike," or should I say Stevo!
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"How do you keep your feet on the ground when you know you were born to fly?"

[Trent 0]

I've been absent from the boards for a while, but I always try to offer what freefly advice I can. So here goes...

Try not to think about "sitflying" as SITTING. If you were really sitting, your weight would be on your ass. It would then be ass-flying or something like that. Instead, try to think of it as upright or head-up flying. This way, the misnomer of sitting won't screw you up conceptually as you are learning.

I've heard a few different ways that people try to explain sitflying... "hang from the arms"... "more drag on top"... "push the feet down"...etc. Try to think about it like this, you are flying your feet. The relative wind is similar to the ground. If you stand on the ground with your feet together and your knees bent as closely to 90degrees as possible, you're going to fall over, most likely on your butt. Spread the feet to shoulder width, then bend the knees a little less. Straighten your back. This is likely a more stable position. The same as in the air, you're standing on the relative wind... whether you have your knees bent or not (sit/stand). You should be able to control your balance with mainly your feet and hips. Where your feet go, your legs follow. Where your hips go, your body goes. Ideally, you want to use your arms for docks or extreme movent, so it is better to learn that most of your "sit" skills are developed in the legs, feet, and hips.

Does that make sense, or am I smoking crack?

Oh, hello again!

[Skitzo 0]

Thanks Trent, yeah, your making good sense to me.

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It would then be ass-flying or something like that

heheheh...makes me giggle. Thanks again.
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"How do you keep your feet on the ground when you know you were born to fly?"