a question for max....

[rmcvey 0]

Earlier this year i did some coaching with a certain teammate of yours at elsinore ...(Cfiala)

We worked on my head up stuff. During the coaching he was insistant about the position of my legs, in particular how wide my legs were.
He had me flying with my legs quite close together (about 6 inches between the knees).
Now for whatever reason (i was on holiday, beer, late nights etc) i cant recall the reason for this.

Since then i have done coaching with other people who immediatley picked me up on how close together my legs were, saying id be more stable and have more range with them nice and wide.

Im under the impression you guys have done tons of jumps together so would be interested to know the physics/theory behind his "legs close" flying and whether or not you also teach this to student funksters.

Rob

[genfreefly 0]

i think the legs (we're talking about upright flying, right? should be at least shoulder width (which is more or less 6 inches like you say)

Everyone does upright flying with a little different style/position, etc...
when i start with people, i usually just see what they do normally, and if they need a guideline, i usually say about shoulder width

i guess the real difference 'specific body positions' depends on what you are doing

what i mean is if you are just getting stable, then there is a certain merit in not over-exaggerating how far your legs are apart.
if we have our legs shoulder width, we have a muscle memory much like we sit on the ground or when we drive a car, for example, so its easier for use to find our balance with the wind.

once we start 'flying around' upright (opposed to working on staying still), we will need to use our legs more assertivley, and wider becomes advantageous, but NOT in just 'have your legs wide', its more complicated than that. its about balance, counter-balance, anticipation....grabbing wind with whatever part of your body you need to at the time

in general, its limiting to have your legs and feet too close (like almost touching or touching, say less than 6 inches).
then you make your legs more like one wing, instead of two wings.....
and, your legs create one larger surface area and can more readily catch wind and knock you around.

if i'm coaching and i'm upright and giving signal, i have my legs apart pretty wide because i have to compensate for using my hands to give signals... (and following the student at the same time)

what do you think? do you feel more stable with them 6 inches apart or wider apart.?

I find with my students that they really start to settle into thier own style once we do: movement, speed change, docks, etc..
then they figure out what works best by trial and error....

hope this helps
max

[rmcvey 0]

With my legs in the position chris was originally teaching me i find small adjustments to my fallrate are easier and think i have more "range" as in i find i only have to push down alittle to speed up quite alot.
At the moment im struggling with controlled forwards motion. I can move forward in relation to someone, but i have to really push down with the feet and lean back. The pushing the feet down bit causes me to speed up, which is frustrating.
Im not sure if this is related to the way i have my legs (about shoulder width,..i only get them wide when im trying to go real slow, virtually on my back)

When i try forwards motion from a neutral, focusing on not pushing down too much, getting my hips forward, i tend to slow down in relation to who im with.

I realise forward movement causes a loss of fallrate but im struggling to find the body position where i can maintain fallrate and move forward in a controlled way.

Any tips for my next few jumps?

[genfreefly 0]

when we move forward, it a matter of letting the wind 'push' us from behind.
we lean back and push our hips forward
this creates MORE surfact area than our original sit, which will cause us to....slow down

so we have to push our feet down, and go into somewhat of a stand up to 'speed up' to neutralize what our back and hips are doing, then, ideally, we would move forward while still going the same fallrate.
make sense?
max

[rmcvey 0]

ok .. i'll practice on a few solos to get the feel of it but ive been trying without luck for a while.

Also while your here... whats the fastest way to scrub off speed if i need to (say i get reeeal good) and come flying in towards someone??

For slight backwards movement from my neutral ive been leaning forward slightly and bringing my feet back, towards below my butt, and also bringing my arms slightly forward to.

????anything?