UK - Professional Freefly Coaches

[fuga 0]

Hello All, I just wanted to know what other peoples views are on this?
When you look at US dropzones or DZ's in europe, a lot of them have professionally run freefly schools.
The standard of coaching (not necessarily flying skills) seems to be higher, they seem to organize more events (professionally) and also seem to put a lot of effort into their coaching.
They spend a lot of time before and after the jump with a student, some have written material and/or videos for the student to watch and read to help them along. Their briefs and/or debriefs aren't ina day room along with everyone else at the dz (some people dont like this), they brief them in a private room which i think allows for better learning (theres no one adding their little bit to the debrief).
The schools are also very good at developing an identity, babylon for example are very well known, they have their logos on everything and work hard to publicize themselves.

My question is, why doesnt anyone in the uk even attempt anything like this?
I know freejive have done roadshows but it still isnt the same, I hardly know of any coaches in the uk that seem to even try and make it professional, yes they may be ridiculed a bit at first but wouldnt it be worth it? Even if we do only have weekend coaches.

I know theres freejive (do they have a regular place from which they coach?), then theres the bullet freefly school (which doesnt really seem to be a proper freefly school as such) and theres euphoria (not sure about them, haven't been to nethers).

What do you all think to this? Should uk freefly coaches try and make things a bit more professional, would it help them get more students/experience/etc?

Thanks

.

[skyjuggler 0]

Okay, here's a shot at answering you.

To be a 'Good' coach you got to have the basic requirement of a decent freefly level, and have some idea / philosophy of why you teach people certain stuff. On top of that there is other stuff like how you relate, but the skills takes a lot of time and money to get.

Then, imagine you want to have a freefly school. You need to make a living, 99% need a job to live and feed themselves etc... So if there is a smaller season, less predictable weather etc.... you can't be as current nor more imortantly jump as much. So how can you survive with less jumps and income compared to else where?? The schools you have mentioned can't compare to other established groups because the flyers have no where near the experience of the top freeflyers. The Uk does have some good flyers though. People like Chris Lynch, the Meacock brothers, and Ash Crick etc... have been around in UK coaching. But to be a bad ass flyer doesn't happen over night. Chris Lynch has been in the sport for years, and the Meacocks have spent time every where (Eloy, Empuria etc...).

bascially I think it comes down the weather and being able to support yourself. Being 100% in the sport is full on. Some times people come and some times they don't as far as coaching goes. If you are at a busy DZ where alot of jumps are done you have a better chance of surviving. Check out where most coaches are.

As far as quality of debriefs and briefs, that is up to the coaches involved. But people who have a personal philosophy and vast quantity of experience will be able to answer most questions as they know why the are saying certain things. Also, apart from the less opportunities to jump, people tend not to take time off work in the UK to jump in the UK. If you take a week off for jumping most would head abroad, so that means your market tends to be weekends. Cost comparisons are also important, cheaper tickets are available abroad. I feel like the list goes on.

I hope some of these points may explain why the UK schools are not quite the same as the larger schools run abroad. But also remember, there are some hot freeflyers who are British, and not all of them jump in the uK at all!

[skreamer 1]

Quote

What do you all think to this?

Skydiving is expensive in the UK. The weather is shit in the UK.

The busiest DZ in the UK does less than 30 000 jumps a year. Comparing UK DZs to much busier dropzones abroad is not really fair. Of course they can have established freefly schools because they have enough students to sustain those schools.

Two jump tickets in the UK costs about £36 ($65US), this is roughly the same as the price of a freefly coach jump abroad (including brief/debrief, slots, video, coach's pack job).Good luck finding a world class freeflyer who will coach you in exchange for slot only on a regular basis.

As it is I think Netheravon/Euphoria give a very good deal.

Will

[Zoter 0]

Dunno about other DZ's but I feel Im totally spoiled at Headcorn.
Chris Lynch ( FreeJive) runs outta there....and although he can sometimes be hard to pin down for a coached jump...when ya get it, you get it all ....a 'proper' and thorough pre jump brief , excellent coaching and a video debrief....cant ask for much more than that, and you will get his full attention.

Although I cant vouch for them persoanlly...'Bullet' freefly at Langar ( inparticular Steve Newman) always seem to get the nod as well.....and they are a 'proper school' as well...

Perhaps both are not on the same scale as Babylon.....but dont think you can knock the quality of coaching from them

[hkf 0]

Chris Lynch is based at Headcorn, but as mentioned earlier in the thread, it's difficult to do enough jumps in the UK to make a living.

He tends to go to Sebastian Florida From November to the start of May where he is part of the freefly training centre http://www.freeflytrainingcenter.com along with his Freejive team member Rob Silver, Dave Brown and Cisco. I went out in March this year to train with him, and the amount I saved on jumps due to cheaper slots and the exchange rate probably more than covered air fares and accomodtion.

Chris is based at Headcorn from May to October, but does his Wingtips Canopy Pilot Seminars around the country. check out http://www.wingtipscp.com for seminar dates, asthese are the dates he will not be at Headcorn. I think he is trying to do extra days at various drpzones after his seminars to offer Freefly coaching. Best bet is to contact him on [email protected] to check availability.

Rob Silver tends to be in the UK a fair bit for our summer, but spends time at different dropzones.