Slowing down my sit...

[jasonRose 0]

I fall like a missle during my sit, 160mph to 174mph.. My instructors have given me a few ideas on how to slow down but I thought I would throw this out in the forums to see what others have to say in addition to.

What is a common speed in a sit???

What are some things to work on to slow down a sit??
Speeding my sit up does not seem to a problem but slowing it down past 160 seems really difficult..

Some day I will have the best staff in the world!!!

[Zoter 0]

A change in body position may help....
Think about body surface area....but remember to keep things balanced.....so you dont slide around.
Perhaps try lowering your lower leg beyond the '90 degree' angle and separate your legs out to the side more ( stretch them apart)

As long as both legs are symmetrical and below your body they will present more resistance to the relative wind and so 'drag' more air whilst not sliding you forward or backward...( look at picture 'Fast')
To slow down even more....move your lower legs out laterally .....slowly and evenly...to 'drag' more air ( look at picture 'slow' )

Your legs whilst in this postion must be balanced and pushed down on the relative air, you must control the lateral movemnt....dont let the relative wind take control of your lower legs !!
......you can also make use of pretty much all parts of your body to add extra 'drag'....eg your back....but this can prove difficult in controlling horizontal movement with the extra drag you create......I think using your legs is the best route to go...
Compare the two body positions in the picture 'Comparison' and visualise how much the drag between the two body positions will vary.
Tight in a 'ball' with legs together presents less surface area ( and so drag) to the relative wind as opposed to a wider leg stance.
Arms are helpful to aid in this drag.....but try to not involve them too much or docking can be difficult if you rely on them to control your fall rate

Just my humble opinion...I'm still learning this shit as well !
(Edit: I weigh >240lbs out the door and my range in a sit is 135-160ish....)

[Paige 0]

The tunnel is an invaluable tool for slowing down your sit flying. When I started jumping after all my tunnel time, my sit was 135 max (for my first few sit fly attempts after my accident, they got faster one by one). Thank goodness Ari's a good tunnel flyer too

Get big in your shoulders and kick out the bottom half of your legs (increase leg angle to beyond 90 degrees). Think Lazy Boy Flying , all reclined and chillin.

Tunnel Pink Mafia Delegate
www.TunnelPinkMafia.com

[Bodyflight.Net 0]

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Get big in your shoulders and kick out the bottom half of your legs (increase leg angle to beyond 90 degrees). Think Lazy Boy Flying , all reclined and chillin.

excellent tip I'd say...
can I also add... when I need more lift (or to fall slower) I pull my knees in together a bit more as to create a larger surface... to fall faster (loose lift) I spread them farther apart..

disclaimer: I'm not a very experienced skydiver but I do have a couple thousand minutes flyin'

[Chapsta 0]

Having your arms lower and legs 'flared' out is the key. Try keeping your knees where they're at in your neutral head-up position and bringing your feet out to the sides. The inside of your lower legs are a powerful tool when head-up flying. Take your hand and rub the inside part of your knee down to the inside part of your ankle... this is where you want to be fluent with the wind.

Dismissing the idea of 'sit' flying and flying a wider head-up position makes all the difference!

Have fun and I'll see you up there!

Chaps

Carpe diem

[jasonRose 0]

Thanks for the advice it seemed to help!! It is hard to take what you learn from text and apply it in the air. JUMPS I NEED JUMPS.

Some day I will have the best staff in the world!!!

[Chapsta 0]

Glad it helped!

More jumps... definitely the answer! The positions mentioned here are good to think about for where you are at now in your progression... eventually fall rate will naturally happen for you. Then you'll have questions about sliding, docking, flocking, HD... it never ends!

Chaps

Carpe diem

[br0k3n 0]

Just a bit of advice... ref comparison.3.jpg

The chap on the left has little control, is unstable and is trying to compensate for his upper body position with his arms.
First thing to notice is that his chest is forward, this will be trying to drive him backwards, and to counteract this he has his arms pushed way out behind him. Second thing to notice is that his legs are very close together, which gives less stability..

Whether your legs are together or wide apart does not affect the amount of drag that they create, and therefore does not affect your speed. The width of your legs affects your stability, NOT your speed

So the guy on the right needs to straighten his back, widen his stance and bring his arms forward.
If you find yourself flying with your arms out behind you, then you need to look at your body position and work out why they are behind you, arms should be straight out to the side.
Once in this position if he finds that he needs to speed up then he needs to straighten his legs slightly into more of a stand position, still keeping them nice and wide, not rolling up into a ball, so basically the opposite of what he is doing in this picture…

Now the chap on the right, is looking good.. chest straight, legs nice and wide and all angles about 90. If this chap is trying to go slow then he needs to lowers his arms some more, basically have them no higher then his shoulders, and just straight out. You can effect your fall rate quite a lot by the angle of your arms, by raising your arms you will increase your fall rate..

Also a good thing to start to learn is to fly with your elbows.

What I mean by this is put your arms straight out so they are parallel to the ground, then bend at the elbows so that your forearms are forward, and the angle between your upper and lower arm is 90. This will make docking a lot easier, for example imagine taking a double leg grip.. with your arms in the position there in at the moment this would be very hard to do….

For minor speed changes, simply moving your hands from being flat to an upward position will create less drag and speed you up or slow you down..


Hope this helps

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--+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+

[Frenchy68 0]

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Also a good thing to start to learn is to fly with your elbows.

I was taught to fly with my legs and back, not my arms. In case I'd want to dock on someone. Thoughts?

"For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

[br0k3n 0]

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Also a good thing to start to learn is to fly with your elbows.

I was taught to fly with my legs and back, not my arms. In case I'd want to dock on someone. Thoughts?

Sounds good in principle, I don’t think I have ever seen anyone sit fly with out some degree of arm input…
How are you finding it???

Personally I feel that I still need my arms for balance and rotational control, aswell as my legs, however learning to use my just my upper arms frees up my lower arms to take docks…

This is the how we were coached recently… and I find it works really well.

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--+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+

[Paige 0]

Just some general info on slowing down, using little arms, and what not. What do I know though?!?!?

I know in the tunnel, in a sit, I'll put both hands on my head and carve (I use little arm input since there isn't much surface area to catch lift). This may not be so tough in the sky (I have no clue) but in the tunnel you have to generate all kinds of lift in other places which really makes you aware of your body, esp. shoulder blades and legs.

Also, in the splits, I have my arms out to the sides sometimes but when i use any pressue on my arms, I shoot up with all kinds of lift. I find flying the splits without using a ton of arms works best and has for other lady flyers too (men may be different). If I fly the splits and have my hands on my head or one on the stomach and one on the head, I am forced to find other places to catch lift.

I still say spend some time in the tunnel and 'feel' what its like to generate lift with and without bodyparts.

Tunnel Pink Mafia Delegate
www.TunnelPinkMafia.com

[patworks 5]

Going Up? The Slow Sit-fall for Sit Floating
To be able to fly up and recover altitude, and when working with flat-flyers who are in the boxman position, use the Slow Sit-fall. This is rather like the Freak Bro’ position.
To ground-practice a Slow Sit-fall:
1. Find yourself a nice Lazy Boy recliner and sit down. With the recliner in the “up” position, you are in a normal sit position, comparable to the kitchen chair sit position.
2. Push the lever so that you are nearly fully reclined. Put your arms out in the “T” position. This is the slow sit-fall or Lazy Boy slow sit position (see Figure 14).
3. Think about where the wind would hit you in freefall. Like the normal sit position, the relative wind is on the underarms, butt, and thighs. There is some air on the soles of the feet, which are at an angle to the ground rather than flat. There is also air on the backs of the knees and the backs of the calves, which is balanced by air on the backpack.
sSITs.TIF and sSITBKs.TIF
Figure 14. The Slow Sit-fall for sit floating.
Imagine the Lazy Boy in freefall. You are counterbalanced in dynamic tension with the backward push of the extended legs pushing you back, compensated by the forward push caused by leaning back against the wind. Think about how you have to lie back against the wind and at the same time push your legs down against it. Take this position with you in freefall. Go into it from a normal sit. Thus positioned, pushing with arms and legs while leaning back gives you the desired slow sit-fall rate. Back and legs are key—push them down! Legs are bent somewhat! Mind is resolute!
Hand-drawn slow-sit Illustrations on request

Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

[porterhouse 0]

I had the exact same problem when I started sitting. I naturally fall fast anyway. I was trying to slow down by making sure my legs were spread wide and my arms were parallel. But I found out that spreading my legs wide actually made me go FASTER. What helped me slow down the most was making sure I had my legs at a 90 degree angle IN FRONT of my body (not wide and spread out to the side). Contrary to what I thought, it isn't just about surface area....it's about the burble your legs create. When I spread my legs wide, it created a burble above them. Even though my arms were parallel to maximize surface area, they were in a partial burble created above my legs. So they weren't grabbing as much air. As soon as I tried putting my legs in front of my body, I immediatly noticed a lot more air resistance on my arms. And doing so slowed my sit down by about 20 MPH. If you think about it, when you're

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in a sit, picture yourself looking up at your body from underneath. If your legs are at a 90 degree angle, you have the exact same surface area regardless of whether or not they're out at your side or in front of your body. But by having your legs out wide, your partially block the air resistance on your arms. Bringing your legs in front of you will give you the same surface area, but your arms will be completely exposed to the full air resistance. That should slow you down significantly. Hope this helps!

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[uponone 0]

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however learning to use my just my upper arms frees up my lower arms to take docks…

whoa, that sounds like Goro from Mortal Kombat freeflying.