How to Track - Advanced Tracking Techniques!

[rslavick 0]

My basic track is fine, heading-great, distance-good, but keeping realitive during a tracking dive is tough!

Can anyone send me links, tips, tricks, etc on how to really improve my ability to keep realitive work during a tracking dive?

My end goal is to start jumping wingsuits, so most of my jumps are tracking dive right now ...

*now i'm off to the DZ!!!

Thanks!!

[SPAWNmaster 0]

There's a lot of material on the internet about tracking. A search on DZ.com will certainly yield numerous threads on this very topic...and there is a lot of conversation on the BASEjumper.com forums on this as well.

However in my opinion, your best bet is to get one on one coaching. Just like anything in skydiving (or life) one on one help is going to give you very specialized attention and will help you develop the skills you need to be an amazing tracker, and a great wingsuit flier.

As far as tracking dives/flocks go, in my experience having a strong background in freeflying is a huge help in keeping level with the group and maintaining speeds. I would suggest the tunnel since bodyflight is a rather large component of skydiving, especially when it comes to tracking.

My 2cts.

[dragon2 0]

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My end goal is to start jumping wingsuits, so most of my jumps are tracking dive right now ...

WHY?

Take a look around in the winsuit forum... I and a few other wingsuit instructors with me are less fond of people doing solos and/or tracking jumps than of people doing lots of group RW jumps.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[riggerrob 558]

Definitely hire a coach and ask him/her to video all the dives that you two do together.

The finer points of tracking have been covered in several previous threads (obligatory hint about using the "SEARCH" function).

There are basically two ways to teach tracking. The older method starts with "delta" then "shapes" it into a "track." The disadvantage with this method is that few people learn to de-arch (reduce fall rate) while tracking.

The newer method starts with a "dead spider" (reverse arch, slow fall, etc.) and "shapes" it into a "track."
By starting with a dead spider, you pop-up before most of your team-mates, making it much easier to keep an eye on them as you track away.
The best illustration of the later method involved Craig Girrard popping up, turning and tracking out of the frame before most of the fun-jumpers had turned 180 degrees.
Craig is also pretty good at turning quickly. If you have ever - accidentally - tried to stop Craig from turning in freefall, it is akin to trying to stop a bulldozer from turning!
Hah!
Hah!

[Will_Evo 0]

I posted not to long ago in a topic about adjusting body position in a tracking dive to stay relative to others on the jump. Unfortunately those adjustments only work when the track is very flat and moving horizontally quickly while falling as slow as possible.

I have started to notice more and more that tracking dives are led by people back tracking, and although this is the preferred method, most people are not nearly as flat as they are on their bellies. What does this cause? a track that is falling out of the sky..and fast.

I find myself above a lot of tracking dives because I get in this mindset that the dive is going to be flat, how it should be...when in reality I end up in a belly position with my legs out to stay with the dive. I've been on 10-15 tracking dives so far...and maybe 2 were led by a very competent back tracker. There may be nothing incredibly wrong with your track, and if you are like me...your just doing it too well(not meaning either you or I are extremely good trackers, just meaning you are flat, too flat for the dive) . Are you above the dives all the time?

Anyways, to remedy the problem...do a tracking dive...with the leader on his belly...you'll notice that the track you've worked so hard to perfect...actually works in this case. Back tracking requires alot of core strength to keep those legs down and the back "de arched" which is'nt easy of course...getting a back track perfect has to take some time to get...I'm still very terrible at it lol

-Evo

Zoo Crew

[elias123 0]

Quote

Quote

My end goal is to start jumping wingsuits, so most of my jumps are tracking dive right now ...

WHY?

Take a look around in the winsuit forum... I and a few other wingsuit instructors with me are less fond of people doing solos and/or tracking jumps than of people doing lots of group RW jumps.

I did around 70-80 tracking dives, most of wich with tracking gear, to train for my first wingsuit jump, to practice delta style wingsuit body positions, leg kicks as wave-offs (as one would/should do when flying an actual wingsuit), wingsuit style dummy pulls and actual pulls etcetera. I honestly think tracking is a good practice if one wants to go on to fly wingsuits in his/her future skydiving career. Of course there are other disciplines that are good for practicing wingsuiting as well, but what I have experienced is that jumpers who have many many RW jumps (and I'm not talking just a few hundred jumps) and only few tracking dives, usually have less qualitative first flights then people who ALSO practice alot of tracking.
I think relative work is good practice for wingsuit relative work later on in ones wingsuit career, but for a first flight, I honestly believe tracking is a way better practice since you normally won't be doing wingsuit relative work on your first flight anyway.

"In a mad world, only the mad are sane"

[Dutton 0]

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There are basically two ways to teach tracking. The older method starts with "delta" then "shapes" it into a "track." The disadvantage with this method is that few people learn to de-arch (reduce fall rate) while tracking.

The newer method starts with a "dead spider" (reverse arch, slow fall, etc.) and "shapes" it into a "track."
By starting with a dead spider, you pop-up before most of your team-mates, making it much easier to keep an eye on them as you track away.

^^^

Very good advice and well said.

[mixedup 0]

any links to video of people doing a track via starting with the "dead spider"?

Parachutist Game IOS Android YouT

[jumpwally 0]

That one with Craig should exist somewhere..c'mon peeps,,whip it on out..lets see.

smile, be nice, enjoy life
FB # - 1083

[virgin-burner 1]

probably the sickest tracking-video of all times

though not exactly skydiving..

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[davelepka 4]

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Can anyone send me links, tips, tricks, etc on how to really improve my ability to keep realitive work during a tracking dive?

Stop thinking of it as a 'tracking dive' and just think of it as a 'dive'.

Look at the base, and figure out what you need to do to get there. Need to move forward and down? Trying arching and sticking your legs out. Need to move up? Try de-arching.

The moves you make to enable relative movement are the same, it's just that your 'neutral position' isn't falling straight down, it's moving forward. Regardless, the changes needed to 'fly' relative are all the same.

OK, that's the simplified version. Like anything in skydiving, there is more than one technique to flying in a tracking dive, but the above is the most basic. Work with that until you have some success, then expand your horizons with some experimentation into different methods.