Coat.

Did a little more tunnel time. Getting assessed by the DZSO this weekend and hopefully I'll be able to do a jump with an instructor before attempting the h&p again. Feeling quite confident.

I haven't jumped in 4 months. I didn't even realise how quick those months flew by. I'd been working on my end of year assessments for school and got caught up with it. I'm just really concerned know whether to return or not, now. I was on stage 9, and had attempted it twice with no pass. They told me to do a few fun jumps before trying it again, but 4 months have passed. Would I be expected to repeat stages again?

Huh? Of course not.

Haven't jumped in a fortnight, because of an off-weekend and due to winds. Just tiring getting up there every single weekend. I might just let this one breeze.

Haha, not a fail, but just have to redo. My exit's on both were kinda sloppy and rushed. Need to relax and flow with the experience.

In a fortnight, heading back to the dz to finish off L 9 (H&P). Tried twice but exit wasn't good, and I panicked because of the height. But will be all sweet next time. Weather can be a real bummer sometimes.

@KirstyM81, have you made another jump yet?

Was a tiring but great weekend. Did stages 6 and 7 on Saturday - tracking was awesome. Did 8 on the Sunday, but had some issues with the hop n' pop. I redid stage 9 twice; my exit wasn't good and I kind of panicked/rushed it. On my second time, I still hadn't passed but can't wait until next weekend to finish it. I know by the time I got to stage 9, I was exhausted. Nonetheless, it was a great weekend and was nice to see my development.

It varies on the DZ. Some DZ's are small, some are larger and it depends on how the it functions as a whole. I tried to get as many jumps as I could in last weekend, but with external circumstances, I only jumped twice. I'm hoping to finish off the AFF this coming weekend. Here in Australia, there is 9 stages.

Thanks. :) Although, I think that the AFF I'm doing has tracking on stage 7. Stage 6 is very similar to stage 5, except it's a solo exit. On both previous jumps my landing was a little sketchy. I went downwind too late, did a turn, passed my target and landed off the DZ. Downwind leg is meant to start at 1000ft, and I remember checking my alti to start downwind at 1000ft but I guess you can't always rely on your alti. I need to practice my canopy control more.

Was a good weekend. Did stages 4 and 5. Time to smash it out next weekend. :)

I need to practise my PLR's more. As for going the dive flow on the ground (which I've been doing at home), is it just me or does it get quite tiring when trying to arch on flat ground for a while whilst going over the objectives of the jump? Heading out to the DZ tomorrow a day early and hopefully jumping Saturday. I think that the years break I had was quite beneficial in terms of trying to be ready to come back and smash it out. If I have to redo a jump again, I won't sweat, I'll just correct my flaws and continue on. That was my problem - my consistency. I use to only do one jump a weekend and come back the next weekend to do the next jump. I know that jumping as much as you can, with a clear head, on the one day would help massively in progression and correction. This break has made me quite excited, and since doing my tunnel time, has backed off the nerves a little.

Pumped for this weekend. Keen to get out there and have fun. They tell you to bend your legs so they are closer to 90 degrees. Reason being is that when you go to do your EP, your arms tuck in and if you're in a high speed mal for example, you could potentially go into a head-dive whilst loosing symmetry. When you had your first mal, was your mind racing and did you panic at any point? I am a little concerned that if I had a high speed, like a PC hesitation, that even after counting my thousands, that I'd freeze and go into a state of sensory overload.

Got there. Had to do ground training on the Saturday - took the whole day. Next day, was meant to skip straight to stage 3 but there were issues with the aircraft and it was impossible for the dz to get another one in time. I'm heading back next weekend, and plus, they'll have a larger plane, meaning larger loads and more jumps! Just have to keep my EP in mind. I've been really going over it and saying outloud; legs, look, locate, peel, punch, punch. I kind of want to experience a mal just to see how I'll react to it; but then again, that's quite an overwhelming thought.

Had tunnel time today. It was pretty awesome. Now time to sleep, travel to the dz tomorrow and set up camp and have some fun.

How do you visualize in such a nerve-racking situation? I remember on my past AFF jumps I tried to go over the jump in my head during the climb but I kept becoming distracted by looking out the door and feeling a sense of anticipation. Funnily enough, on my last jump, (12 months ago) which was my AFF 6, my nerves were at a borderline level and probably at there lowest. The irony is that jump, being an unlinked exit, I lost stability most of the jump. Perhaps that fear and anticipation is a good thing. I'll be going to the indoor this Thursday - with 500 seconds of tunnel time. Can't wait.

Thanks JohnMitchell, and very true megamalfunction. Do you think the feeling of freefall will be totally alien to me, or something that I will remember? That kinda of worries me a little.

Well, it's been a while now. I've finally decided to give it another shot and be persistent at it - I know I'm going to do well. I've booked an indoor lesson with 10 flights, and then the next day I'm heading to the DZ a day early to set up camp and plan to skip back a few levels; starting from AFF 4. Unlike the times before where I'd do one jump and head home, I'm planning on trying to jump as many times as I can over the weekend. A little nervous but that's more anticipation than nerves. Wish me luck.

Sorry about that. I thought after I posted it that it was in the wrong section. Thanks for everyone on the advice. Serious question here; I've come to the conclusion that I wouldn't have enough dollars to do tunnel time/coaching and redo the lower levels of AFF. What level would they drop me back on? Would they drop me back to a level with two JM's or would they only drop me back one level? My concerns are that when I do go back to jump, that I'd be overwhelmed at exit. Do you think the DZ would just let me do a jump without any tasks (docking, turns, flios etc.) with just one JM?

Hi. I had recently stopped jumping after my AFF 6 jump (8 months ago) as the jump scared me because it was an unlinked exit, I had a bad arch and leg problems, subsequently leading for me to redo it. I have talked to one of my instructors lately and told me that it might be a good idea to go back and do AFF 5 again, whilst another instructor told me I should just get back into it. Personally, I don't think I feel 100% to get back up there and do stage 6 again. Even if I do go back and do stage 5, I still think since it's been 8 months, I wouldn't be used to it all and thus, perhaps leading to have to redo stage 5. I am considering doing tunnel training to really work on my body position during FF - as I always seemed to have problems with my legs being blown about, causing myself to backslide, and essentially de-arch. After doing tunnel training, I was then thinking of going and doing stage 5 again. This would be costly, but I know it would be worth it. Also, ever since my last jump, I started to get negavitve thoughts about a malfunction. These thoughts become almost obsessive. I had tried going back to jump again the week after it, but would wake up dredding to do the jump and feeling incredibly nervous. I was never this nervous before. I worry that I would panic in an event of a malfunction and kill myself. I worry that I would not pull the handles at the right time. I worry on how my family would cope if I did happen to die. I want to get back up there but I feel as I just can't. It's killing me because I really admire and enjoy the sport. I don't know what to do anymore... I was thinking of just heading out to the DZ and hanging around but I would feel as if I was a burden and all.

Hi. I had recently stopped jumping after my AFF 6 jump (8 months ago) as the jump scared me because it was an unlinked exit, I had a bad arch and leg problems, subsequently leading for me to redo it. I have talked to one of my instructors lately and told me that it might be a good idea to go back and do AFF 5 again, whilst another instructor told me I should just get back into it. Personally, I don't think I feel 100% to get back up there and do stage 6 again. Even if I do go back and do stage 5, I still think since it's been 8 months, I wouldn't be used to it all and thus, perhaps leading to have to redo stage 5. I am considering doing tunnel training to really work on my body position during FF - as I always seemed to have problems with my legs being blown about, causing myself to backslide, and essentially de-arch. After doing tunnel training, I was then thinking of going and doing stage 5 again. This would be costly, but I know it would be worth it. Also, ever since my last jump, I started to get negavitve thoughts about a malfunction. These thoughts become almost obsessive. I had tried going back to jump again the week after it, but would wake up dredding to do the jump and feeling incredibly nervous. I was never this nervous before. I worry that I would panic in an event of a malfunction and kill myself. I worry that I would not pull the handles at the right time. I worry on how my family would cope if I did happen to die. I want to get back up there but I feel as I just can't. It's killing me because I really admire and enjoy the sport. I don't know what to do anymore... I was thinking of just heading out to the DZ and hanging around but I would feel as if I was a burden and all.

Thank you for all your advice. I have the opportunity to jump this Saturday but deep down, I have a feeling I should wait until January. I think taking a break for a bit should be good. After my last AFF 6 jump, I've been having trouble sleeping and I have been a lot more anxious lately. I have a 'rushed' feeling, as if I need to get the next jump done and over with. I've talked to my instructor, and he said he won't be at the dropzone until January either - so he is fine with that. I just have to overcome the 'fear' I may have.

Hello, I have recently attempted my AFF stage 6 but will have to redo the jump due to unstable exit with my legs up my bum (need to push them out more) which caused backsliding and a bit of panic throughout the jump. I will be doing a lot of ground training to improve my arch and legs. The thing is, the next few (and last) weekends of December I am unable to jump due to family occasions and what not - being near Christmas and all. I won't be able to redo my AFF 6 until January, and that gap is a concern to me. When I had done my AFF 5 jump, it had been a month and a week gap but I still had passed that stage. I think there was a lot of reasons I failed that stage. Due to it being an unlinked exit, with a new/different JM, not correct leg position and the past 2 jumps previous were out of a smaller airplane. The smaller plane had a foot step, which might change my exit position. But my main question is, do you think that gap between when I last jumped (which was the 7th of this month). For me to jump again in January, that would be a month and a week (the same gap as I had between AFF 4 & 5). I'm not sure what to make of this. Has anyone else confronted this problem?