Bethaney

I do take that into much consideration. I was the first to exit after a group of experienced jumpers, all of us in the plane discussed before boarding what our intentions were, they knew I was practicing tracking before we loaded. One of the things I try to be most mindful of is my personal air space and those who jumped before me. They had all exited with the intent of a 9-way track jump with a much lower pull alt. than what I pull at. I spotted with an instructor before exiting to make sure there would be plenty of air space between myself and said group. But thank you for the response I do appreciate it. Its interesting to me that you suggest no prep. Most of my instructors strongly encouraged practicing dive exits and tracking because they are things I will need to know for the future. They are extremely mindful of who jumps before and after who, very thorough with spotting and very vocal about everyone's intended pull altitude. The most important part of skydiving to me at this point (since I'm so new) is safety. So if you feel that a "novice 9 second track" is dangerous, what would you suggest I be doing on my "fun jumps" or c8's?

Woohoo! With only one repeat on L4, and a month after I started, I'm an AFF graduate! Have done a few fun jumps since then and my main focus has been to practice tracking since it was my weakest point during AFF and I feel its an extremely important (and fun!) skill to know. After a couple tries during my fun jumps, my most recent jump (Sunday evening) I was able to do a 90 degree turn and then track and hold straight with no wobbles for a solid 9 seconds (1 thousand, 2 thousand..)! It may sound silly but I was really excited about it. After I pulled I watched the most unbelievable sunset of my life under canopy. I'm curious as to what your advice would be to practice during my fun jumps to get me ready for coach jumps. I did a couple of silly exits for fun and have since been practicing my dive exit which I actually really enjoy but I am not sure how its looking since I don't have anyone with me. Haha. Anything I can practice during freefall to get me more prepared for coach jumps? Also, I jumped 230's my entire AFF and first 2 fun jumps. On Sunday there were no 230's available due to how busy the DZ was and one of my instructors told me I could jump a 210. I know its not that much of a difference and they said they wouldn't put me in it if they didn't feel confident that I would be fine. I actually enjoyed the 210 much more than the 230, except the landing! I did practice flares up high to get the feel but as soon as I was coming in to my final approach for landing, it was much more difficult to control for some reason under a 210. My landings weren't terrible, no PLFs or anything, flared at the right time and landed on my feet. But they just weren't as smooth as my 230 landings. Is this just because I'm new and need practice or is there something I can do to control my chute better upon final approach? Thanks in advance!

Felt like I should post an update here! Took AFF 4, had to repeat. I went back the next morning and passed and it was probably my best jump so far. Have since passed 5 and 6 (no repeats ) and am going for 7 tomorrow. If I pass tomorrow I'll be certified! Then can move forward to A license. Thank you all for your advice, so excited for the years of jumping to come!

Yeah, you're right. I've been over-thinking it. "You started the jump not being able to hold a heading, and by the end of the jump you could." -This made me feel a lot better. I didn't really acknowledge that until I read this. After reading everyone's responses, I've realized I got this and just need to take a deep breath and go for it this Monday. And I'm excited to do so. I know they wouldn't have me advance if I weren't ready for it. Thanks for the replies! I appreciate all the advice :)

Hello! I passed my AFF Level 3 class on Monday but am a bit apprehensive for 4 mainly because I barely passed. I know that sounds terrible, so let me explain. Check in, check out, prop, squat, exit, arch. 12345, report report. Alt check followed by a practice pull, alt check and stability and both instructors release me. I immediately start turning to my right, but a very slow, steady and controlled turn. I try to get myself to turn left to get back to my heading but didn't go deep enough. (Never was out of control, just didn't emphasize enough on my turn to get back to main heading). Instructors re-dock and I focus on main heading again. They release and I start turning to my left this time (still very stable and under control, just slowly turning) and again, I didn't go deep enough to my right to get back to main heading so they re-dock again. At about 7,000 they release, I held and maintained my heading steady til 6,000 where I locked in on my alt and held until wave off and pull at 5,500. My best chute flight and landing yet which I felt really good and happy about. (My first AFF I had line twists and closed end cells which I corrected but it threw me off a bit and my 2nd I got stuck in a downwind and wasn't able to do a proper landing pattern, but still managed to do a downwind landing and land safely). But this was the first one that went very well and I was very confident in. I'm seeking advice from more people with experience. My instructors passed me. They say I have good body awareness and control and that I am not a danger in the sky, I just really need to go deeper on my turns. I feel like because I've learned to do movements with subtlety rather than drastically I just wasn't going hard enough. But the entire purpose of my AFF3 was to maintain heading and hold and correct myself if I turn. Though I tried to correct myself I didn't quite nail it. But I did end up getting released and maintaining my heading at the end and was able to pull at correct alt. So I suppose my question to you guys is, do you think I should repeat Level 3 before advancing to 4 just to be more comfortable? Should I go to the nearest wind tunnel and practice there before advancing to 4 (would this be beneficial)? Or should I just move on to level 4 knowing mentally what I need to be prepared for and what I need to put more into? I'm asking because I love skydiving, and I want to be doing it correctly and safely. I feel comfortable in freefall (not tense, etc.) and I was aware of what I didn't do once I landed. Part of me feels like this is something I have to create the muscle memory for and get used to since I have only jumped 3 times. I'm apprehensive because I know I am only jumping with one instructor on 4, and I need to be able to do 90 degree turns in both directions. I feel like I can do it but just want to see what others input might be. Thanks for your time! Happy and safe jumping and many blessings from SoCal.