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Hi Nick, Welcome! What state are you from? I'm in WA.

Hi folks, It's been ages since I last posted. Well, here's some good news at last. I PASSED Stage 4!!!!!!!!!! Yesssssssssss I am now able to maintain constant heading in a desired direction without spinning like I used to. It took me 9 jumps in Stage 4 to get through, but its a huge relief. :) Just passed Stage 4 yesterday and attempted Stage 5 today. Did the 360 turn, but didn't dock with the instructor, so I'll have to repeat that stage. However, I am pretty confident that I will succeed soon in getting through all nine stages. Thanks a lot for all your advice. I did actually go to the tunnel where I was made aware of how the slightest bit of movement can impact in a spin. It took me five go's after that to pass. I know, I am pretty dumb and slow in learning, but I'm just happy I did it. I'll keep you folks updated as I go. Thanks again for all your advice and pep talk!!!

Hi Shawn, I've recently been in a similar situation as you are in right now. On 28th December 2013 i did my Stage 1 AFF. I didn't flare on time while landing and hit the ground real hard. Broke my tibia, fibula, dislocated my ankle tore ligaments, etc etc. Here's a video taken by a fellow student- http://s833.photobucket.com/user/ssr1984/media/Accident_zps42a26ed9.mp4.html Anyway, it was pretty depressing at first, but I got over it eventually and decided to get back as soon as my leg gets fixed. I guess the thought of getting back to skydiving was what made me get back up on my feet. On March 16 2014, I did return and did my jump again. Got everything right this time around. I have gone upto stage 4 so far, but have been stuck here for a while due to work and other commitments. When I went back for the jump after the injury, I was pretty anxious, especially about the landing part. However, my jumpmasters told me to focus on the task in hand and deal with things one by one. I heard the term "relax" a million times. I just remained positive and somehow did it. I am not experienced enough to be advising you, but I wish you good luck. I'm sure you'll be fine next time around when you jump.

Thanks for the advice guys. I was advised to go have a few sessions at the tunnel. However, we don't have any here in Western Australia. I'll have to travel to the east. It's pretty far, but I'll have to make the trip if this trend continues. I've booked myself in for a jump next week. Hopefully I'll get through This time around. My confidence has taken a major hit after the past few jumps as one can imagine. I never felt this low on confidence even after crash landing. But, I guess its a part and parcel of the learning process. I've just got to keep trying.

Hi folks, My name’s Rao, I live in Perth, Western Australia. I did my first tandem skydive in August 2012, and after that I made up my mind to do the AFF course, and be able to jump by myself. It took me a long time to enrol myself, but I finally got around doing it in December 2013. On 28th December 2013 I did my Stage 1 AFF jump. Everything went well but as I came down to land I took my eyes off the paddles and stared at the ground instead. By the time I looked at the paddles, the Landing Assistant had already signalled for a full flare. And by the time I had flared, I had hit the ground. The wind had died down when I came in for landing, and I did come a bit too fast. And of course being 94kilos doesn’t help with slowing down either. Here’s a link to a video taken by a fellow AFF student. I guess you’ll get a very good idea as to what exactly happened. http://s833.photobucket.com/user/ssr1984/media/Accident_zps42a26ed9.mp4.html Anyway, as a result of the crash landing, I broke my tibia, fibula, dislocated my ankle, tore my ligaments around my left ankle and had a severely swollen right ankle(luckily not broken). Guess I was lucky to get away with just that much damage. The next few weeks were pretty depressing, but, I got over the grief, and focused more on recovering. All I could think of while I was bed ridden was about getting back to the drop zone and getting the landing right. And I did so 77 days later on March 16th 2014. I got the landing right this time. Although I could stand on my feet upon doing the full flare, I just decided to land on my butt because I was a bit too terrified with my previous experience. I was just happy I didn’t break anything. http://s833.photobucket.com/user/ssr1984/media/Landing-Segment100_00_38553-00_01_05832_zps8986fd17.mp4.html I breezed through Stage 2 and 3, and am now on stage 4. Unfortunately, I am trapped on Stage 4 as I am unable to stop myself from spinning during freefall. I have failed the stage four times now. I have received feedback from two of the instructors who’ve jumped with me so far. 1) I was told I bring my hand close to my face to check the altimeter while the other hand is in its original position. Didn’t do it after the first time. 2) I was told to relax, and I sure I’m pretty relaxed. Unlike the first few times, i don’t feel nervous before the jump anymore. 3) I was told that I bring my legs way too in which makes me move backwards, and I have been making an effort to not repeat that. The first time I did stage 4 I had line twists as a result of the spinning. When I spun out of the twist, the ripcord in my hand hit my upper lip cutting it which resulted in me getting a few stitches. So, it’s been quite a challenge. I came across this thread while googling “how to avoid spinning during freefall’. http://www.dropzone.com/forum/Skydiving_C1/Safety_and_Training_F2/Spinning_in_freefall_P62415 I’ll try the toe tapping method in order to ensure my legs are symmetrical to each other. I have uploaded a video of the four jumps. I hope you folks are able to give me more pointers. http://s833.photobucket.com/user/ssr1984/media/FAILS_zps2dccba5d.mp4.html I certainly hope I succeed in getting through this stage in the next go and the remaining five stages. Thanks for reading and I look forward for any pointers that might help me.