websean

Haha I've been single since I started skydiving, therein lies the problem!

Thanks everyone! I haven't really been thinking about chin up + clenching butt cheeks together so I'll definitely work on that during my next jump. Also, I do have a tendency to spread my knees pretty wide which makes arching (correctly ) really tough.

Hi everyone, I'm still a pretty new jumper and have developed a bad habit of arching through my chest instead of my hips. This gives me a pretty slow fall rate and I'm already very light to begin with, so I have trouble keeping up with other jumpers unless they flatten out. Moreover, this usually causes me to tumble a bit while riding the hill before stabling out. I've been told I have a perfect arch on the creeper, floor, etc but when I get in the air I revert to arching through my chest. Has anyone else struggled with this? All advice is appreciated!

Congrats! I just got my A License as well; definitely a great accomplishment :)

Finally got my A License! (Even though it took me almost a year since starting AFF

I was very much the same way during AFF. Actually the earlier AFF levels made me so nervous that I questioned why I even wanted to skydive. It gets much more comfortable though! I learned the more I relaxed and smiled in freefall, the better my arch would be and I had far less tension in my body which made maneuvers easier to control.

What an unusual coincidence, I've had a Extra class ham radio license for 10 years (I've even run APRS before) but I'm rarely active these days. I'll have to check that out. Thanks all for the great responses! Sean

Last weekend I returned to AFF after several months off (I'm a busy university student) and had an awesomely surprising experience during my level 4 jump. Before the hiatus, I really struggled to relax in freefall and felt tense all over, but after coming back and getting a few jumps in I started to totally relax. And on my last jump, for the ~60 seconds of freefall, I noticed that for the first time in a long time, all of the life/school/work stress I'd been holding onto wasn't bothering me anymore. The freefall was just such a peaceful sensation. Of course the stress slowly crept back as I drove home from the DZ I was originally drawn to skydiving purely for the adrenaline (and to meet likeminded people) but I think the tranquility of freefall will be what keeps me progressing in the sport. I'm curious, does anyone else get a similar peaceful/relaxing experience from jumping or is mainly just about the camaraderie and adrenaline?

Thanks to all for the suggestions!

Hey guys, I hit a snag on AFF 4 and after a couple rough jumps my instructors thought some tunnel time would be best to nail down the body position and maneuvers. I'm in Atlanta and unfortunately don't have a wind tunnel close by and I'm trying to decide where to go. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

Level 4 and beyond for sure.

All went well. I had a pretty good AFF level 2 jump but was still a little nervous. I went ahead and decided to go for AFF level 3 as well, and to my surprise I absolutely nailed it. I don't think I'll ever forget that jump, it was honestly the most fun I've had in a very long time!

Thanks again for the encouragement everyone, I'm going to re-attempt AFF 2 tomorrow and hopefully AFF 3 as well. I've run through the skydive many times in my head and I feel far more confident with arching, maneuvers, and the overall flow of the jump. I think I was just suffering from information overload the first time around, which made me anxious I was forgetting something, which then made me tense up and lose confidence. I've wanted to be a skydiver since I was 12 and I'm determined to make this sport a part of my life!

Thanks everyone! I'm eagerly awaiting getting back in the skies and continuing my AFF training. I think I'm finally figuring out how to channel the nervous energy and use it to my advantage.