freeflybella

learning balance is the key. flying head down is absolutely nothing like just standing on your head. you could practice upright in front of a mirror. put your head someplace that your body has to compensate for - watch what your torso, legs and arms do. more importantly, get coaching!!! seriously. even if it's just to learn the basics, or even just the theory. other than that, go do it. make sure you're gear safe, learn your jump run, talk to your loader, figure out your exit order and separation, be sure that you're not moving up and down jump run, be altitude aware, and just go out solo and turn yourself upside down. the longer you try it without a coach, the longer youll be just 'trying' it. but you'll start to get the feeling and maybe get somewhat comfortable. MOST importantly is to be safe. (oh, and have fun) Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

Ah...$13 Wednesdays. Stuey, Tim and Adam will be present and available this weekend. I'll be there. Heath (and the Boys) are in Norway at Extremeweek - The PST comp starts tomorrow - wish them luck! Expect a season's worth of cabin fever to fuel the party fires here this weekend. For all who have been planning trips here this week and next, you chose a FINE time to come!! Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

>>Is Bert still around? I thought he was leaving Monkey Claw to concentrate on real world job. Haven't seen him at the dz.

Skydiving hickies!!!! As a chick, you'll have a hard time finding student gear to fit you perfectly. Just go with it. You'll look back with fond memories. Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

Oh whatever...you're native. And yeah, Bert has a life. Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

Doesn't it make sense to behave in the air under canopy just as you would in the air during a freefall big-way? Know who is on your jump, watch for radical movements, know where everyone is before breakoff, continue to check your airspace as you initiate deployment, barrel roll or wave off to give a clear signal to others' as to your intentions and be ready to avoid collisions during deployment. I.e., know who is on your load (keep a mental note of their canopy piloting behaviour and skill over time), look for those people under canopy and get better at finding them exactly where you thought they'd be, be as predictable as you can be, continue to check your airspace and be ready to avoid collision during all stages of your approach and landing. >>Fly as if someone is trying to sneak up and kill you

Speak to someone at PD if you're just interested in the information. Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

Yay, another safety-minded freeflyer is born! Now, back to the cool photos... Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

It will cost you between $60-75/jump for a professional, experienced freefly coach. And there is a reason for that. They have the skills to do what they are teaching you to do. And the ability to really 'see' what's going on in your video and to break it down for you (to actually teach rather than suggest/advise). Most teach for a living so they have seen most anything there is to see in the air and can help you overcome bad habits as well as predict and avoid any new ones. Learning to fly your body in any other position than belly to earth is more difficult - it's not a 'natural' position to 'fall' in. Your speeds are higher vertically and that translates into higher horizontal speeds with movement - therefore it is potentially more dangerous to learn to freefly on your own. The possibility of corking (rapidly losing vertical speed) into someone, shooting forward or backward, or even rapidly gaining speed into someone, careening around the sky - possibly into the flightline is much more likely than in a strict belly to earth position. When you're asking your friendly neighborhood freeflyer for advice or 'coaching', they will probably be able to give you a few tips here or there but generally their range of information will be limited to their experience. I don't mean to say that your buddy couldn't help you out. But if he's got bad habits, you'll have them too. A typical schedule for beginner freefly coaching would be 3-5 coached jumps in between a good number of solos or 2-ways to work on and get comfortable with what you've learned. You'll spend far less money doing it the right way first - than having to go back and unlearn bad habits or spending 50 jumps with a buddy trying to figure out what you're doing wrong. And you'll be alot safer in the air. As you can tell, I'm a huge proponent of getting information from the best/most qualified source. It's easy to give advice and opinions (as is obvious by the fact that these forums are FULL of it - I'm doing it right now!) and people will always be willing to give it to you. And we should all share what we learn. But when it comes time to really learn for yourself and safely further your skills - consider the source of your information. The Flyboyz have 'been there' from the beginning. They're innovators as well as instructors. As are a number of other flyers and teams. Where else can you go to the actual 'inventor' for instruction? Put it this way - The most you'll get from a coach is the best that he's got. How good is the guy you're learning from? (Sorry if this post is misplaced) Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

Once you've worked out a routine or two - or even just some cool moves, it's a great idea to show your vid around. Hopefuly you have some experienced flyers/camera flyers at your dz that can give you hands-on advice or suggestions. Just know that you're not just a tripod in the air. >>Maybe i just like performing more than I like filming

I would agree with Chris on the dedicated slot thing while you're learning. But I would also like to say that you're not doing a 2-way with camera. You're doing a 3-way. I don't mean that strictly in the numbers sense, but in your actual performance and routine, as well. Camera interaction is critical and makes for much more dynamic video. At your level, if you can remember that and incorporate it into your routines, you'll be far ahead of most. Even though you're not on video, the judges (and other flyers) will see your performance. (Plus you have the ability to make the 2 on video look better! ) Good Luck! Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

The only pro-level comps I can think of right now are PST, RedBull Wings and PSN. PSN and RedBull don't use gates - RedBull uses targets, PSN is all on water. PST uses 5' (pro) and 10' (adv) air blades. If you go to proswoopingtour.com, they have diagrams of all of the courses. And if you go to to the PD website - PD Zone - Flight 1 section, there are videos that show the 2 different courses for the RedBull qualifyers. Check out Heath's runs in Texas and ZHills. I'm not a competitior either - that may be why I'm not sure what you mean by the pros and cons of entry gates. Have you considered asking Jim S./Lyle or AK Jon? Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

You'll get alot of advice on what to check and when to check it - follow it all. Check everything and then check it again. And as far as letting more experienced jumpers check others' gear - if you're not experienced enough to check others, you're not experienced enough to check your own! (Who's more important than you? ) Seriously, check the HELL out of other people's gear - for god's sake, don't go touching anything but if something on the outside (chest strap, stitching, loose bridle, hackey loose, etc.) looks strange to you - ask a more experienced jumper about it, or the person himself. Sometimes the less experienced jumpers are more aware - as time goes by, a certain amount of 'comfort' sets in - you'll find so many posts about experienced jumpers making mistakes. Bottom line, if you have questions/concerns about MY gear, I want to know!

(Whats up DAMO!) Project Horizon was a huge success! They jumped everyday -despite the forecast- and pulled off some great dives, including a 2 point 14-way. The last point was a 10-way round around a 4-way round. From what I heard, Bobby P. got some nice photos. Lots of great flyers- The Daves, Brown and Donnelly; Chris Salcone and Scott Meeker, Jason Peters, Chris Fiala, Storm Dunker, Monkeyclaw and Heath just to name a few! A few of the Crosskeys staff stepped up big, too! Adam should have photos posted Freeflyfoto.com soon as well! Anyone visiting Crosskeys should be able to check out the vids. (Miss you! When are you coming back?)

>>I will never make that mistake again and I won't be rushed in my gear up to make a load.

Unofficially: 1st Heath Richardson 2nd Jay Moledzki 3rd Jeff Provenzano Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

Get coaching when you're ready to learn to sitfly - at least a jump or two. Your coach will probably tell you to wear something baggy on top and tighter on the bottom. The baggy top will grab air and assist you in keeping a vertical body position - tighter (or nothing, like shorts) on your legs will make it easier for you to keep them under you. This 'rule'/principle is great for learning - once you've learned a certain amount of muscle memory in the position, you can fly wearing whatever you want! Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

Imagine if all you had is one form of movement: either walking, running, jumping, skipping, crawling, cartwheels - only one. Imagine if all you had is one form expressing emotion: screaming, laughing, crying, frowning, smiling - only one. Technically, freeflying encompasses EVERY form of movement in the sky. It has been used as a term to describe 'anything but bellyflying' but that's not really accurate. When you learn to freefly, you need to master some additional basic body positions - sit, stand and headdown (after you've learned the stable belly to earth position). Yes, they're alot harder learn and that's why 90% of the video out there looks like all we do is just jump and fall. It takes alot of jumps to learn all of those positions and the forward/backward movement to go with them. But it's so much fun to learn! When you realize to can run instead of walk, or laugh out loud instead of quietly smile. Basically you just start to realize you have NO limits with what you can do with your body in the air. The videos you need to watch are the ones of people who have mastered the movements and are now expressing themselves in the air - find video of Alchemy or AZ Freeflight or Babylon. Most people who bellyfly will not get as good as Deland Majik or Golden Knights or Airspeed. Most people who freefly will not get as good as Alchemy - but why WHY NOT learn it all? Why limit your fun? Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

Look forward to it! There are a ton of female freeflyers here, of all skill levels. You'll have a great time. Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

You got it girl. Except for 'smaller sit will speed me up'. Bringing your legs/feet together will make you less stable and will increase the surface size of your body presented to relative wind. My guess is, if it is making anyone speedier, they are pulling their lower bodies into a ball and using their arms to hold them upright. Your arms are for balance and directional motion - not to compensate for wonky torso or leg position. Make sure your torso is vertical and then slowly begin to push your hips forward as you extend your feet. Keep your head high, hips under your shoulders and knees and feet wide. Even small movements will increase your vertical speed. (But remember, it will also cause you to move forward or back if you're not vertical.)

Hi! Good job, on your sit and your enthusiasm! It's easier to push into a stand if you're pretty certain that you are falling straight down. If you're backsliding (generally forward motion is much harder to do unintentionally) - your hips are most likely behind your shoulders, ie., your torso is not truly vertical. I only mention it because you'll need to push your hips forward and straigten your legs to stand. If you're not familiar with what true vertical feels like - you'll most likely cork. (you will anyway, but you'll spend alot of time trying to figure out why). Also, try it on solos (or with one other person). Corking is inevitable and could be dangerous with too many people around - especially if you hold it long enough to pick up extra speed. Finally, practice pulling quickly into a little ball - as your transition from stand (and cork!) back to sit. That will help to keep up your speed and to keep you relative. Good luck. Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

By all means come talk to Monkeyclaw - Stuey, Timmy, Bert, Adam or Heath are available at the weekend and at least one or two during the week. Go to their website for contact and calendar info! And for the weather - one of the west coast guys here for Project Horizon must have brought the sun with him! See you soon! Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

Rock on Ivan! The spectacular part is that it was a 418 foot swoop! No flames shooting out of his butt or anything - he hit 5 FOOT ENTRY GATES and LANDED 418 FEET later!

More than What do you define as competant? - is Why are you asking? Is it because you are an expereinced bellyflyer who is ready to try freeflying? Is it that you are a stable sitflyer and are working with a coach but not making progress? Is it that you are just off student status? Get coaching! In the first case, you'll have a tendency to think that because you can fly your body horizontally - vertical flight chould come 'naturally'. Find a qualified reputable coach and start from there. Your airtime will be a big help but any confidence that you can learn it on your own may cause you to learn some serious bad habits. It's good to be goal oriented but try to focus on the fun and experience of learning how to fly to your body in any position. In the second/third case, again, try to focus on what you ARE learning. And maybe try to find a coach that more suits your learning style. My very first coaching came from one of the 'pioneers' of freefly 6 years ago - and my experience was awful. Our personalities were just different. With most of the experienced teams having structured schools now, it's easier to find good coaching for whatever your style. Maybe you know most of the people in this forum-most likely you don't. So judging your progress (or intended progress) by our jump numbers won't work. As in everything else in life - your experience will be different from anyone else's. Take the time to to learn and have fun. And when you're SAFE and consistent, there won't be anyone who won't want to jump with you. Good luck. Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

PPS: 4th - Heath Richardson, Pro Class Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi