(A shot from a demo I worked this weekend. One of my favorites!)
Skydiving is a sport of learning. Each time you exit the airplane 12,000 feet up and plummet to the Earth at 120 mph you learn something new. Whether it’s about the sport or just yourself.
This is especially true as a newbie. Everyday is a learning experience – and retention is key. This is exactly why things like safety (look, grab, look, pull, pull) are drilled into your head from day one.
As you progress in the sport and muscle memory is built, additional pieces are added. First with starting and stopping turns, maintaining headings, tracking, docking…you get the idea. Not to mention all the work on the ground, like packing a parachute.
Of course, with each new lesson there comes a time where it sticks and you just ‘get it.’ These are the ultimate victories because you did it yourself. That’s the great thing with skydiving, no one can do it for you, but once you’ve nailed something down, the credit is all yours.
This is how I felt with my first couple of docking skydives. I was lucky enough to get in the air with a great new coach over at Skydive Tecumseh in Michigan. After walking through the skydive on the ground, Jeromy and I were able to execute the jump at 14,000. Twice.
Watching this video for the first time I felt so proud that I was able to adjust my fall rate so easily. Who knew I could arch like that! It’ll sure come in handy when I’m jumping in 3, 4, and 8-ways one day!
I’ve since been able to take advice that I was given on the ground that day and clean up my tracking too.
But the lesson I’ve learned lately is this: patience. Not all skydives are going to go well, and you learn best from the ones that don’t. Reflect on what happened and take away lessons from those who were in the air with you that day. Next time, fix it.
Most importantly, take your time, learn, absorb, and be safe. In this sport, you’re always a student – whether you have 5 jumps or 500 – so it’s important to always keep learning. Besides, isn’t that half the fun of it, anyway?
Blue Skies!
Ashley
saaaaweet! Love it. so what can we expect in upcoming posts?
Awesome. Well done. I’m gonna jump with another person for the first time next Saturday. It’s gonna be great
(I’m calling BEEEEEEER on Pedro.)
Good job! I wanted to get my A license this weekend, but alas, the weather seems to HATE ME. Tornado warnings? In southern New Jersey? What?
I have a very extreme arch, so one of the things I tried to work on in the tunnel was flattening it out a bit. Granted, my coach Laticia is about 100 pounds, so keeping level with her involves quite a bit of “hugging the beachball” (so to speak).
I love reading your posts!
Nathan – thanks buddy! in the near future I’ll be talking mostly about lessons learned in the sky and giving the play-by-play of my experiences while earning my license. Hopefully in the future I can be a resource for others in the sport!
Pedro – I’m with JJ, that’s beer buddy! Have a great time out there. My first two-way was so much fun. We were both fairly new so it was a challenge for us both.
JJ – Your tunnel video was amazing. I can’t wait to try that out myself soon.
Blue Skies!