The
following Freefly tips have been used with kind permission of Generation
Freefly's Max Cohn. Walk Before You Run
It is better to practice your upright flying (sit, stand) before you practice head down. There are several important reasons for this.
First, and most importantly, if you are practicing head down, and you go unstable (which is common when first learning), you need to be able to get back into a stable position. The sit is a better choice than the belly because it has a similar speed as head down. Going unstable while head down and recovering into a belly position is what is known as 'corking' (an abrupt speed change).
'Corking' is dangerous because if there was someone above you, a high-speed, mid-air collision could be (and has been) deadly.
Another reason I suggest to learn sit before head down is that it will get you more comfortable with a faster flying speed. Head down can be very disorientating because it is high speed and also upside down. So, if you practice upright flying before attempting head down, you will be more comfortable with higher speeds (opposed to only knowing belly flying).
In addition, if you practice upright flying first, you will get plenty of opportunities to fly with some of your friends who are flying head down (because upright flying and head down flying can fly at the same speeds). This will give you very good experience in witnessing head down first hand.
I believe practicing upright flying before head down will create a stronger foundation for the aspiring human flyer. Imagine if a beginner had 100 jumps ahead of them. If they did 50 jumps upright and then 50 head down, I feel they would be further ahead than if they did only 100 head down flights.
That is only my opinion. I could be wrong.
Tip 1
Learn something from every skydive. When we freefly, we only experience about 45 seconds of working time per jump. If one wishes to progress in freeflying, set a goal for every skydive. If you do not achieve your goal for that particular skydive, try to learn why things did not go as planned.
If every skydive is better than the last, then one is experiencing a productive learning curve. Remember, freeflying is a sport, those who wish to excel will train the hardest. Make a plan, stick to the plan, and most importantly, learn from the plan.
And above all, have a great time as you fly your body towards Earth!
Tip 2
Freefly Safety is an essential aspect to freeflight. Many issues must be dealt with in order to remain safe.
Altitude awareness is crucial. Wear two (2) altimeters at all times, visual and audible. Make sure your gear is safe. A BOC deployment system keeps the pilot chute and bridle nicely out of the way.
Use a hard helmet, especially when jumping with others. This sport brings us up to combined speeds of hundreds of miles per hour. Don't take Safety for granted.
Make sure all of your riser covers and pin covers are secure. This protection is not only for your Safety, but also for the Safety of those in the air with you.
And lastly for this week, keep the group sizes small. "Zoo dives", (jumps with lots of people, little skill and no plan), are not only counterproductive for the learning curve, but they are extremely dangerous.
Don't jump with lots of people just for the sake of doing "big ways."
Tip 3
In mid-July a good friend of mine, Brad Slager, was killed in a mid-air collision in southern Florida. Brad was one of the best freeflyers in the world and he was an extremely honest and altruistic person. It is a tragedy that his life has been lost...
I think that Brad would have wanted us to learn from his misfortune. Brad was NOT wearing a HELMET or a CYPRES when he collided with a fellow skydiver at break-off time on that fatal skydive.
We often underestimate the severity of our sport. Often, because we feel so invincible and because we get so lucky so often, we do not take necessary safety precautions. When we freefly, we hit vertical speeds of up to 300mph. This is more than enough speed to kill by collision.
If we chose not to wear a CYPRES and not to wear a hard helmet, we are only tempting fate. Think, how many times have you almost had an accident in freefall? If you are jumping with other skydivers and sharing the same airspace, you are significantly increasing your potential risks.
Be safe, wear a hard helmet, wear a CYPRES and DO NOT EVER think that you cannot get into a situation that could threaten your well being. At the high speeds of skydiving, no one should be so arrogant as to think it cannot happen to them.
Tip 4
If one wants to truly strive to become an excellent freeflyer, honesty is the key. If one cannot be honest with one's own skills or another skydiver's skills, digression and possibly disaster are the results.
If there are individuals teaching freeflying who are not truly proficient, but who claim to be, the progress of a student is marginalized. When we fly, we want to analyze the skydive fairly. On one side of the coin we want to point out the positive and utilize constructive criticism to become better skydivers.
On the other side, however, we do not want to lie to make ourselves feel better. For example, if three freeflyers go up and make a skydive the plan is obviously to skydive together. If one member of the group is not near the other two, then he or she is not ready to go on a three way. Not only is there no point to doing a three way if only two of the three will be there, but it is dangerous as well.
Especially when there is video, it is clear to see that one member of the group is not there. That fact should be pointed out. It should not be handled in such a way to ONLY make that individual feel good. All too often people sugar coat debriefs and do not point out that one member should perhaps do some solos or coach jumps. Instead, people go back up in the air, that same person remains a hazard and fate is tempted again. And, that person does not necessarily get better or learn anything. Does this scenario sound familiar?
Please strive to be honest when you skydive. Know what you can do, and know what you cannot do. If you want to learn something, learn it the right way. Do not try to figure it out when you're already in over your head.
Tip 5
When learning to freefly and experimenting with human three-dimensional flight, it is important to not neglect any surface on our bodies. Don't just stay on your head or on your feet. Push the limits of what is possible.
The obvious surfaces are the belly, back, head and feet. But don't feel limited by the status quo. Experiment with strange positions. Explore all of the possibilities of using your body as a surface area against the wind.
Of course its important to become proficient in each position and that takes time and practice. But try to allow some airtime for experimentation. Who knows, you may invent a whole new way to fly!
Tip 6
When practicing any skydiving skill we have very little time. If we are freeflying and going fast we have even less time, maybe 45 seconds of working time. If we want to learn quickly it would be more advantageous to try and learn only one thing per jump. If we try to focus on too many things at once our progress will be marginalized. Think about working on one (or maybe two) specific things and really concentrate on LEARNING something about the specific aspect of flying that you are working on. Do not get over zealous and try to learn everything at once.
Tip 7
It's an exciting time in Freefly. We are finally sanctioned by USPA to have our Freefly Nationals and The Space Games are continuing to grow. Both of these events have an open and an intermediate division.
Competition is not just about winning and pushing the technical limits of the sport. Competition is also about creating growth in the sport. In order to keep freefly healthy, we must have increased participation as time goes on. Otherwise we will find ourselves with no one to teach and no one to play with.
Competition breeds this growth and anyone with an interest in pushing human flight should support freefly competitions. Let us look at the future freefly competitions, especially the USPA Freefly Nationals, as an opportunity to show the world what we can do as human flyers.
Help our sport grow, spread the love as much as possible by participating and promoting as many competitions and events as possible. Let us hope things keep growing so we can keep flying high!
Tip 8
In learning to become a better human flyer, try to find a training partner. It is much better to find someone who is about on your level to practice with. Set up your dives very specifically and take as much time as you need to practice each move, technique or concept.
If you cannot find a regular training partner, then try to jump in very small groups, preferable with only one other flyer. Do your best to structure each dive to learn as much as possible.
Either way, keep the dives simple and seek quality of content, not quantity.
By avoiding large 'zoo' dives and by focusing only on one other flyer, you can increase your learning curve significantly.