Newsgroups: rec.skydiving
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!caen!hellgate.utah.edu!gr.utah.edu!wtm
From: wtm%gr.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Thomas McCollough)
Subject: Re: Arch problems
Date: 3 May 91 12:06:53 MDT
Message-ID: <1991May3.120653.21687@hellgate.utah.edu>
Organization: Engineering Geometry Systems
References: <28390@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU>

In article <28390@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> dth@reef.cis.ufl.edu (David Hightower) writes:
>I have a problem that maybe some of you have encountered.  I took up
>skydiving in the Spring of '89, and immediately fell in love with it.
>Only problem was, I could not arch enough to remain stable; as soon as I
>started my free-falls I lost control on every jump and had to time my
>pulls with when I had the ground in sight.
>
>Is there another jump attitude that maintains stability?  Or is there
>something I can do to improve my arched stability?  I have not jumped
>since Fall of '89, simply because I got tired or one-man acrobatics
>(aerbatics?) and always worrying that I would wrap the canopy around
>myself during a barrel roll.  Plus, doing 5-second free-falls 23 times
>in a roll gets to be boring.
>
>Dave

Arching alone will not get you stable in freefall.  You must also be
relaxed.  If you are very stiff in freefall, then you may very well be
out of control even if you have a decent arch.  Try stretching to make
your body more amenable to the arch, and then make sure you relax.  90%
of skydiving is half mental.

There are plenty of ways to be stable in freefall: take a look at any
of the freestyle videos on the market.  But you'll probably have to master
the arch first.

Tom