Tips for Bigways No 18
What makes 150 different to 100?
How to prepare so that we can celebrate success
In May 2019 we will meet in Perris to build a new Australian bigway record. Our target is a 150 way, our current record a 119 way.
In theory, if you are able to perform well in a particular exit (floater, early, mid, late diver) and formation slot (chunk, base, mid layer, outer layer) then does it really matter how big the formation is?
I believe the answer is yes and I offer my thoughts in this tip. In the lead up to 2019 consider how these factors will affect you and prepare accordingly.
There are a lot more people on the ground
Some people thrive in big groups, for others a large number of people in one place, the noise, the bustle, can be quite overwhelming.
This number of people at an event along with partners, friends and family will make everything busier and our individual respect of people, personal belongings, logistics and schedule becomes even more important. Be on time and in the right place and be respectful and safe in your ground and air behavior.
It also helps to find your own way to escape the noise and the distraction so that you can prepare to perform well and rest in between activities.
One Nation – a hotbed of personalities
In events that are open to all nationalities, cultural differences can be a real challenge to team work and cohesion both on the ground and in the air. We will have the luxury of being bonded as one team through our affinity with Australia.
Even so, we will all need to make the effort to manage the extremes in our personalities to make it easy for as many people as possible to get the most from the training and event experience.
There are a lot of people in the air
It sounds obvious however the sight of so many people pouring from multiple aircraft can be paralyzing. Mental preparation, breathing and visualization techniques can help you keep your focus.
Make sure you have multiple triggers for what you expect to see in your exit frame, in your dive, your stadium, your approach and in slot. You will also need triggers for the track off, opening and canopy ride. To ensure your visualization and planning takes you from ground to ground add triggers to help you get on the right aircraft and sit in the right place on the plane.
Use the team briefings and take time out yourself to create your plans. Talk to the people around you in the formation about their plan, they may have some ideas you can use.
Checkout the attached article for some ideas – my visualization for the WWR in 2014 – READ HERE…
Bigway Skills and Events Guide then link to it? READ HERE…
Skill drives Size
In an event open to all Nationalities, organizers have a broader audience from which to source the numbers with the desired experience and capability levels.
In a National event, there is often a greater range of experience and skill. Having a strong cohort of capable all round flyers provides the scaffolding for lesser experienced people to participate. The number of stronger participants will therefore dictate the number of lesser experienced people who can join.
And so, the average capability of our team will dictate the size of the formation we are able to safely build and land from.
The factors that I have described in this tip are behind the push in 2018 to encourage established or experienced team members to develop more consistent flying skills when under pressure and in more complex situations. It is also behind our encouragement to newer team members to train before the Perris event.
In 2015 weather issues prevented some people from achieving the skills needed to participate on the record during the lead up camps. In 2019 come to the camps with good foundations to reduce the risk of this situation happening to you and to increase the chance of us building our target formation.
See you at an Aussie Bigway Event soon and please get in touch if you would like to discuss how to shape your own training plan.
Melissa
Is an experienced skydiving competitor and coach with a history of National and World level representation in 4 way, 8 way and Bigway Formation Skydiving. She is a member of the Aussie Bigways coaching team and provides guidance to other coaches and Mentors in coaching and training best practice.
Contact Melissa to discuss how Supercharge coached programs can help you achieve your goals.
melissaharvie@gmail.com 0408 553 561
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