Vic Mentor Update for Barwon Heads December 2018

The Deepest Cut – The top 15 reasons for being cut off a bigway record…

It sucks to be cut from a record. I’ve been there. I’ve had that feeling where my bigway friends wouldn’t look me in the eye because they didn’t know what to say. I’ve watched them hugging and cheering after a successful jump and I’ve struggled to smile graciously with a sick feeling in my gut.

I often think we could do more to support people through this awful experience. Perhaps having a better understanding of where they went wrong might help things a little? It might not ease the immediate pain but it might help with longer term acceptance. It’s hard to get over something if there is total confusion mixed in with the disappointment.

The following list has been gathered over the past 4 years, based on info from P3 coaches and Aussie Bigways leaders.

LACK OF CURRENCY – People with a lot of jumps, especially coached or competition jumps, over the past six months will tend to perform better in the P3/record seeking environment.

INCONSISTENCY – It’s about being counted on when the pressure increases. People who are inconsistent – doing a good jump, then bad, then good – are more likely to miss out.

REPEATING MISTAKES – The idea is to learn from mistakes and not to repeat them. Early in a training camp, you’d possibly get away with going low if it was a result of pushing your boundaries in some way, like adding weights or amping up your dive. If you make the same mistake again when the record effort starts, you’ll probably be cut.

LACK OF AWARENESS – Don’t fixate on the grip. Keep your bigger picture awareness. Look through the centre/base and anticipate what’s happening around you. The same is true for the dirt dive. Don’t zone out there or the coaches will look closer at you during the dive and debrief.

LACK OF EXPERIENCE – Experience helps us make the right decisions at the right time during a jump. It helps us understand and anticipate what’s likely to happen. It helps us visualise the plan as dives become more complicated. The best solution here is to build experience through jumps and tunnel. Next best is to build your knowledge, to help fill some gaps for things you haven’t experienced yet.  Read the Aussie Bigways resources, pick the brains of others and watch helpful videos.

NOT TAKING ADVICE – The whole point of being coached is that you’re given solutions and you’re expected to incorporate them into your jump. The tips might relate to your equipment, the way you fly, or the way you think about your task. Some people just can’t or won’t change. It might be entrenched bad habits, a lack of experience, or misunderstanding the advice. Bring an open mind and learn to be coachable.

TOO HEAVY – There are a limited number of slots available for people who are too heavy. These slots typically go to those that can quickly intercept the formation and dock without momentum. If you’re heavy, you can’t take your time to get there! Improve your range in the months ahead, try to lose a few kilos if you can, and get yourself an extra suit for slower slots.

TOO LIGHT – Light jumpers will often float on the formation, lifting others as they dock. When they’re told to add weights, they go low because they aren’t used to them and they don’t know how to get back up. The best way for these people to become ‘record’ ready is to add weights and learn to fly them well before the trip. They also need to learn slow fall techniques while loaded up with lead.

STIFFNESS – Skydivers who can’t arch or de-arch will struggle to manage changes in fall rate. Sleeves, weights and other add-ons will help a little, but currency and flexibility exercises will help more.

BEING A ‘SPECTATOR’ – Some skydivers wait too far away while the formation completely settles and the person in front presents their grip. They eventually move in carefully, taking precious seconds and holding up the entire build. We don’t have time for everybody to do this. Every participant needs to be closer and more involved, minimising the gaps and helping the formation to build.

LACK OF FOCUS – Too tired? Jetlagged? Hot? Hungry? Can’t be bothered paying attention? People start getting on the wrong planes and taking the wrong grips. This is not the camp for such mistakes. Everybody needs to stay 100% switched on. They can’t distract others or let themselves get distracted.

LACK OF FITNESS – It’s a long, hard slog in the Perris heat. And a lack of fitness can trigger many of the mistakes on this list. Eat well, stay strong. Get used to doing 5 or 6 jumps a day well before Perris. Hire a packer if it will help you last the distance.

POOR ATTITUDE – Don’t be late for dirt dives or disrespectful to the coaches. If they give you advice, show that you’re taking it on board. If all else is equal, and they’re choosing between two people for one slot, they’ll probably favour the person who’s been doing all the right things.

LIMITED SKILLS FOR THE SLOT – If the base has 8 people in it, then there are only 8 base slots. Simple maths really. The same goes for each group of zippers, lines etc. The coaches will try to put people in good slots for their demonstrated skills. But when the slots run out, you’ll have to lift your game in the slot that you’re given.

POOR TRACKING – Apparently, nobody was cut for this reason in 2015 but we do need to be on top of it. Tracking skills are always being watched.

Of course there are also good old fashioned nerves that attack the most confident, capable people in this high pressure environment. And they can trigger many of the mistakes listed above.

Then there are the random things that happen as the coaches try to build the best possible team. For example, one person tracked so well at a record camp that he was ‘promoted’ to a different slot. But that put him outside his comfort zone, where he ended up blowing it. I know another experienced guy who was asked to swap his slot with an inexperienced up-and-comer who was getting uncomfortable. He obligingly took the new position, stuffed up and got cut.

When things like this happen, people feel resentful towards the coaches and the person who got ‘their’ slot. They feel that something was taken from them when they were only trying to be helpful. The key here is that nobody ‘owns’ a slot until the record is successfully completed.

We don’t always get the slot we want. But we do have to suck it up and do our best with the slot we’re given.

Compiled and Written by Kelly Brennan – Mentor for Barwon Heads Victoria