Below is an excerpt from Dan BC’s book “Above all Else” on visualization.  What better to do right now than visualize successful practices if we can’t actually physically practice skydiving during this quarantine? If you’re interested in reading Dan’s highly acclaimed book “Above All Else,” it is available on Amazon by also clicking here. We highly recommend the inspirational read.

Visualization

Visualization is the ability to create clear, detailed and accurate images in your mind of something that you want to reproduce as physical reality. In essence, quality visualization is much like a very well trained imagination.
The images created by people who have practiced this skill are complete, precise and specific. We see the image and feel the movement and even the emotion so vividly that it almost seems as if we are actually doing it.

A great deal of experience and research has proven (references) that people with highly advanced visualization skills can create through visualization the same experience in their mind as that of the actual physical activity. Our minds don’t recognize much difference between full sensory visualization and actual physical training. Time spent practicing our skills through visualization can be equally as beneficial as the real thing.

Training your visualization skills:

This is very similar to training your physical skills.

• Find a quiet place where you can be without distractions. Relax, calm your mind and slow down before you begin.
• Have a clear picture that you want to start with. For instance, if you are an ice skater it would benefit you to have an actual photo of yourself at the moment when you are paused in preparation of attempting a particular move. Having this picture will help you to recreate the same image in your mind. It will then be easier to visualize a frame by frame execution of this move because you have a vivid image to start from.
• It is also very useful to previously have watched moving images of yourself, or other people performing the move you want to visualize. Watching a DVD of yourself or others executing the same skills will put a blueprint in your mind of the pictures that you want to paint.
• Take the time you need to produce the correct picture in your mind. Start with something simple. The more complex the image, the more time it will take. This can be frustrating – be patient. If the picture in your head gets scrambled stop, erase it, calm down and start again. Don’t try to force it.
• As you begin to visualize a particular action try it first in slow motion. As with training physical skills, your initial visualization training will require you to think through each part of a particular move as you create the image of that move in your mind. Once you are able to really see the correct technical move in your mind repeat the process again and again.
• With repetitions and practice your mind, like your body, will start to learn the particular skill on its own. It will develop its own mental muscle memory. Soon you will be able to think less because your mind is familiar with the picture and creates it effortlessly.

After training the ability to visualize particular images you will be able to create these images in your mind with minimal preparation. You won’t need to find a quiet place or take time to slow down and relax. You will be able to flip the switch and clearly visualize what you have practiced in any place and at any time you choose to.

Positive Visualization And Reaching Your Full Potential

Turning new skills and habits into instinct can only be done through repetition. There are no short cuts. Quality visualization allows you the opportunity to dramatically increase the amount of repetitions you can do. It gives you the chance to practice the perfect move a hundred times in only a few minutes. If your visualization skills are well trained, this practice you do in your head can be just as valuable as actual training time.

To get the most benefit, do the visualization training alongside the physical training. Work on visualizing the same skills in the evening that you are practicing during the day. As your visualization skills improve so will your actual performance. As your performance skills improves so goes your visualization. By working your visualization skills in parallel with your physical training you will reach your performance goals in a far lesser time.

Learning to visualize requires the same commitment as learning physical skills. The benefits are every bit as valuable. Some would even argue that at times the skill of creating vivid, full sensory, positive images in your mind can be just as powerful as training the physical skills themselves. I personally had two experiences which proved this to me…

I had been competing in 4-Way Formation Skydiving for 12 years and my visualization skills were excellent. I could close my eyes and see myself and the rest of the team in perfect detail. I could see my moves done correctly as well as the technically perfect choreography of the entire team. I could see the jump from above (the judging video angle), from my own eyes and even from any teammate’s point of view. I was able to run it in slow motion, or fast speed with the same precision. I didn’t need to slow down and relax. I could immediately create the images at any moment even while involved in other activities. I didn’t even need to close my eyes. I could see the correct pictures as if they were superimposed over what I was actually looking at.

All of my senses were active. I could feel the jump in my muscles and my mind would anticipate one move ahead. I was aware of my breathing and the mental calmness the sport requires. My visualization even had the confident, competitive attitude I wanted to exhibit on the skydive. For all practical purposes, I was doing the jumps. It felt the same in nearly every way.

“I could immediately create the images at any moment even while involved in other activities. I didn’t even need to close my eyes.”

The funny thing was that I took all of this completely for granted. I had no idea how good my visualization skills actually were or how crucial they were to my performance. I had practiced them frequently and thoroughly but mostly by accident. It was fun and seemed like the right thing to do. I hadn’t had a specific visualization training plan as such.

My team Arizona Airspeed won the National and World Championships in the 4-Way Formation Skydiving event two years in row. In addition to continuing with 4-Way we decided to also enter 8-Way. The rules are the same and it requires mostly the same individual flying skills. The real difference is the actual pictures that we see. 8-Way formations are twice as big as 4-Way formations. To see an entire 8-Way formation we must look much further and greatly expand our awareness. During the transitions from one formation to another there is twice as much going on and people are moving twice as far.

All in all, when you add it all up, 8-way was exponentially busier and noisier than 4-way. All of this activity made it very difficult to create the same clear images in my head that I had in 4-Way. But since I took for granted how good my visualization skills were in 4-way, I also discounted how weak they were in 8-Way.

As a 4-way competitor I was fast, precise and confident in my abilities. I deserved to be; we had just won two consecutive National and World Championships. I was sure this would carry over to 8-way. I was wrong.

When we started training 8-Way I basically stunk. I was making mistakes that could only come from a novice competitor. My flying was soft and my anticipation dull. During the video reviews of the jumps I was embarrassed. What had happened to me? I’m a World Champion. Had I lost it? Should I have quit while I was ahead? I punished myself with as much self-doubt as I could come up with.

The next day we were in the airplane on the way up for an 8-Way jump. I was visualizing the jump as I always do on the ride to altitude when it hit me. I wasn’t seeing anything. There weren’t even 8 people on the screen in my mind. There was just me, fumbling through a mass of bodies. I couldn’t even see what the formation looked like. I suddenly realized that I had no visualization skills for 8-Way. If I couldn’t see, or even imagine, what a good jump was going to look like, the odds weren’t very good that it was actually going to happen. And if it did, it would be due to nothing but pure luck. I certainly couldn’t make much of a contribution to a good effort if I didn’t know what one looked like.

“If I couldn’t see, or even imagine, what a good jump was going to look like, the odds weren’t very good that it was actually going to happen.”

Our team had two weeks off. During that time, I spent two hours (eight 15-minute sessions) a day dedicated to visualization training. I didn’t have to learn the skill of visualizing, I had extensive experience in practicing the skill with 4-way. I just had to apply that skill to a different event.

I looked at video and photographs of the formations that were taken from above and then practiced creating the same still photos in my head. I switched the “camera angle” to my point of view and practiced creating the image that I would see while in the same formation.

Once I was able to see these still photos I added movement and began working on producing the picture of what the team looked like when transitioning from one formation to another. I had to slow it way down so that I had time to paint the picture in my mind.

At first it was difficult and took quite a bit of time for each picture. But once I had accurately created the picture the first time it became much easier. With frequent, consistent training, the skill of producing the 8-way images in my mind was quickly learned.

On our first jump back after the break I was again visualizing the jump we were about to do while on the ride to altitude. I could see everything perfectly. I knew exactly how the jump was supposed to go, what I had to do to make it go that way and that I could make it go that way. I could see every detail of every person during every transition to every formation. It had a calming effect on me. The images were so clear that it felt like I had done them hundreds of times before. I knew from experience that if I could visualize the jump this clearly, all I had to do was calm myself down and let it happen. The rest would be automatic. My confidence soared.

We exited the airplane and the jump went just as planned, just as I had seen it in my head. It was amazing. I had visualized a performance level in 8-Way before actually ever performing up to that level. During our two weeks off my athletic potential didn’t change. I was the same athlete with the same skills and abilities. I already had the potential to be a good 8-Way competitor. The visualization training helped me to reach my full potential in a fraction of the time it would have taken otherwise. It happened in my head first, and my physical reality followed in line.

We exited the airplane and the jump went just as planned, just as I had seen it in my head. It was amazing. I had visualized a performance level in 8-Way before actually ever performing up to that level. During our two weeks off my athletic potential didn’t change. I was the same athlete with the same skills and abilities. I already had the potential to be a good 8-Way competitor. The visualization training helped me to reach my full potential in a fraction of the time it would have taken otherwise. It happened in my head first, and my physical reality followed in line.

“It was amazing. I had visualized a performance level in 8-Way before actually ever performing up to that level.”

Visualization Can Replace Training

I was the player/coach on the team AIRMOVES when I was seriously injured in the middle of the training year. I wasn’t able to jump and was very limited in the physical activity I could participate in. The National Championships were only a few months away. Given my condition I had to be replaced on the team by another jumper. When we arrived at the meet there were still certain types of jumps the team was weak at. We decided that because of my experience it would be a benefit to the team if on these jumps we could substitute me in for one of the other team members.

The long recovery time had greatly reduced my strength, endurance and flexibility. I was still wearing support equipment to protect injuries and was 20 pounds under my
“fighting” weight. How could it be possible that I would improve the team’s performance, or even be ready to compete at the National Championships at all, when my physical condition was marginal at best and I had barely made a jump in six months?

During my recovery I was constantly looking at videos, visualizing skydives and dreaming about jumping. As their coach, I had watched every jump the team had made at least 50 times. It felt like I was almost on the jumps with them. For these six months, I had spent more time visualizing than I had ever done before, much more. When I stepped in on the jumps I was in a different position each time. I was the skydiving equivalent of the quarterback on one jump and a wide receiver on another.

My physical condition and currency in the air were greatly compromised. The only thing in my favor was the extensive amount of visualization I had done. As it turned out, the visualization proved to be worth more than the actual training could have been. In the airplane I was able to visualize the jumps perfectly. I felt confident and ready to do any job required of me. It seemed like I had done all of these moves only yesterday because basically I had. All the positions and moves felt familiar.

Even though all the physical evidence would dictate otherwise, when visualizing in the plane I felt like I had every reason to expect we’d have great jump and my confidence was high.

The extensive visualization training I had done basically replaced the lack of any significant physical training. I don’t recommend this as a training plan, but it does demonstrate how powerful quality visualization can be. Don’t underestimate it. Be sure and give visualization training a valuable place in your training program.

If you’re interested in reading Dan’s highly acclaimed book “Above All Else” it is available on Amazon by also clicking here.  We highly recommend it as it’s a very inspirational read. 

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In skydiving, several of our disciplines have the word “relative” in the title. “Relative Work” (or “RW”) is the word we use to describe “flat” jumps–where all the jumpers are oriented belly-to-earth, and the goal is to move relative to each other to take grips and make shapes. “Canopy Relative Work” (or “CRW”/”CReW”) is the word we use to describe the discipline in which several (or many) jumpers fly parachutes relative to each other and link up into shapes in comparable ways.

XRW is the newest addition to this full house of “relatives.” The acronym stands for “Cross Relative Work,” and it’s the word we use to describe the art of flying big wingsuits with tiny parachutes.

This discipline is no beginner’s pursuit. It’s a challenge right at the outset to find pilots capable of successfully navigating either the suit or the parachute. Enormous wingsuits require incredibly delicate handling (as they’re widely acknowledged to be tantamount to aircraft, albeit the most pernickety, ill-tempered aircraft on the planet) and tiny parachutes seem to relish throwing themselves into a brutal malfunction (nevermind that they always have to be landed at racetrack speeds). Putting the two elements together is nuts. In fact: There’s a relatively tiny number of pilots who have actually successfully “docked” an XRW formation.

It’s also amazing.

XRW is beautiful to watch. It’s invigorating to push the boundaries of what’s possible. And there’s much to be said for the sheer challenge of the thing: Putting an XRW jump together takes a lot of trust, preparation and practice.

This discipline is SO new. At this stage of the game, we’re pioneering the discipline in much the same way that the very first skydivers did when they were first working towards passing a baton from one jumper to another in freefall.

Watch this incredible video of an XRW jump captured at Perris:

Want To Try Your Hand At XRW?

If you’re just starting out as a skydiver, you have a long, galvanizing road ahead of you. To even put on a wingsuit for the first time, you’ll need to have at least 200 recent skydives under your belt; to fly a tiny parachute with skill (and land without a crunch), you’ll have to put in more hop-’n’-pops than you can shake an exceedingly long stick at.

We’re here to help! At Skydive Perris, we have a wingsuit school on campus called Lightning Flight. The school is widely acknowledged as one of the best in the world for all levels of wingsuit tutelage–from a wingsuit first jump course all the way through to coaching at the most advanced level. Uniquely, Lightning Flight offers both FFC and XRW camps to put XRW hopefuls through their paces.

Relatively speaking, if you’re located in Southern California, there’s no better place than Skydive Perris to start along the journey to joining a wingsuit and a canopy pilot in the sky. We’re looking forward to helping you take on the challenge!

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“You don’t get quit skydiving because you get old. You get old because you quit skydiving!” – Bill Wood

Starting last weekend, the Skydivers Over Sixty (SOS),  the Women Skydiver’s Over Sixty (WSOS), and the Jumpers Over Seventy (JOS) came in full force for an incredible week of skydiving here at Skydive Perris. Seven World Records were claimed over the week as a result, and organizer Carol Jones recalled the week as, “a celebration of being in the sport [at this age], being competitive with your peers to achieve a common goal, and jump at a high intensity level.”

Although there were many light-hearted jokes as, ‘old farts rule,’ or ‘geezers rock,’ their skydiving was serious and focused. The format is an open invitation to anyone that fits the criteria to attend: meets the age requirement, and has the skill set necessary. A few warm up jumps take place for the organizers to determine the ‘team’ that would make up the world record attempts. Each world record attempt is guided by a set of rules such as: declaring the predetermined formations,  and following sequential record guidelines (if applicable). The incredible weather helped for a successful week and since an incredible amount of records came out of it, here’s a list of their success:

Jumpers Over 70

24-Way Largest Formation [previous record was a 20-way set in 2013 in Florida]

WSOS

10-Way, 3-Points Sequential Record
11-Way, 2-Points Sequential Record
12-Way, 2-Points Sequential Record

SOS

65-Way Largest Formation [previous record was a 60-Way in 2012 in California]
60-Way 2-Point Sequential Record

To boot, Valerie Estabrook and John Mignanelli did a 30 pt. 2 way which also qualifies as a World Record, making it the 7th World Record in a week!

Organizer Carol Jones explained part of their success in that the SOS has a World Class coach for the bench team so they can stay warmed up and continue to improve to possibly be considered a person to rotate onto the world record team. It also gives a more positive sense of camaraderie and everyone continues to learn. Carol herself is also a seasoned jumper with over 2,500 skydives and started her SOS journey by joining her husband Bill many years ago helping out on practice jumps. It evolved to becoming the bench team coach and eventually organizing the world record attempts with her husband.

The event plans to return back to Perris in April 2018. If you want to learn more click HERE.

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The name “P3” is synonymous with relative work legends, Kate Cooper-Jensen, Tony Domenico and our very own Dropzone Manager, Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld [BC]. This weekend they bring back another one of their infamous, well-organized events that bring in jumpers from around the world to sharpen their big way skills. We recently sat down with Kate Cooper-Jensen and asked her to give us a snapshot of what “P3” is all about.

Tony Domenico and I started the concept of Big Way Relative Work training well back in the late 1990’s with a series of dive/float camps. We then started working with Dan BC when was was in Eloy, Arizona. The project naturally moved back to Perris when he did and that’s when the name Perris Performance Plus or “P3” was coined.

Since then, we’ve run a minimum of five events a year. The mainstays are the Big Way Camps and the 100-Way training camp which takes jumpers from all skill sets, experience levels, and disciplines and focuses on training them in the fundamentals of large formation skydiving.

We have several repeat attendees for these basic camps and experience levels range from hundreds to thousands of jumps. In addition, SUPER experienced jumpers (world record holders, national champions, etc.) also come so they can practice skills such as love dives, floats, etc. so they are warmed up for the summer season of jumping.

Our other events include the Spring Fling, a fun sequential and formation event with different dives each day. Then there’s the Power Play, hands down the BEST and most challenging large formation skydiving event in the country. Our coaches include competitors, champions, and all around great people from around the world.

We love what we do and are excited for this weekend!

If you’d like to know more about P3, you may contact the organizers HERE or follow their events on FACEBOOK.

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If you’ve jumped at Skydive Perris for any length of time then you’ve met Mark Brown. Mark loves skydiving and helping others improve their skills. In this month’s People of Perris segment, we sat down with Mark and asked him the tough questions. ;-)

SPV: When, where, why and how did you make your first skydive?

MB: My first Jump was in 1991.  Of course at Skydive Perris.  It was an office bet.  No I was not drunk, I was not even betting. My ex-wife made the bet with a co-worker that there was NO way he could ever get me to skydive (she knew me so well ).  So he says to me “let’s go skydiving.  Give me your credit card.”  I did, and that’s it.  He signed Us up for the AFF-FJC. He never even told me that tandem was an option!

Opinionated.  Stubborn.  Passionate  (they tell me… but that’s Bullshit).  Furry.

SPV: How many total jumps do you have and how many of these do you estimate are load organizing jumps?

MB: 12,700.  Around 10,000 as an L/O.

SPV: How did you get into load organizing and what do you love about it?

MB: Actually, by 1997 I was ready to quit.  I did not like the pressure of team, and finding people to jump with was difficult, especially with low jump numbers.  I was sort of shy and un-confidant.  At one point I received an invitation (by actual mail ) to do a big way camp.  I sent in a check for the full amount (not just a deposit). It was actually sent back to me saying “Sorry, we accidentally put you on the wrong mailing list.”  Then Vinny Palmieri (our then-chief instructor) suggested that I get my AFF rating. Now that’s a confidence booster!  After I got my rating, I saw two guys at a table. I asked one of them if he wanted to jump.  He said “Yes, I have been looking for someone to jump with.”  So I asked the one standing across the table from him, and he said “Yes, I have been looking for someone to jump with.”  I got their names, and told manifest I was organizing… the rest is history.

SPV: You’ve built an amazing group of RW load organizers here at Skydive Perris, tell us about your team!

MB: Mostly we are misfits & loners who have found that we love to jump. I mean REALLY love it.  Everything about it; the sport, the community, everything. We love jumping, teaching, learning, improving, laughing, hanging out and making friends from every conceivable walk of life. We teach the first jump course, do AFF, coach, organize events, compete, and take part in record events. We can’t get enough of the people or the place.

SPV: You’ve been on multiple big way records, can you name a few?

MB: World 2-point 202, World 300, Aussie National 112, 119, Dominican National 20, PoPs 110, 113, and 123.

SPV: Is there any one record that stands out above the rest?

MB: While organizing the Dominican record, at a boogie hosted by their air force, we needed to include the commanding general. Darryld Light and I had to AFF him out the door.  His rig had no storage for his leg-mounted pilot chute bridle, so I ended up holding the extra 10 inches of loose bridle to his leg strap. We made the record with one frame of video, with Darryld doing a John Travolta dance move to close the last grip. The general rolled over and took out the whole mess. Happily we got one still photo to present to their President in front of 5000 air show attendees.

SPV: What is it about Skydive Perris that makes you want to work and play here?

MB: Have you BEEN here?  This is the place!  Besides, it’s only 11 miles from my house. What are the odds of that? Well, not really…it’s the other way  around. When I last moved I printed a map, drew a circle around the DZ, and told my wife if it’s not in the circle it does not exist!  We got lucky and found a great place with a barn for her horses, so now she says things like “Why don’t you go skydiving so I can spend time with my horses?”  I love it!

SPV: What kind of jump do you most enjoy doing?

MB: The jump itself is not that important.  It’s the “newbie” that I had to harass and pressure into coming along because they “did not want to ruin the jump” or “don’t want to do a BIG way.”  (6. Really?)  Then after we land, they say “that was the best jump of my life!”

SPV: What canopies do you jump and why?

MB: Pilot 96, by Aerodyne. It’s sporty enough, but still opens softly, without sniveling forever (that shit scares me!).

SPV: What advice do you have for anyone who has just got their ‘A’ license?

MB: That’s an easy one!  JUMP!  Or better yet, jump with ME or one of the other Perris Organizers.  We even have a jump suit you can borrow.

SPV: When you’re not skydiving, how do you like to spend your spare time?

MB: What spare time?  You mean sleeping?

SPV: Tell us something that is little known about yourself?

MB: There is nothing “little known” about me.  My life is an open book.

SPV: Sum up Mark Brown in 5 words or less.

MB: Opinionated.  Stubborn.  Passionate  (they tell me… but that’s Bullshit).  Furry.

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Tunnel league was rocking last Saturday at the Perris tunnel! Eighteen people competed including a surprise drop in from Dan BC. Participants were guzzling Go Fast and wide-eyed as they awaited their turn to execute the fast-paced FS (Formation Skydiving) dives. Lots of spectators dropped by to watch the live action which was full of more excellent flying peppered with cringe-worthy brainlocks and inadvertent slips out the door.
There were three divisions flying and the competition was close in each. The draw included a couple of famous tunnel league blocks like the blender and boxman. The open division had a couple treats including a leg lock random and ‘roller disco’ block (partners cross arms in a pin like fashion and spin the piece 360). Luckily points were not deducted for the giggles.

The open division was of course dominated by Dan BC, but if we exclude the ringer (And we did!) the first place went to Erik Prime. The advanced division was taken by a close margin by Grace Katz while the rookie division was also narrowly won by Nate Van Kummer.

Congratz to the winners! Bragging rights remain until the next meet Feb 27.

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Christy Frikken is a highly successful competitive 4-way skydiver and skydiving coach based out of Skydive Perris.

When, where, why and how did you make your first skydive?
Ranch 2001 tandem skydive.

How many total jumps do you have now?
About 12,500.

How many hours do you estimate to have flown in the wind tunnel?
Really difficult to even estimate since I was a tunnel instructor for a couple years. I’m not sure what would even count (standing in the door, assisting people in the wind, coaching, or just training).

What is it about Skydive Perris that makes you want to work, play and train here?
Perris for me has always represented the amazing possibilities. There are so many great people and resources here every crazy thing I dream of can be achieved.

How did you get into 4-way and what do you love about it?
I decided 4-way was going to be my career when I had a couple hundred jumps. I very carefully crafted a plan and kept my programming job for a bit. My first move was actually to Eloy but despite the awesome facilities I found it difficult to find a role at the dropzone with my experience level. Luckily I met Dan BC there who was just moving to Perris. He presented some awesome opportunities in CA so there I went.
I was a tunnel instructor for a couple years before co-founding Perris Fury. After Fury disbanded I joined SDC Rhythm XP and did some amazing 4-way across the US. There is quite a lot of neato stuff in the middle of those projects, but that is shortish version.

Who are your skydiving mentors?

Dan BC has been the biggest influence along with many former Airspeed members and my former teammates.

What canopies do you jump and why?

Katana 97. I am not a competitive swooper and I find these are the right amount of zippy for me.

What advice do you have for anyone who is looking to be part of a 4-way team?

Ask everybody about it! Even if you think you are not a good fit or they are not interested be aggressive about getting the word out. If you are persistent eventually you will find a group with compatible goals.

When you’re not at the drop zone or flying in the wind tunnel, how do you like to spend your spare time?

Running, tinkering with computers, playing video and board games.

What did you do prior to being a full-time skydiver?

I was a software engineer.

Tell us something that is little known about your yourself?

I am sometimes called Crispy Chicken.

What’s on the cards for Christy Frikken in 2016?

Lots of cool events and coaching at Perris! I have been traveling around training for the last few years and I am looking forward to being closer to home more often. It will give me a chance to do some cool formation skydiving events that I have been planning for a while.

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How well do you know your emergency procedures?

I’m asking the question because it has become a big issue in the sport. Most skydivers perform their Emergency Procedures (EPs) correctly if asked to demonstrate them. Most can write down the correct answer if taking a written test. But have you trained them to the point of muscle memory? Are the perfect EPs an instinctive response to recognizing a malfunction? If faced with a high pressure, physically strenuous, time sensitive situation are you ready to execute your EPs perfectly and without hesitation? Unfortunately, the honest answer to these questions is too often ‘no’.

Far too many people do not know their emergency procedures anywhere near as well as they need to. As the DZ Manager of one of the world’s largest drop zones, any time I see someone pull too low, or have an AAD fire, I always sit them down and speak to them. Together we try to figure out how they got down there so we can be sure they know what to do differently to be certain it never happens again.

One beautiful, busy day at Skydive Perris we had two AAD fires within an hour of each other. One of the individuals had about 100 jumps and initiated deployment at 4,000 feet. He had a slow speed malfunction, cut away at a high enough altitude but didn’t pull his reserve before his AAD fired. The other had about 400 jumps, started his deployment at 3000’, had a pilot chute in tow, cut away and went for his reserve but not before his AAD beat him to it.

Since both of them had initiated deployment plenty high there was no reason they should have ended up still in freefall so dangerously low. I asked them to demonstrate their emergency procedures for me. They both did. Then I asked them to talk me through the malfunction, their thought processes and show me what they did. Neither of them executed their emergency procedures correctly! They both did something different in the air than the intended emergency procedures they had just shown me! One of them ‘reached’ before he ‘looked’. The other reached with one hand when his plan was to have both hands on both handles.

How is that possible? Skydiving equipment has advanced so much. The emergency procedures we have to do when faced with a malfunction are simple and easy to execute. Way too many fatalities – and more close calls than we can even count – happen because we don’t perform these procedures correctly within the time we have.

These three simple ideas could save your life:

#1 Practice your EPs

Emergency procedures are not practiced enough. I’ve asked many people how often they practice their EPs. The most common answer I hear is “I practice them before each jump.” That sounds like it should be plenty but the fact is, it’s not. Based on that, the jumper with 100 jumps had practiced EPs a total of 100 times. That is not nearly enough to develop the instinctive muscle memory you will need to save your life in the few seconds you have.

There are a few different ways to execute emergency procedures. Each one of them will work as long as you perform it correctly and immediately. None of them take more than five seconds. In a minute you could practice your EPs 12 times. Since your life depends on it, why not take five minutes each day and go through your EPs 60 times. We dirtdive a jump for 15 minutes but usually don’t practice saving our lives for even 5 seconds

You want to be a Badass?
Be a badass at performing your EPs.

– Dan BC

Do your EPs ten times a day for 30 seconds, or five times a day each for a minute. But somewhere in your day find five minutes you can dedicate to practicing EPs (every day, not just jumping days) and you will have rehearsed them to the point that they are totally automatic. You’ll see a malfunction and will instinctively perform the perfect procedures without hesitation.

#2 Stay one step ahead

We are too often surprised when our parachutes don’t work correctly and take too long to make the decision to cut away. Stay one step ahead. **Expect** your parachute to malfunction every jump. Be pleasantly surprised when it doesn’t. If you have any doubt at all about whether your parachute is good or not, it’s not. A good parachute doesn’t give you any doubt.
Don’t wait until you are faced with a stressful malfunction situation to decide what you are going to do. **Decide right now that if you aren’t 100% sure you have a good canopy over your head you will cut away without hesitation.**

#3 Pull at a safe altitude

If you don’t have enough altitude even well executed EPs won’t save you. USPA’s minimum deployment altitude is 2,500 feet. To deploy by 2,500 feet you need to be waving off no lower than 3000 feet. If you are lower you may not have the time you’ll need.
These three simple ideas could save your life. They’ve saved mine on more than 20 malfunctions. Please consider them and share them

www.danbrodsky-chenfeld.com

http://www.amazon.com/Above-All-Else-Skydivers-Adversity/dp/1616084464/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382556172&sr=8-1&keywords=dan+brodsky-chenfeld

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