How do you get over fear of skydiving?

Question

I would love to do this, and I think I could do a tandem jump ok because an experienced instructor would be there driving it. But I really want to know I can do it myself. But then I am gripped with this fear that if it's all up to me and I s***w up - even a little - I'll die a horrifying death when I could have just stayed on the ground.

Answer 1

It's not such an easy thing to get over the initial fear of a jump.  For me it was like night and day, one afternoon I just made the call to the dropzone and I jumped.  The best thing to do is talk to jumpers, read about skydiving and get used to the sport.  It took me about 20 jumps before the fear of jumping had subsided.  It's still there.  There should always be a respect for the sport, after all you are jumping out of an airplane!

There are a few websites you need to check out to get good info on skydiving.

http://www.uspa.org is the website of the United States Parachute Association, the governing body for sport parachuting in the United States.  There is a list of member dropzones on the website along with all sorts of great info on the sport.

The official site for the British Parachute Association is: http://www.bpa.org.uk/links.htm

The official site for the Canadian Parachute Association is: http://www.cspa.ca/

The official site for the Australian Parachute Federation is: http://www.apf.asn.au/

http://www.dropzone.com is another great resource for everything about skydiving, including dropzones in the United States and the rest of the world, and some BASE too.

http://www.bigairsportz.com is the web site for Brian Germain, one of the best people on the planet to get information on canopy flight from.

http://www.skydiveradio.com is just fun and a good place to feel like you’re at the drop zone when you can’t physically be there.

http://www.azarsenal.com/ is the website for the top vertical relative work team right now.  Arizona Arsenal won the 2007 USA Nationals.

If you’re not sure about skydiving, or you are too young to jump right now, but want to fly you should look at the vertical wind tunnels.  http://www.skyventure.com/ is the website for skyventure which operates many tunnels in the United States, Europe and Asia.  I love flying in the tunnel.  I don’t do it very much, I’d rather spend my money on skydives, but it is a great place to learn, work on my flying skills and just have a lot of fun!

What type of skydive should you do?  Tandem or student training…?  While, if this jump is just a one time thing, a “check it off your life’s to do list,” then go for the tandem jump.  If you know you want to get into the sport then I would suggest that you start with the tandem just so you have been in the air once before you start student training.  But if you know that you will be jumping as a hobby, the going right into the student training would be a good idea too.

The different in first jump courses is quite a bit.  For a tandem you need very little training, five to 20 minutes depending on the dropzone and a few other factors.  Student training will start with about 8 to 10 hours of ground training before your jump.  Either way you will be jumping with professional, rated skydivers who have been trained to teach and fly with new jumpers.  You will not be able to jump solo until you’ve been cleared by going through a training program.

Make sure that you contact the drop zone you want to jump at directly.  There are a few scams out there, one of which is 1800skyride.  They will take your money and send you to any dropzone they want too but only about three dz’s in the country except skyride tickets.  So please, please, please contact the dropzone directly.

What does skydiving feel like?  -- Freedom. For 45 to 60 seconds there is nothing but me, the air and my friends. Flying your body in the sky is the greatest feeling I have ever experienced. Flying and landing a parachute is a lot of fun too. I'd say it is kinda like driving a race car and landing an airplane all at once.  For me I find relaxation in free fall.

My first jump was a tandem and I don't remember being in the door, but I remember the rush and how i felt like i was floating during free fall. My first jump as a student I remember climbing out of the plane and getting the shake from my instructors telling me they are ready. I thought, "What the F am I doing?" then I just took a deep breath and gave the exit count. Letting go of the plane and starting the dive flow. What a rush! It was so much fun to fly my own body!

Now when I jump I think about the next point to turn. I think about flying faster in a track. I watch my friends’ body position and try to help them get in a better position with hand signals or I get coaching from someone else and work on my body position. Under canopy I think about my set up points and how and where to enter the landing pattern and where I want to land. But more than anything I think about how much fun and wonderful this sport is.

The tandem is a great jump.  I’d get video too.  I made one tandem in June of 2005.  If you are looking at skydiving as a one time thing, something to check off your life’s to do list then go right for a tandem.  If you know you want to be a skydiver right now then go for a tandem or start student training.  Either is great.  I started skydiving by going for a tandem, thinking it was a one time thing and loved it so much that I have made it a major part of my life.  In August of 2005 I started student training (good info about student training at uspa.org) and got my license.  I’ve been jumping as much as I can and have a few hundred jumps.  I have earned the USPA Coach Rating and plan to continue to jump for fun and help teach others how to fly and be safe in the air.  There is nothing better than flying your body through the sky with your friends.  The canopy is a lot of fun to fly too.  It only gets better and better.  Every weekend seems to be more fun than the one before.  You will get into the sport for the rush, but you stay because of the people.  I love this sport and I sincerely hope that you’ll become a full time skydiver and I’ll be able to make some jumps with you at a boogie!  

Blue Skies! Black Death! And EFS!!!!

Answer 2

just get someone to push you

Answer 3

I went skydiving two years ago.  First you are going to have to do a tandem jump.  You need to do several tandem jumps before you can get a license to jump solo, and even to do that you need to go through a lot of training.  Otherwise, doing a tandem jump is very easy.  You will be paired up with a professional instructor, and they will show you everything you need to do.  You are basically along for the ride.  As far as getting over the fear of it, nobody that has ever done it was not scared the first time.  You just need to go through with it.  That being said, I am happy that I have done it, but I have no desire to go again.

Answer 4

just do it wimp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 5

If you'd like to continue in the sport, you'll need at least some 15 jumps to get over your fears and start enjoying properly.

If you just intend to do a tandem jump and are worried about it, then there's nothing I can tell you but that the sport has become VERY safe in the last 2 decades and it's impossible that "the parachute doesn't open".

What could happen (and not often at all) is that you have some kind of malfunction with your main parachute, then you have to cut away and open your reserve that has been very carefully packed and checked.

Most skydiving accidents occur either on freefall (collisions) or on high performance landings (with very small canopies at high speed). None of these are the case with tandem jumps, so go up on that plane and enjoy it!

Oh, and even if you jump and you don't pull anything, a Cypres or Vigil (or another AAD, mandatory for tandems and students) will pop your reserve at around 2000 feet.

Answer 6

It is better not to get over it