How was Your First Skydive?

The most natural skydiving position is belly skydive and because of that, our first jump is in a belly-to-earth position. The skydiving instructor explains what is going to happen during the whole skydive jump and reinforces all positions, exercises and the emergency procedures to the student.

I believe belly skydive was the first position people used to jump from airplanes. It’s curious how long it took to free fly, and other skydiving disciplines become invented. Lots of people stick with Belly till today.

Belly jumps are not only for old folks.

Many new skydivers love belly jumps. The USPA Nationals last year had almost 100 4-Way Belly Teams registered. It was impressive to see how many people compete in 4-Way and 8-Way.

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1. Every Skydive ends in Belly to Earth Position!

It doesn’t matter what you planned for your jump. You will end up on your belly before deploying your parachute. The skydiver has to track away, stop, be stable and only then, open his parachute. As we have been discussing–the best and safest way to deploy a parachute is in a belly-to-earth position.

As soon as skydivers understand that belly skydive is the most important position during a free fall, the better. There are many issues that an opening in a position other than belly-to-earth can cause. Imagine all those lines, bag and, canopy opening right between your legs… It’s better to learn how to belly jump!

2. Belly Skydive is the Easiest Position to Learn!

When we start to skydive, we want to jump solo and then we want to jump with a few friends. The best way to do it is in a belly jump. This position is the easiest one to control and manage to get in level and close to other people.

The view that we have of our body and the symmetry we need is easier to understand in a belly skydive. We are in a familiar position. Our head is towards the sky, and we are facing the ground. It is a normal feeling for us. Once you start doing head down position or back flying, you will understand how disoriented a skydiver can feel.

3. Belly Jumps Help to Make Friends!

As I said prior, it is the first thing we learn and it is the easiest way to keep close and in level with other people. That means we can jump with other people and create a real connection, sharing an experience in the sky. People start to get close to each other when jumping together and this is a great reason to keep getting better and better.

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Mastering this discipline is very helpful if you want to make more friends. Once you know more than the average skydiver, you can start teaching people. You will make more friends; you learn more by teaching others, and you increase your skill level and the number of people you can safely jump with. Which brings us to our next topic.

4. Big Ways!

Big ways are skydiving formations with 9 or more people. This kind of formation is fun and challenging, and when the group reaches their goal, the celebration is priceless. I have been participating in some big ways, and I can’t recommend them enough.

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The most significant formation I’ve been in was a 64 way at Skydive Perris during the P3 Event. This was a great way to get to know more people and challenge me to get better. Besides that, all the people in the sky with you… Oh my Gosh! That is just amazing.

5. Belly Jumps Are Fun!

Even though we know how to belly skydive very well, it’s great to jump with people who are just beginning to skydive. First, they have that feeling of craziness and happiness of when people just start skydiving and also its super fun to put a group of people together to skydive.

Belly jumps are for everyone. Of course, we need to keep levels, and goals conciliate with the skills of the group. However, if we are jumping with people, we love to be around. The fun sure is going to happen.

To conclude, belly jumps are very cool. Belly discipline is indispensable to any skydiver, and I believe that more people should work on it and get coaching to hone this skill being safer, having more friends, have a great experience skydiving.


Find out more about Canopies: How Does a Parachute Works?

Skydiving is cool and can improve many things: 10 Health Benefits of Skydiving

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  1. Pingback: “Yes” to Skydiving Outside the City – Just Count Me In

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