WIND TUNNEL COACHING

The wind tunnel has proven to be an invaluable tool for accelerating learning and performance in skydiving. Skydive University has been applying the wind tunnel for Tunnel AFF (TAFF), Basic and Advanced Body Flight, Freefly training, and AFF instructor training for years.

Wind tunnel training incorporates a preparation briefing including body position demonstration and muscle Wind tunnel training incorporates a preparation briefing–including body position demonstration and muscle memory drills–a step-by-step progression tailored to your personal skill level, as well as a debriefing of the recorded footage of your performance throughout. The wind tunnel can be used for personal skills as well as small group skills and four way team training.

*For better results the flight times are distributed in sessions of 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, or blocks of one hour.

We provide a goal-specific briefing prior to your flight, immediate in-air corrections during the flight and a thorough debriefing after each session. By setting simple, easy and achievable goals – wind tunnel training is the most effective way to achieve your peak performance quickly and efficiently.

While in the wind tunnel, the first (and perhaps most important) goal is to establish a relaxed 'neutral' body position. This provides a strong, stable foundation to build upon in the future.

Tunnel AFF (TAFF)

Skydive University conducts training for AFF using the wind tunnel as part of a foundation for advanced basic training. Prior to doing your first jump, you will fly two 10-minute sessions focusing on the body flight skills needed for your “A” license.

The skills introduced are:neutral arch, pull techniques, leg and arm awareness, heading control and turns, and half rolls for advanced maneuvers and inverted recovery.

Any AFF students that may be experiencing problems in progressing through their course may find our wind tunnel training an excellent option. Skydive University has been running TAFF for 14 years and have more experience than any other instructors with tunnel training (specifically for AFF students).

AFF Instructor Training

SDU also employs the wind tunnel to train the instructor techniques of shadowing, giving signals, spin stops, and inverted student recovery.

The opportunity to perform these skills with high repetition quickly allows an instructor candidate to refine the techniques and become confident in their abilities to do so. For the tunnel to be effective we recommend no less than a one minute coached session (preferably longer). The more tunnel time you put in, the better you’ll advance once you get into the actual course and in-air testing stages.

Formation Skydiving (FS)

Formation body flight training in the wind tunnel provides individuals with the opportunity to develop skydiving skills while focusing on training in a distraction-free environment.

The opportunity to give full attention to advancing your skills–without the distraction of falling towards the Earth or thinking about your parachute equipment–is excellent.

Master Skills Like:

• Neutral Box/ Mantis
• Forward & Backward Movements
• Slow Fall/ Fast Fall
• Center Point Turns
• Sideward Movements
• Super-Positional Movements

We highly recommend the tunnel: The tunnel allows us to rapidly shape skills to rebuild your flying abilities toward a higher-performance “you”.

Training is designed to progress from simple to complex, allowing each preceding fundamental skill to develop—enhancing each skill with precision and speed while increasing success. With this process, skills reach the “no thought” level of performance more quickly, allowing you to fly sequential or big ways successfully and confidently.

4-Way FS Team Training

4-way skills are accelerated through tunnel training, providing any group with the opportunity to develop the team dynamics needed for competitive skydiving.

The fundamental abilities gained are:

• Cross-referencing
• Developing a “grip” plan
• Developing a “key” plan
• Increasing random efficiency and speed
• “Block” work, including vertical transitions

 All the above providing any team the opportunity to develop the team dynamics needed for competitive skydiving.

Freefly Training

For safety reasons, there are prerequisite flying skills necessary prior to advancing to freefly training in the wind tunnel: The flyer needs to show control in Formation Skydiving (neutral and stable flight, forward, backwards, up, down, and turns) before being allowed to freefly. The progression of freefly training in the tunnel includes:

• Backfly
• Head up flying (sitfly)
• Head down flying

This is the basic procedure for everyone - If you are a very good skydiver, it might take only a few minutes to feel comfortable in the wind tunnel and get through the safety procedures before starting to train freefly in vertical positions (such as head up and head down positions).