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Airspeed Formation Skydiving Advanced Skills Camp Work Book
Visualizing
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Visualization is the ability to create clear, detailed and accurate
images in your mind, of events that you want to create as physical reality.
We cannot possibly stress enough the importance of POSITIVE
VISUALIZATION. Every sports psychology book or peak performance book
contains extensive chapters of the benefits and value of visualizing. This
holds true in all areas of life far beyond sports.
Visualization for skydiving is essential. In nearly all other sports
and activities, you can practice in realistic rehearsals for hours. The most
intensive team training we have ever done was 1200 jumps in one year. That is
less than 20 actual skydiving hours. That is roughly 25 minutes of each block
in an entire year. If you wanted to learn to play golf, you could play for 40
hours in a week, not 20 in a year. Time in a wind tunnel can help a great deal
with particular skills and moves, but it’s not a completely accurate playing
field where you can practice the entire game. You must learn to visualize.
Learning to visualize is a skill like any other. It takes time and
practice. When you are riding to altitude, visualizing the jump you are about
to do. Is the image clear, detailed an accurate? For most people, the answer is
“Kind a”, “Sort a”, “I can see my grips”… Learning the skill of visualizing
will take more time than only the ride to altitude provides. Along with the
jumps and physical training, it is in the Airspeed training plan to visualize
at least 30 minutes a day.
Regardless of your skill level, I guarantee you this. If you can easily
create a clear, detailed and accurate image in your mind, of you and your team
performing your best, it will often become reality. As you visualize this on
the way to altitude, your confidence will soar. There it is right in front of
you. As if you just performed it perfectly 100 times. Quality visualization is
the same in your consciousness as actual experience. So is poor visualization.
Learn to see it right, and you will do it right.
It is important to learn to visualize from two different angles. With
both these angles, start your visualization from the beginning. See the door
open, see the entire climb out, see the exit count, see the exit and see the
first point. Continue all the way through break off.
Take the first angle and see if from the camera flyer’s perspective.
Watch the whole team working together as four parts of one machine. Watch
yourself within the team. To help us create an accurate image from this angle,
we spend a lot of time watching video of our jumps. We produce a special tape
of only our best. This “Best Of” tape provides an opportunity for us to watch
ourselves only during our peak performance, which is, by the way, a very big
confidence booster. There is no point in visualizing all the mistakes. Fix them
by recreating your best over and over again.
Take the second angle from your own eyes. Take the time to see
everything, just as you practiced on the creepers. Cross-reference, everyone
stopped in position, taking good grips, seeing the key. Visualize at a speed
that allows you time to see it all. The true speed always feels slower when you
visualize. Take this a step further than only the visual. Feel the power in
your moves, the strong controlled stops, the calm mind, see the sharp eyes of
your teammates as you communicate during the jump, feel how much
fun it is when you and your team are at your best, see your teammates’
thoughts as you all track away, charged up from the best jump you ever had…
Dan’s Non-Jumping Visualization Training
I try to schedule 30 minutes of visualization training every day. The
30 minutes are not always done at once. It can be 3 sessions of 10 minutes
each. During most of my visualizing time, I will find a quiet place where I can
be alone. In this quiet place I find it is easier to create the most detailed
images. I slow down, I calm my mind, and I enter an almost meditative state.
There are a total of 24 block moves, 4-way or 8-way[1]. If you draw out the entire
dive pool there are 12 jumps. I do one third of these each day: 8 blocks and 4
of the 12 jumps. The blocks I do one at a time: just that single transition in
all its detail. Do it perfectly, again and again. I work the exit move of that
block as well as the freefall move. I also see it from my slot and my piece
partner’s slot.
When I visualize the complete jump, I eliminate the technical details
of each move. I see those details but without giving them any thought. This
time is best used for practicing anticipation, thinking one point ahead. I do
this by locking the image of what each formation looks like just before it is
complete. For example, no matter what formation you are coming from, a
compressed accordian looks the same right before it is built. It is at
that moment, prior to when the formation is complete, that I think of what the
next point is going to be. This technique was very effective in minimizing
brain locks. It also took a lot of practice, at home when I was not jumping.
I also find it very useful to visualize spontaneously. While in the
middle of doing something completely unrelated to jumping, I will suddenly
decide to go through a jump. Instantly I force myself to create the correct
pictures and feeling. This is much more difficult than the quiet places where I
usually like to visualize. But it serves the purpose of teaching you to
instantly call on this skill anytime, anywhere, even while being completely
distracted by something else. If you can visualize under these conditions, you
can do it anytime. CAUTION! At times, practicing
this method can result in making quite a spectacle of you. When you suddenly start dirt
diving as you walk down the street or in line at the supermarket, innocent
bystanders “may call the authorities”…
Jack’s Jump By Jump Visualization Plan
Visualization is a very important element of skydiving training. The
time we have in freefall to practice our sport is so short, that we are left
with visualization as the only practical option for repetitive training.
Repetitive training is necessary to make your skills and knowledge of a
sequence automatic. To perform at the high end of your ability, you must be
able to let go of conscious thought and allow your performance to come
automatically. The amount of readiness to perform at this level can come only
from strong visualization skills and the trust-in-self brings.
Having a system of what, how, and when you visualize is very important.
Each of the members of Airspeed has their own system. Your system should be
unique and specific to you. Spend time thinking about what you do and how well
it works. Talk with your friends and coach about what they do. Gather as much
information as possible and then begin to experiment. From this information
create a visualization plan of your own. Write it down. After working your plan
for a while, you may choose to adjust it, but you will have a process of
visualization you can apply to all of your skydiving. To help you begin to put
together a plan of your own, we will look at some of the key elements you might
find in an Airspeed member’s process.
Repetition – Repeat the same sequence in your mind over and over again. The
number of repetitions required to make a skydive automatic is endless.
Visualizing should begin directly after the dirt dive and continue at regular intervals
until the actual skydive. Working the next days’ skydives at home, puts you
ahead of the game. Working the next weeks’ skydives throughout the week, even
further. The constancy of this work will set you apart as an accomplished
skydiver.
Relaxation – Frequent periods of relaxation between sessions. Relaxing between
moments of visualization helps avoid anxiety. At times when a sequence is
difficult to capture, all that is necessary is to allow your mind to relax. When your mind is at ease, you think better than when you are uptight
and anxious about something. Visualization that is done in a relaxed state is more vivid and
powerful, making this time much more productive to your training.
Calm – Produce a calm mind and the proper arousal level. Calmness is key to
skydiving well. The proper arousal level is critical to peak performance. Use
your visualization time to practice this optimum state of mind.
Multiple points of view – View the entire skydive
from your perspective, from the camera flyer’s one, and even from a teammate’s view. The more we know about what is supposed to be
happening on a skydive, the better we will perform. Being able to see the entire
jump, understand everyone’s job, and perceive the overall flow of the dive, is
critical. This ability, requiring much training and familiarity, will enable
you to react to changes as they happen and remember difficult non-repeating
sequences with ease.
Slow motion – Seeing the entire skydive in slow motion while analysing all the
details. This gives you the time to look closely at the specifics of the jump
without feeling rushed. Look at the details in slow motion during this session
and then let it go, because there is far too much happening far too quickly to
hold this type of speed and detail in the front of your mind while skydiving.
This session must not be done close to the actual jump due to the lack of
realism.
Fast forward – Viewing the skydive at twice the speed it will actually occur, will
broaden your anticipation abilities and increase your confidence. Anticipation, like muscle’s
flexibility, will grow if stretched. Pushing your abilities by pushing the pace
in your visualization will help you develop greater anticipation. Viewing the skydive in fast forward can also build confidence. If you
can remember the sequence at this pace, the skydive is going to be easy. Like slow motion
visualization, fast forward visualization is not realistic and should not be
practiced too close to the jump.
Real time – Repetitions at actual real time speed make the sequence, timing, and
details completely automatic. Your mind should be working just as you would
like to in freefall. It is here that you practice the correct arousal level,
anticipation, distraction control, and all the mental disciplines of a great
performance. Thos should be the bulk of your visualization where the real work
gets done.
Positive – Always see the jump working the way you planned. Our mind has the
uncanny ability to create precisely what it sees. We must be careful not to
visualize our fears. Visualize only what you want to happen.
Process – Execute a process for every jump regardless if you are fun jumping,
training or competing. Having the same process for each jump is very powerful.
It ensures you have prepared thoroughly every time. It also gives you a
well-developed routine, which will build your confidence as well as your
skydiving skills.
Be intentional with your preparation. Develop a system that works for
you and work it every time you jump. Constantly improve your visualization
skills. These skills will play a major part in your improvement as a skydiver.
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