Head
Up Flying
Advanced
The last in a three
part series by Giles Fabris
Feel the Air
Many people use the phrase 'feel the air' to avoid explaining technique
- or just because it sounds cool! But when we realise
that feeling plays a vital part in learning, just as looking and
listening, we gain a better understanding of how we fly.
So, next time you're
in freefall, really think about what the air feels like. Use all
your senses. Feel the difference between the pressure on your front
or back. Hear the change of noise as you speed up or slow down.
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| Spocks
and Docks |
The
key thing is to practice moving your arms solo. When you feel confident
and stable, then you are ready to try with others. Remember to fly
smoothly and slowly and don't grab if you cannot gently dock - fly
the docks. As you raise your arm(s), you will tend to fall away so
widen your legs a small amount to ensure that you keep proximity.
If you have two people each docking on an arm, you will lose stability,
so make a few jumps practicing flying with your arms in and ask people
beforehand to dock gently on you, to make the balancing act a little
easier. |
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When flying head-up with others, you'll
probably find that everyone flying head-down wants to put their
hands on your head and 'spock' you. If you want to return the favour,
remember these important facts:
You are creating a 'burble' for anyone
flying slightly above you, so don't make any rapid radical movements
- unless you want them to come crashing down on your head!
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Try this one out for size. If you need
to move back a couple of feet quickly...
Bend your hands at 90° at the wrists,
they will naturally blow up in the airflow. Push your hands in front
of you, about 6" (an honest 6"!), and then push your hands
quickly, as if trying to push somebody over. The action is to push
against the wall of air in front of you and then return quickly.
Whilst pushing, exhale deeply and tense the muscles in your forearms.
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Backing
Up Quickly |
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The
desired result - rapid movement backwards for a couple of feet. I
find this really useful if someone moves towards you fast and you
think that they are on a path to hit you. |
| Carving
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To carve, mix the Hang
10 for forward motion (see last article) and turn the centrepoint
towards the centre of the carve (forward and turn at the same
time).
I find that my hand nearest
the centre of the carve is slightly lower than the outside hand.
Some people raise or drop a leg slightly in order to initiate
a carve - this seems to work well.
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Reverse
Carving |
To reverse the carve, think of backwards
movement with a conscious twist at the waist so that you are looking
across the shoulder to the centre of the carve (reverse and turn
at the same time).
The backwards carve is a strange looking
move - it always makes me laugh!
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| For
relative carving, you will have to make fall rate changes as you begin
to carve |
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Face
to Face Carving
'The
Spin Dryer'
Face off with your partner and decide
which way the carve is going to go around.
Once you have started the carve and
it picks up a little speed, start to face in a little towards your
partner, who will be across from the centrepoint of the carve.
It will feel as though you are in a
spin dryer. The forces involved are acting on you, moving you outwards
from the centre of the carve, so drive a little towards the centre
line to keep going around
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When learning
to carve, try it first in a low speed position and
then pick up the
pace when you master the move
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| Head up Flying - Advanced... Page
2 |
Back to Dec 2000 Contents
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