Managed to squeeze in a few jumps before the rain arrived - it's definitely all about the exit for me at the moment :-D First attempt I was a bit slow out of the door but dived down to the base pretty quickly, arriving first as the other member of the base had a 'floating' collision as they left the plane. More practice meant I learned what it was like to lean on the floaters and just fall out as they left - not my most elegant of exits but much quicker. And I can really get some power in my dives when I straighten my legs. In fact, when I think they are straight, the videos prove they rarely are, so with more practice, I should be able to whack on some serious speed :-)
The 'slamming the brakes on' technique that Jeff coached me on worked brilliantly - very very clear on the GoPro video from within the formation :-) I'm tearing in at a 45 degree angle, then just suddenly bam! I've stopped, checked my relative fall rate, then come in for the dock. Was still a little far out when stopping, but my coaches are happy that I've got the technique and just need to refine it. In time, I will be more confident in putting the brakes on closer to the formation, but for now, I'm more than happy than I'm not crashing in and am just flying my slot and gently taking grips. Phil actually teased me because I was so gentle, I literally just picked up his fingertips instead of his wrist :-D
Found some more flat flyers who might be able to hook up for some practice jumps at LPS or Hinton so that's great. I checked out the stats on the FS 4-way Nationals when I got in last night and the team I was going to join is struggling (a 2 point average over 7 rounds!) so I guess they didn't get their exits sorted after all. Was definitely the right decision not to link up with the scratch team!!
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