Ep 55 Is the tunnel a better place to learn skydiving than the wind tunnel?

Learning to skydive well can be challenging, and expensive. But is the tunnel a good training aid. Top skydiver and tunnel coach, Matt Boag, sharers his thoughts on why the progression path in the tunnel is generally faster and more thorough.

[@BurninatorTheTrogdor]

My tandem instructor said go do tunnel with a real skydiver before you start AFF. I did about 20mins split in two days. It was not what I thought as far as feeling and I was glad I did it first. I passed my AFF no problem and most other students with no wind tunnel had a hell of a time and failed a lot. My exits on the other hand still sucks so I have to work on that. My goal is freeflying so I'll be back after I get really good at belly and breaking off/ tracking. I'm 45 and I'm in no hurry. I just love to jump it's the best thing I've ever done.

[@SOLDOZER]

"Tandem instructor"? What the hells is that? You dont receive any instruction on a tandem other than "have fun".

[@samanthapennell5216]

OMG how cool to see myself in the tunnel 😍. The tunnel is a wonderful tool to learn from. The sky is my home though.

[@blueskiesfundays2671]

Well, thank you for the videos. Keep them coming. 🙂

[@hayleebeut]

Another negative aspect of the tunnel is aimed mainly towards SkyDiving students. Hand signals taught in the tunnel differ slightly from what they learn in SkyDiving school and can sometimes be confusing to transition. A huge positive of the wind tunnel is that it is a confidence builder. We already have so many things in our mind when we jump (safety, EPS, dive flows, etc). The wind tunnel really helps to build that confidence and put my mind at ease and relax and have fun in the sky.

[@blueskiesfundays2671]

The hand signal thing is a challenge in many ways. Not only are some tunnel instrucrors different but they also vary from contry to country. Thorough and honest briefings are very important.

[@cotcotpouetpouet]

also consider your availability for skydive: between work, family, other sports nearby, and the weather (!) even when you have the money you sometimes can't do more jumps. In the tunnel, the flight is planned and guaranteed, and the practice is intense, I progress as much in flight technique over a day in the tunnel as over a (good) week of skydiving. I do an average of 50 jumps per year (for 8 years), but I have 25 hours of tunneling in one-to-one and 10 hours in FS (4), I jump with skydivers who have two or three times more jumps than me, it allows me to reconcile my time, my money, and my desire to progress.

[@gianniskarousis5600]

Perhaps you should reread the title!😅

[@rickgarner6269]

Is the tunnel better than the tunnel? 😅

[@50buttfish]

Tunnel-Never have to pull your chute; Freefall-Know the freedom of the fall.

[@TheQuadruped]

It humorous to see skydivers show up at the wind tunnel and think that they will be as good as they are in the sky.

[@headdown1]

Ummm...I have the same freefall ability in the tunnel as in the sky. Why would I not?

[@TheQuadruped]

@@headdown1 I was talking about the limit, as in there is no space limitation in the sky. In the tunnel there is a very HARD limit, and violations hurt. A lot of skydivers that I’ve seen in the tunnel struggle at first with having to deal with a potential eat the wall moment.

[@headdown1]

@@TheQuadruped I would imagine they are fairly inexperienced if they are sliding around that much. I have flown in three tunnels but they were all the old style with cushions at the edges and turbulence where the transition happened. In the center it was clean enough to be a great training aid for real skydiving.

[@headdown1]

Tunnel is a great training tool. But your video title needs to be rewritten as it makes no sense.

[@jayceon4466]

🤩 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙢