How to Do Upright Poses While Skydiving

Perform upright poses during the free-falling part while skydiving. These poses are used for fun and also for free-falling competitions. Learning to keep your head in an upright position while falling in the air is not as easy as most skydivers make it look, but once you've learned how to do it, the sky's the limit.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Learn the basic orientations your torso can achieve in relation to the ground or the 50-mph wind pushing on you. There are five orientations that determine the type of pose you are performing: the flat orientation, inverted, sideways, head-down or upright, also called the stand-up orientation. The upright orientation is where your torso is in a vertical position with your head up pointing toward the sky.

2. Do your ground work first. Study the different upright poses. There are several poses, each with their own degree of difficulty, with names like the "daffy salute," "straddle pike standup" and the "stag." You can find descriptions of how each pose is performed at the Winddance Freestyle Website.

3. Begin in the air with a slight upper movement of your upper body. When your torso gets to the upright position, spread your legs for more stability and use your arms to balance yourself there.

4. Go into the neutral position, which looks as though you are sitting in a chair. Your hips will be in a 90 degree angle with your lap. Drive forward if your hips start to come out of the seat. Put your shoulder blades together to get a lot of wind lift on your back to keep you upright. Bring your elbows down behind you.

5. Lean forward a bit to move backwards. Feel the wind push on your chest. Bring your hips forward a little to go forward. Fall slower by making your stance wider. Push your knees out a little bit farther and lean back a bit more.

6. Stand up. Lift your hands up over your head. Straighten your legs. Keep the wind lifting on your back by leaning back and keeping your shoulder blades tight together. Standing makes your surface area thinner so keep in mind that you will be falling at a faster rate.

7. Drop one hand to turn. You will go in the direction that your fingers are pointing. After you are comfortable, you can turn with the use of both hands and even start using your feet. Once you know how to keep stable in an upright position you are ready to try the different poses.

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Resources

• Winddance