posted Mar 26th, 2008 - The aftermath of the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2008 and the preparations for the World Challenge 2008 are being interrupted for another part of Fastrax' John Hart's 4-way tips. He covers clean and clear separation of grips and the position of the team videographer this time.

The new 4-way tips come along with an opportunity to learn the 4-way science in the real world. Two competitors of the Mideast Skydiving League, Matthew Hunt and Greg Rick, have formed a player coach team with John Hart and are looking for a fourth member for the new team project.

The team will be based at Start Skydiving in Ohio. Matthew Hunt trained and competed with the Michigan team Enigma years ago. Greg Rick was a member of Skydive Chicago's Furies in 2007. The plans include training and meet weekends at Start Skydiving and the Mideast Skydiving League, as Matthew Hunt explained:

"We are looking ideally for someone with some AAA Class experience, although not absolutely necessary, who would jump with this line-up at Start Skydiving approximately every three to four weeks over the summer, also with at least one tunnel camp."

The open slot is the Center Outside position. However, the team members are flexible, and the slots may change based on the coaching input from John Hart. The committed two members are eager to get started with the project soon:

"Greg and I feel this is an incredible opportunity for someone who is very motivated to learn more and go far in the AAA Class dive pool with this player-coach team. This is not an every weekend team, so it would be possible for someone to travel periodically and join from out of the MESL region."

Interested skydivers can contact Matthew Hunt directly.

4-way Tips - Showing Formations, Keying

By John Hart, Team Fastrax

Unfortunately, it's not enough just to build a formation to get credited for it. The team must show the formation to the judges. This requires:

- Present a steep camera angle so all grips are visible

- Show the formation in control and as completely stopped as possible

- Between formations, show big flashes to prove separation

Flashing is a skill not often developed outside competitive formation skydiving. To do this effectively, the jumper releasing a grip must move the hand at least a foot horizontally away from the grip. All four teammates should flash as simultaneously as possible, to show the complete separation clearly to the judges.

4-way Tips - Videographer

The position of the videographer is unique within the team. Unlike the others, the camera flyer does not pay his own slot, and on many teams the videographer is paid. Because of this, and because a team can switch videographers with less impact than switching formation players, some people tend not to consider the videographer an integral part of the team.

This is a misconception. Make no mistake, the camera flyer is as important a member of the team as any other. A penalty for his error hurts the score just as much as anyone else's error. For a videographer to be effective, he must consider himself a member of the team, with as much responsibility as anyone else. For him to do so, his teammates must all likewise consider him a full-fledged teammate. A good camera flyer must become an expert in the following areas:

- Judging the exit count

- Presenting on exit appropriately for the formation being launched

- Maintaining a steep angle at terminal velocity

- Using the correct combination of wide-angle lens and height above the formation

- Maintaining and operating a camera helmet