posted Apr 14th, 2008 - Last weekend's events reported weather trouble at almost every location, including Europe. The Arizona Skydiving League had to wait until Sunday before the weather allowed the teams to get in the air. AZSL Director Annie Peterson reported that "the winds were topping out between 25-30 mph consistently" on Saturday. Only three of the five registered teams were able to come back on Sunday.

Italy's new 4-way league launched its first meet of the 2008 season last weekend, as well, and faced "terrible rainy weather", as FAI Judge Sara Sacchet reported. However, three teams showed up despite the bad conditions. The two AA Class teams (Sky Jokers and Explosive) completed all six rounds, while AAA Class team Evolution received scores for three rounds.

The competition in Italy is called the "Roberto Mirzan Trophy". Sinapsi PD member and 4-way bronze medalist of 2006, Luca Marchioro, organized the competition. His Meet Director was Claudio Bionda. The hosting dropzone is called "Area Delta 47" and is located in Casale Monferrato near Torino.

One 4-way event had the same weather situation last weekend and still came to a conclusion without any jumping. The Mideast Skydiving League held its Meet'n Greet event at Start Skydiving. Fastrax founder John Hart reported great success and a large group of new potential competitors attending the event.

John Hart had prepared the MESL Meet'n Greet with a series of 4-way articles in the Start Skydiving newsletter that would prepare the participants and other teams and competitors for the MESL season opener. His last 4-way tips covered the emotional part and the logistics of a training camp.

4-way Tips - Emotional Control & Arousal Level

By John Hart, Team Fastrax

Skydiving in general tends to create sensory overload for its participants. Doing 4-way increases this overload by requiring a skydiver to execute many moves, some difficult, and to remember sequences of formations, sometimes long and complex. Competition makes the situation even harder by jacking up performance anxiety.

A 4-way jumper must learn to establish and maintain a level of calm, focused alertness that will allow him or her to perform at his or her best on the jump. Each jumper develops a personal method for doing this, starting on the ground and continuing until (and after) exit. Techniques frequently used include:

- Visualization of the skydive to ensure remembering it in freefall

- Deep, slow breathing to slow the heart rate and calm the jumper

Literature:

Mental Training for Skydiving and Life, by John DeRosalia

The Inner Athlete, by Dan Millman

Fight Your Fear and Win, by Don Greene

The New Toughness Training for Sports, by James E. Loehr

4-way Tips - Training Day Routine

Training and competing effectively requires an established daily routine that everybody follows. This reduces lost time and numerous aggravations. The following is a summary of activities that may comprise a typical day of training.

- Meet at prearranged time

- Unload and prepare equipment as necessary

- Warm up by running, jumping jacks, etc.

- Stretch as a group

- Engineer, walk, and creep the first dive(s)

- Deal with manifest, put money on account, update reserve dates

- Gear up

- Load, ride plane, jump, land

- Drop off rigs at packers (or pack yourself)

- If doing back-to-backs, repeat

- Review & debrief dive(s)

- Repeat

- When done jumping, hold a review of the day and pass the rock. At the end of the camp, hold a business meeting.

- Pay packers, pay manifest, pay videographer, pay coach, mortgage house...

Be sure to allot time for lunch and snacks during the day. Also be sure to drink plenty of water. Minimize caffeine and high-sugar foods. Never drink alcohol the night before training.

The competition routine should be as similar to the training routine as feasible, to reduce meet-related anxiety. However, some changes are necessary. For instance, the time spent on the ground will probably be significantly longer than when training. Maximizing performance in a meet also requires paying attention to the following in your competition plan:

- During downtime, make sure everybody knows where everybody else is.

- Determine how much mingling with other competitors you will do during the meet.

- Keep hydrated and fed.

- Minimize exposure to sun.

- Decide as a team whether you will look at / discuss the scores.

Training and competition plans should include a bad weather plan. A common strategy is to creep the next dive periodically, say every half hour, and keep busy with low-stress activities such as reading, watching movies, or stretching. Frequent visualization of the dive is also helpful. The team should have a pre-established cutoff time to call a training day on account of weather. At that time, make your decision and live with it.

Tunnel training days should also have an established routine. This includes:

- Get to the tunnel with sufficient time to prepare.

- Plan your use of the tunnel time before each session.

- Do any dirt diving needed before the session.

- Debrief each session effectively.

- Stay hydrated and fed.

- Make sure you leave time for sufficient sleep.