posted Jul 22nd, 2012 - We live and skydive in the era of intensive internet communication and sophisticated technology for social interaction. What impact does this have on skydiving competition and events?

The NSL News contribution for Blue Skies Mag and the "Turning Points" column in the latest edition took on a topic that touches the surface of a topic that is the big elephant in the (team) room.

The National Skydiving League has recently added "Little Cloud Skydiving" to the league's network and followed up by adding a "Virtual Indoor" event series. Is this a change of direction?

Is skydiving competition the way we have known it for decades dying now? Is there no need any longer to travel to other places if we have the internet and all those sophisticated technologies to view, judge and chat online? The answer is simply "NO". Real competition with real people live on site at the same location can never be replaced. The Blue Skies Mag article explains why.

Turning Points: Do It Live - Adrenaline and Endorphin vs. Virtualin

Imagine you are competing in a track and field event, let's say a tryout for the Olympics, and the only athletes in the stadium are your hometown buddies. You run the 100-meter dash, but your strongest opponents, including the actual top contender, are running at the same time on the other side of the country. The final official scores you can find next day in the newspaper and online.

Later on you get a medal by mail and an invitation to represent your country at the Olympics. The Olympics will take place in your home stadium again, only this time you compare your scores with international athletes who compete at the same time in their own home stadiums. You can follow the same train of nightmare scenario thoughts and imagination with bike races, swimming events, and several other sports. You cannot really imagine a football or basketball game without the direct opponent at the same location at the same time. But who knows, maybe somebody can even come up with a great idea how to avoid making the trip to the opponent's home turf when it's your turn to travel ...

I guess you get the point by now. I am not the biggest fan of fax meets, internet meets, and virtual competition as replacements for skydiving competition the way we have known it for decades. This doesn't mean that we should not take advantage of available modern communication technologies and options that we may have never dreamed of in the past. Those kinds of projects and ideas surely have their place in the skydiving world and can be utilized to our advantage. However, there is still something that can never be replaced, and that's the social and mental part of a live meet.

You know the feeling in your stomach when you arrive at the competition site in the morning, especially if it is not your home DZ. You may know a similar feeling even if there is no competition. Just the new environment of a different place creates a funny feeling for most of us. Then the meet atmosphere adds to it. Now you can compare this feeling with the one on a Saturday morning of a jumping or training day at your home DZ. It's not the same, not even close.

It's exciting to have the feeling of something special, something challenging, waiting to be mastered by my team, not only by myself. This time, it's not only about turning perfectly on place and spinning the pieces as quickly and efficiently as possible. There's more to it. There are other teams this time who want to do it better than my team, and I will be confronted with this situation directly. It can be frightening and make you nervous - but it can also be great fun, it's up to you.

First of all, just this feeling alone is already worth the trip. It makes me feel special. It makes me feel like I am taking on a challenge, and I am ready to face it and do the best I can to master it. It's not the adrenaline situation that comes with the exit and the opening of the parachute for the most experienced competitor. This is more an endorphin rush, and you can make it your friend. Once again, it makes this visit to the DZ a very special visit.

By the way, top athletes really make both adrenaline and endorphin rushes their friends. Those substances are neurotransmitters, and they can increase your heart rate, which increases the oxygen supply to your brain, and prepares your whole system physically for a better performance that you could not deliver on a "normal day." However, you have to befriend them to make them work for you. You are in trouble if this unusual feeling turns into anxiety, fear, or nervousness.

An experienced competitor is aware of this situation and knows how to deal with it. She/he turns adrenaline and endorphin rushes during a competition into a very special feeling of readiness for peak performance. And then they get addicted to it since they perform better in this state of mind and preparedness. They want more and more live competition experience to learn even more about how to enjoy this feeling and become a top athlete in competition.

That's what a real meet day is doing to you. That's why I cannot even imagine replacing live competition with a fax meet or an Internet meet. It's not the same when you arrive for a jumping or training day on Saturday morning at your home DZ.

And that's only the athletic and mental aspect of live competition. There is also another very important part that has nothing to do with adrenaline and endorphin, peak performance or anxiety, world record or brainlock. It's the social part of a live meet. It's my worst nightmare to imagine meeting all those cool people, my team buddies, and the other competition lovers, judges, videographers, packers, manifest, etc. only on Facebook in the future. "Hey, my team scored 15 points yesterday for 6, D, M, 7. Please like it, so I can win a discount coupon at Winn Dixie."

You cannot replace the social part of a live meet with technology. You can send the beer icon via Skype to your 4-way pals of the other teams 50 or 500 miles away, but you cannot drink the beer with them at the DZ bar or by the bonfire at the end of the meet day. And those are some of the best parts for all of us, aren't they?

There are other things you cannot do without a live meet, like spying on the latest creeping techniques, or seeing how the team from the west coast launches an Adder at the mockup. Now, I am sure that I am forgetting millions of other things that you can do only at a live meet, and I love all of them too.

Most of all though, I like the excited feeling of being at a special event and meeting the like-minded people in person - whether it is the USPA Nationals or the July meet of the Northwest Skydiving League.

Alright, on the other side of the coin: I truly believe that modern communication technologies can be very helpful for our sport, and it is time to use them well and efficiently. There is more than only the NSL Network with the synchronization of the competition draw all over the planet each weekend and the combined leaderboard on Monday. Projects like Al Bevier's Little Cloud Skydiving can help to build bridges between the student/recreational skydiving world and the joy of real live competition. They can make it easier to communicate and learn more about why Arizona Airspeed, NMP-PCH Hayabusa, and SDC Rhythm XP are so addicted to what they do.

I wish I was able to explain better how much fun and how addictive it is, not only on the top level. Modern communication technology allows new projects with better options how to provide those experiences and feelings. Good luck, Al, and even Facebook can be helpful to spread the 4-way fun word and intimidate your rival teams...