posted Aug 1st, 2018 - I have a very dear friend, one of the best I have ever had in my life, and I guess it is not a big surprise that we share a passion, which is 4-way training and competition.

It did not start out like that, even though we met in the skydiving community. I was already an addict, while he was not involved in 4-way at all when we ran into each other. That was roughly 25 years ago. I was coaching then and he and a few friends wanted to become better skydivers. I tried to help them and used the opportunity to carefully manipulate them into the right direction ...

Eventually we ended up in the same team that took first place as a guest in 8-way intermediate at the 1996 USPA Nationals. He continued in 4-way for a while and loved it. Normal life caught up with both of us: families, children, jobs etc. However, I was able to continue doing what I do, while he was slowing down significantly. Nothing new there...

Fast forward 20 years and we are still floating in the same boat of life. Kids grown up, more time to do things that we have not done in a while. I am still doing what I was doing 20 years ago, just more intensively and in an amateurish professional way (if you know what that means...) while he used the opportunity to get back to his suppressed passion: 4-way training and competition.

TURNING POINTS: What is it?

He is not alone in the life boat and not even with the impressive comeback to 4-way. I have met quite a few people recently from the baby-boom generation who had quit skydiving and come back with the birth of the indoor world and I am loving it. However, my friend went a step further and rejuvenated his passion for exits from jump planes, even if they are only bows so far (random formation H in the 4-way dive pool).

The interesting part is that he is deeper into it than ever before and he cannot get enough of it. He has realized more than ever before that there is nothing that compares, on so many levels and in so many ways. And, of course, he is right and, of course, I know what he is talking and dreaming about.

All right, so here is what happened when I saw and felt his rejuvenated passion and new enthusiasm. As contagious as this 4-way bug and addiction has always been to me (and many others), I was drawn back into it and began to wonder what it actually is that gets people like him and me so extremely hooked on it. Yes, that's right, after 38 years of 4-way training and competition and dedicating your whole life to 4-way (and family) you may sometimes forget why it is the way it is.

So instead - or better, on top of - watching him and enjoying his excitement I began to think about it and reflecting on why I myself am so crazy about 4-way training and competition. Well, I had to look beyond myself, of course, and look into the fact that there are very intelligent and successful people who decide that this is all they want to do: jump from airplanes and perform better in 4-way than ever before.

This is not happening only on the top level where 4-way athletes get literally addicted to the desire of just scoring a few more points in the next meet compared to the previous one. The best 4-way competitors in the world are in it for many years, even decades, and they are still trying to score higher. My best friend is only at the starting point of it, after 30 years in the skydiving world and at a 10-average level in AA/Intermediate.

What is it???

It would be too easy to explain it only with the fact that the skydiving community is a unique little world, which is so much more fun than any other one that I have experienced. And believe me, I have seen a lot in my life before I got 4-way initiated and while I was fully engaged in this wonderful environment.

Skydiving in itself is already the most fascinating activity and every tandem passenger will confirm this to you and me. You can easily get addicted to jumping from airplanes without ever getting into 4-way. It is also too easy to bring in the actual community and the social part of it. Yes, we are regularly connecting easily and without much stress with like-minded skydivers who share the passion and are ready to do what it takes to have fun together - in freefall and on the ground.

There is something else that 4-way training and competition brings to the plate that makes it even worse, on a passion and addiction level. I will try to explain some of it, even though it is impossible to really get it across, which drives me crazy on a regular basis. I wish I could do exactly that much better, so 4-way would be just as popular as basketball or golf.

It is not only that your adrenaline is flowing on a very high level and it mixes with endorphins, dopamine and serotonin to give you a high without any drugs. That happens to each crazy person who decides to jump from a plane and it happens in many other recreational and athletic activities, as well.

It is not only that you are competing with yourself (for a good performance), with your teammates (for a better performance), for the audience (who will watch the video) and eventually with other 4-way competitors and teams who try to perform better than you and your team. The competitive part of it is, first of all, not mandatory, as you can do 4-way without ever going to a meet and it is also a component of many other sports.

It is not only the fact that you are performing in an incredible environment, freefall, which is the dream of every human being. Flying like a bird, I mean. And we do that. Without wings. Yet every skydiver does that, so it cannot be the reason.

It is not only the social environment that comes with it, or better, after the freefall (and the safe landing). I mentioned earlier how special the skydiving community is for everybody who jumps from planes.

Well, it would even be too easy to just say that the combination of all of the above causes the passion and addiction to 4-way and it also doesn't exhaust the reasoning. I believe that the difference comes with the team aspect and the dynamics that a 4-way team adds to all other explanations. Of course, this counts for all other team disciplines in skydiving where you depend extremely on each other.

I don't know any other sport (and I have done MANY of them) where you depend on your teammates' performances so heavily as in 4-way competition (except for 8-way competition...) This extreme dependency in an extreme environment brings dynamics to a team that are not even comparable to anything else. I guess I will talk more about this at another time. At least I have some kind of an answer to the question why people like my best friend simply can't get enough of 4-way training and competition...