posted Jan 11th, 2021 - The coverage of the NSL Cloud Mondial 2020 included several NSL Live Talk conversations in the Coaches Corner with some of the most experienced 4-way and 8-way exports in the sport. The videos of the conversations found great interest in the audience.

Gary Smith, Joey Jones and David Grauwels discussed the competition videos and touched a multitude of different topics when the scores were posted. One of the many topics was related to the ever-increasing scoring averages, which is caused by many factors.

Wind-tunnel training, professional athleticism and cross-training, healthy diets, body positions and flying techniques have offered a lot of room for improvement for the top competitors in Formation Skydiving competition and explain some of the progress.

Gary Smith, Joey Jones and David Grauwels eventually also elaborated on the block techniques in the current dive pool and began comparing recent performances with the ones that the top teams were showing at world meets long ago. It was specifically the FAI World Meet in Menzelinsk 2010 that they related to.

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NSL Live Talk on November 6th - November 7th - November 8th: Gary Smith, Joey Jones, David Grauwels

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The event took place in Russia, where the FAI Mondial 2020 was supposed to be held a decade later. As 2020 will make bad history for the whole world, 2010 was not an easy year, as well, at least not for the top event in the sport. Wildfires in Russia around Moscow, and not too far away from the competition site, were a constant threat in a very hot summer. However, the competition was completed, while the FAI Mondial Tanay 2020 was canceled and rescheduled for August 2021. FAI/ISC will decide this month whether the event will take place or not.

Gary Smith, Joey Jones and David Grauwels agreed that teams and competitors do not really move much faster today or apply more energy and force than they did a decade ago, or even earlier.

David Grauwels was still in NMP PCH HayaBusa's active lineup in 2010 and competed in Menzelinsk. The HayaBusa 2010 lineup (Waedong So, Roy Janssen, Andy and David Grauwels, Danny Jacobs on camera) finished in 4th place, and the new lineup with Dennis Praet for Waedong So needed four more years before winning their first world championship title in Prostejov 2014. Joey Jones was coaching NMP PCH HayaBusa in 2010. David Grauwels won two more gold medals in 2016 and 2018 before he moved to the camera position for his team.

Joey Jones and Gary Smith had won their own 4-way world championship title with DeLand Majik in 2004. Both teams, DeLand Majik and NMP PCH HayaBusa, have set new scoring standards at their times, and the reigning 4-way world champions from Belgium have been inching closer to the 30-average outdoor record level.

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FAI World Meet 2018			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Top 6		21,L,B,G		22,18,17		19,7,O		J,16,12		10,A,D,15		Q,M,F,C,N		H,20,P,13		6,14,11		E,2,5		4,1,3		Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	32		21		27	-2	24		22	-3	62	-2	22	-2	20	-1	27	-1	22		279	27.9
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	26	-5	21		27	-1	24		24	-1	60	-1	26		22		27		20		277	27.7
3	Aerodyne Realfly	FR	29	-1	19		24	-2	23		24		52	-3	20	-3	17	-3	24		19		251	25.1
4	Qatar Tigers	QA	24	-2	14	-1	24	-1	21		22		53	-4	21	-1	18		20		17		234	23.4
5	Echochamber	SE	25	-1	16		21	-1	17	-2	20	-1	48	-4	14	-3	18		21	-1	15	-1	215	21.5
6	Amnesya	IT	24	-2	14		20	-1	18		18	-1	48	-5	18		14	-2	21	-1	15		210	21.0
7	Satori XL	UK	21		14	-1	21		19		19		37	-3	19		17		18	-1	16	-1	201	20.1

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Arizona Airspeed at the world meets in 2018 and 2010

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Gary Smith, Joey Jones and David Grauwels together were discussing the reasons for the impressive scoring progression and discovered some of them in an unexpected territory. If the moving speed and energy input have not changed too much between 2004, 2010 and 2018, they thought that there must be another reason why the scoring averages still keep increasing.

NSL-TV videos of the world meets in 2010 and 2018 allow the audience to join the discussion. Arizona Airspeed's Odyssey lineup (Eliana Rodriguez, Craig Girard, Andy Delk, Mark Kirkby, with Steve Nowak on camera) competed for the U.S.A. in 2010, and Airspeed's 2018 lineup demonstrate the more recent flying and engineering techniques in 2018.

Julien Degen, Jeremie Rollett, Guillaume and Mathieu Bernier (Fabrice Rieu on camera) won the gold medals for France in 2010. Laurence Herve, Damien Gouriou, Kevin Mansion, Charles Rommel and David Ricard (Video) won bronze for France in 2018.

The NSL News audience have the opportunity to compare the competition videos and discuss the topic. Gary Smith, Joey Jones and David Grauwels indicated that they see significant differences in engineering and much more flexible continuity plans with more engineering options. The discussion of this topic will hopefully continue soon.

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FAI World Meet 2010			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open Finalists		10,7,12	3,11,5	J,M,Q,P,L	19,1,13	N,18,20	K,17,8	2,15,H	4,D,6	O,E,9,G	22,B,16	Total	Avg
1	Aerodyne Aerokart	FR	21	22	56	20	22	24	22	24	40	26	277	27.7
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	22	21	53	23	20	24	23	25	40	23	274	27.4
3	Sky Panthers Barkli	RU	19	21	56	21	19	21	23	22	41	21	264	26.4
4	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	21	21	55	20	17	20	23	22	36	18	253	25.3
5	Evolution	CA	19	19	51	20	18	22	21	21	31	18	240	24.0
6	Sinapsi	IT	19	19	49	16	20	17	21	19	37	19	236	23.6

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France at the world meets in 2018 and 2010

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