posted Jan 20th, 2011 - The next Paraclete XP4 update includes videos of the first four jumps today. They are not the very first ones with the new slots. John D'Annunzio said that his team had done a few training jumps at the end of the 2010 season. However, it surely is the beginning of this new XP4 phase.

The first jumps are more than promising, as the videos show. Event the team members, including former 4-way and 8-way world champion Kirk Verner, seem to be more excited than ever. The potential to be in the mix for the USPA gold medals this year has apparently created additional motivation and energy.

Kirk Verner has seen and done it all, and he is still looking forward to being a top contender once again this year. It is very impressive and almost contagious feeling the energy that he brings to the team as a player.

The new slots may have their own additional input for the team energy. It looks like the XP4 members have a better constellation now. Well, there must be a good reason why they decided to switch slots. Getting stronger as a team is behind the move, of course. So it is not really surprising that everybody feels good about this start.

Fact is that XP4 is functioning very well at the beginning of the 2011 season. The competition at the USPA Nationals could be much closer and more exciting than many people may think. Arizona Airspeed and Perris Fury have been fighting it out pretty much by themselves in the past years. This may not be the case any longer.

Paraclete XP4 has a nice advantage with the wind tunnel in the backyard. There is a good reason why the team only jumps from 7,000 feet - and this as often as possible on a training day. The team can practice all techniques and all skills easily in the 16-footer. Few other teams have this luxury.

Of course, the experienced XP4 competitors know very well that exit and subterminal action is most crucial for world class scores. Indoor training can still not replace this part of 4-way competition.

In fact, the first five seconds of the working time have probably become the most important part, not only for the four competitors in the active lineup. The performance of the videographer is also more important than ever and requires training with the team.

Point deductions for issues with the video angle and not visible formations or grips have hurt many teams. In fact, the better the team the more challenging it is for the videographer since the world class teams break the first formation very early. XP4 is going up now for the last outdoor 4-jump package.