Operational procedures for coaches

Study material for a developing coach. It confers no rating and no authority to assess. Regulatory detail below is Australian unless stated, and every federation differs, so confirm the current position where you jump.

A coach is examined on operational procedure as well as on coaching and on flying. This is the least glamorous of the three and the one most likely to be the reason a jump goes wrong.

Gear checks are a procedure, not a look

The important word is procedure. Check the same things in the same order every time, because a fixed sequence is what survives being tired, rushed or distracted.

For a freeflyer the check is more demanding than a belly check, because the airflow is different and faster. Handles clear and secure. The deployment pouch tight enough to hold at freefly speeds. Bridle fully covered. Riser covers and pin flaps secure. Closing loop in good condition. Chest strap and harness snug for vertical flight. Hard helmet. Audible altimeter fitted, set and working.

Loose webbing gets stowed, and the reason is specific. Not tidiness, and not that it flaps and stings. Loose webbing can cover a handle and delay or prevent a pull. That is the whole argument, and it is enough.

With a visiting jumper, assume nothing is in order until you have looked. Out-of-date reserve documentation means no jump, and that is not a negotiation. Where something is outside your competence to judge, refer it to an instructor or the drop zone’s safety officer rather than guessing.

Altitude awareness devices

An audible altimeter is a hidden device that can fail silently, which is the whole reason it gets checked deliberately rather than assumed. In Australia a working audible is required on any freefly descent. A soloist has no group breakoff to fall back on, so two audibles is treated in this curriculum as best practice for solo freefly.

An automatic activation device of the common type works by cutting the closing loop when the jumper is below a set altitude and falling fast. Both conditions, which is why it does not fire under a normally functioning canopy. Knowing that is what lets you explain to a student why it is a backup and not a plan.

Visual altimeters still get read. An audible tells you that you have arrived somewhere; a visual altimeter tells you where you are.

Separation and altitude floors

On any jump where people are flying relative to one another, stop the relative work and separate at least a thousand feet above the altitude you intend to open at. In Australia that separation is a regulatory requirement rather than a suggestion.

The freefly breakoff guides this project uses are five thousand feet for groups up to a four-way and five and a half thousand for five or more, noting that most jumpers now plan the higher figure for any freefly group. Head-up work and head-up movement groups carry higher floors again, for reasons covered in the breakoff material.

What makes a canopy suitable for a novice

The desirable feature is docile handling, with predictable stall and flare behaviour. Not a canopy that happens to fit the container, not one chosen for how it looks, and not one selected on the basis that a fast canopy will teach them faster.

You are not a canopy coach, and you will still be asked. Answer on that principle and refer the detail to somebody rated for it.

Teach the ground part on the ground

Initial instruction in spotting belongs in a classroom, on the ground, before anyone is looking out of a door. The same logic applies to most of what a coach teaches: the first exposure to a concept should happen where there is time to ask questions.

Ground school is not a wet-weather activity. It is the cheapest teaching you will ever do, and a coach who has a ground-school plan ready has an answer for a day that turns marginal.

Training descents are supervised, and that is not yours to waive

A training jump with a student partway through a progression happens under a supervision arrangement, with a chief instructor’s oversight and the drop zone’s authorisation.

Which means the answer to being asked, at a drop zone that does not run training, to take a part-trained novice on a training jump is no, with an explanation of why. Not a look at their logbook, not a quick check with somebody, and certainly not a decision influenced by what they are willing to pay. Explain the reason, because the explanation is the part that teaches them something.

Recognising stress in a novice

Stress shows physically before it shows verbally. Fidgeting. A changed breathing pattern. Yawning or stretching that does not fit how tired they are.

Any of these is a reason to slow down and ask a question. None of them is proof of anything by itself.

Know the escalation chain

Most instructional problems are resolved by the chief instructor. If one is not, there is a chain above them, and in Australia the next step is the safety and training officer for the area.

Learn that chain before you need it. Taking a safety concern to the press or to social media instead is the wrong route and it damages your ability to fix anything else.

The habit underneath all of this

Every item on this page is a small thing that becomes a large thing on a bad day. The coach’s advantage is not remembering all of them under pressure. It is having procedures fixed enough that they run without needing to be remembered.

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Advisory, educational content, not regulatory advice. Requirements vary by federation and by drop zone and change over time. Always comply with the current rules where you are jumping and with your drop zone’s policies.