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DY201 Coach
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Dynamic · Relative · The brief

Dynamic 201

Fly a near-vertical back angle

Holding a back slot as the line steepens toward vertical.

What this unit covers

This is the Dynamic track's entry unit, and it opens a 200 tier whose purpose is to build toward transitions through vertical, the pass-through and the flock and roll, by stress-testing each flyer at near-vertical speed and pitch while pulling out the way you came in, which minimises risk.
The tier's shared jump format: the group steepens toward vertical and shallows back onto the same line, never passing through vertical, so each flyer meets the speed and pitch a real pass will demand while the highest-risk element, the pass itself, stays out of the jump until FFP-DY303.
The rest of it
This unit covers the back side of the tier standard: holding the back slot on a very steep, near-vertical angle through the dive and the pull-out, relative to a coach-leader and a small group.
FFP-DY202 covers the belly side and the bail-out standard (the belly→back transition check); completing both completes the tier (the project's coaching doctrine, 2026-08-05 dynamic track redesign).
Leadership doctrine for through-vertical jumps lives in FFP-DY303 and FFP-DY304. How dynamic relates to vertical and movement. Dynamic blurs the line between vertical and movement flying, the more advanced the jump, the closer it sits to pure vertical.
A basic pass-through (the group dives through vertical and returns the way it came) covers less than half the horizontal distance of a straight angle, because part of the jump is spent purely vertical. A double pass-through covers less than a third.
By four or five pass-throughs the jump approaches a purely vertical column of air, eagle and layout territory.
The key skills for basic dynamic jumps are therefore HD-crest-level vertical flying and belly and back angles, with advanced belly angles at high speed the most important, because that is the classic cork point on a pass-through: flyers start on their back where they are comfortable, transition to belly at speed, and cork (the project's coaching doctrine, The Freefly Project 2026-07-27).
This unit's format takes the straight angle to the near-vertical end of that spectrum: the dive approaches purely vertical flight and the pull-out returns along the entry line, building the speed-and-pitch tolerance the pass-through will demand. Mastery track, no sign-off. Completion of this unit is a milestone, not a permission: it admits the flyer to FFP-DY202 and to jumps of this format within this curriculum, and nothing more.
The unit's entry standards are course-internal safety standards, prerequisites to participate in these jumps, not jump permissions, licences, crests or endorsements of any kind. Any drop zone may adopt them as local policy; this curriculum only recommends them.
Applies to flyers competent in an angle slot on both belly and back (FFP-AN201).
No jump in this unit passes through vertical, so the track's through-vertical standard, head-down competence at crest standard for every participant, because everyone on a through-vertical jump is momentarily flying head-down, applies from FFP-DY303 onward, where it is verified (the project's coaching doctrine, standard scope clarified by The Freefly Project 2026-07-26). Environment: sky, with tunnel drills (back carving, back-fly fall-rate range) as preparation. Supervision: the coach leads a 2–3-way from the belly, dynamic jumps are led on belly, and the belly leader holds full ground visual while the group flies the back slots.
Group size guide: 2–3 plus the coach-leader, growing up the dynamic group-size ladder, 2-way, then 3-way, then 4-way; over 6 is dedicated-team territory, and the coach designs every jump around the least experienced flyer (USPA SIM 5-10.E; Spaceland movement policy).

What comes before it

Screen 2 · What to watch

What to watch

The same short list the flyer sees on their card, in the same words.

3.2
Hold the back slot with continuous visual on the leader as the group steepens toward vertical, staying on level and in slot through the dive. The coach judges slot competence as a whole, approaching from within your quadrant and holding position, rather than against a measured distance.

Can you hold a back slot with continuous sight of the leader as the group steepens toward vertical, staying on level?

3.4
Regulate closing speed on every approach so as never to pass the leader; if overtaking, slow and hold position.

Do you regulate your closing speed so you never pass the leader, slowing and holding position if you start to overtake?

3.6 Safety critical
Execute the lost-leader protocol immediately on losing visual contact, already below the group: stay on back, shallow onto a following back angle, and follow the group from below; level with or above the group: hold the shallow back angle, never descend to chase, and deploy higher after checking above.

If you lose sight of the leader, do you stay on your back, shallow onto a following angle and follow the group from below?

Screen 3 · What blocks a sign-off

What blocks a sign-off

A safety-critical criterion marked not yet stops the sign-off, however good the rest of the flying was. There is no averaging across this line, and no trading a good jump against it.

Safety-critical criteria on the short list

3.6
Execute the lost-leader protocol immediately on losing visual contact, already below the group: stay on back, shallow onto a following back angle, and follow the group from below; level with or above the group: hold the shallow back angle, never descend to chase, and deploy higher after checking above.

If you lose sight of the leader, do you stay on your back, shallow onto a following angle and follow the group from below?

Everything this unit says about breakoff and deployment

1.4
State breakoff (guide: 5,000 ft for groups up to a 4-way, 5,500 ft for a 5-way or larger; set at least 1,000 ft above the highest planned deployment) and deployment altitudes, and the lost-leader protocol for a back flyer, split by position, already below the group: stay on back, shallow onto a following back angle, and follow the group from below; level with or above the group: hold the shallow back angle, never descend to chase, and deploy higher after checking above.
4.1
Initiate breakoff at the briefed altitude (within −0/+300 ft).
4.4
Deploy at the planned altitude after clearing airspace.

Recording a sign-off says what you saw on one jump. It is not a rating, it is not a permission to jump, and it does not replace anything the drop zone requires.

Screen 4 · Conditions

Conditions

Where the evidence is allowed to come from, and how much of it there needs to be.

Assessment conditions

Sky jumps from a recommended 10,000 ft minimum exit (APF006 §3.2), with a real group of 2–3 plus the coach-leader. Video of assessment jumps is required for a valid assessment (leader-, outside- or helmet-mounted; candidate identifiable).
Required equipment: visual altimeter, functioning audible, AAD recommended, freefly-suitable gear. Conditions within the candidate's cleared limits, with calm-to-mild upper winds recommended for assessment jumps.
Assessor: a freefly coach current in both angle and vertical coaching and approved to lead movement jumps at the host drop zone, using the published FFP-DY201 checklist, each criterion marked Satisfactory / Not Yet Satisfactory, unit judgement Competent / Not Yet Competent.
The judgement is course-internal: it admits the candidate to FFP-DY202 and to jumps of this format within this curriculum and confers no licence, crest, endorsement or jump permission.

Performance evidence

Ability evidenced across at least 4 coached group jumps in the near-vertical back-angle format. The jump counts are a guide to how long this typically takes, not a quota, competency is the standard, not the numbers:
At least 2 jumps flying the full dive-and-pull-out profile in the back slot meeting all criteria, including two consecutive jumps meeting all criteria without coach assistance or prompts.
Across at least two different days/conditions.
Tunnel time may substitute for up to one of the skill-development jumps (back carving, back-fly fall-rate range), never for the assessment-format jumps.
All within a recommended 6-month currency window.

Screen 5 · Debrief

Debrief

Safety first, then fun, then learning. In that order, every time.

Coaching priorities

Deliver in the project's priority order: Safety → Fun → Learning (curriculum Part A0). Safety criteria are non-compensable, and the coach holds the entry-standard conversation openly before money is spent.
The coach explains the tier's design up front as a safety decision, pull out the way you came in, so the flyer meets near-vertical speed and pitch before any jump passes through vertical, and offers a candidate below the entry standards the belly/back angle development path instead, never just a "no".
End each debrief on a win with one improvement focus, and frame the dive-and-pull-out as the door into dynamic flying.

One fault, one correction

Ask for their read before you give yours. Then leave them with one fault and one correction, in their words if you can get them. Six points is six points forgotten by the next load.

A jump marked not yet is a jump to re-fly, not a failure, and saying so out loud is part of the debrief.

Record this jump

Your notes for this unit

Saved on this device only. Nothing is sent anywhere, there is nowhere for it to go, and no account is involved. They will be here next time you open this card.

This card is a summary. The full Dynamic 201 unit carries the reasoning, the sources and everything left off here. All briefing cards.