> "this is something you learn in skydiving class…You learn on your first day that if you hug the beach ball, you will flip and fall with your back down" This

> "this is something you learn in skydiving class…You learn on your first day that if you hug the beach ball, you will flip and fall with your back down" This is true of the first 20 or so jumps, before achieving your "A" licence or equivalent: you're taught a belly-down arch. When you advance past your A-licence, and especially when studying for your FS1 qualification (Formation Skydiving), you're taught variations of that arch, which are much flatter and even concave, in order to adjust fall-rate, so that you can stay in formation, with everyone falling at the same speed. You also figure out very quickly that those slower fall-rate body positions are much less stable in the airflow…but that's why we practice.