Seeing as we have some rain at the moment, we thought it would be good to do the first of our interviews with Team Eclipse who have been together for a very long time and gradually improved year on year. Later on, we are also going to do a video interview with them as well!
1. How many years has Eclipse been together and how did it form?
We formed seven years ago. Martin, Simon, and I knew each other because we all started skydiving at the old Skydive St Andrews. Jenny, Ben and Martin did a scratch team at the 2009 Nationals and decided to do a trained team next year in the single A category. They got together with Simon and I, and Eclipse was born. We went on to win Silver in single A in at the Nationals in 2010, decided we quite liked it, and have kept going ever since!
2. 7 years is a long time, what do you think the reason for the longevity is?
There probably isn't one single reason why we have lasted so long, but we were lucky enough to find a line up that seemed to work both on the ground and in the air. It's not always been rosy, we've argued and fallen out over the years, but having the consistent line ups means we've learned how to not wind each other up too much.
For the most part, it's just been fun to be in the team, and we've all had similar goals which we've been able to work towards together.
3. How does the team set it's annual goals each year and has there ever been problems with one team member wanting to spend significantly more on training?
Thankfully, most of the time we've all been in a position to commit a similar amount of time and money. There have been years when people have wanted to do more but generally our rule is always to go with whoever can commit the least. We've always felt that keeping the line-up together and seeing year-on-year progression is a more beneficial approach than constantly swapping team members in and out. Over the years we've kept things flexible - some years have been big with foreign training camps and others have been much more low key.
In 2015 we only managed 27 training jumps and still managed a decent increase on our average.
4. Which coaches have you used over the years and what have they contributed towards the team dynamics?
We've had various coaches over the years, but the ones that have worked with us most are Katie Woods, Pete Allum, and Steve Hamilton. When we were young and still learning how to build a good team dynamic Katie was great at looking after us both in the air and on the ground. When Katie moved to Canada, we started working with Pete and Steve who were excellent at teaching us when it was ok to mess around, and when we needed to focus on the task at hand. This year we are working with Katie again and it's great, feels just like old times!
5. Last year you did a 16.1 average at the UK Nationals. How have you managed to score so well with such a small budget?
By staying together and plugging away, even with a relatively modest budget, we have seen small improvements year-on-year. We've also made use of lots of tricks that have helped us make the most of our budget.
We started with simple things, like sending round a weekly draw for us all to visualise and talk about engineering. Having an agreed system for creeping also helps, see each move three times, and if one person says they want to see something again, you keep going until everyone is happy.
Finally, in recent years we have started doing the vast majority of our tunnel time with rigs on. The extra mass of the rig makes starting and stopping moves more physical, but it also makes it much more comparable to what it's like in the air.
6. Do you have any advice for new teams wanting to stay the course?
I've seen teams form with four year plans, five year plans, etc. Generally they last a year or two, usually because it is difficult to commit that far in advance. My advice would be to have no more than a two year plan and re-assess at the end of each year thereafter. If the dynamic in the team is good, and if you all want to continue, then there are real benefits to sticking together.
A consistent line up will help you get more value for money out of your training budget because you don't need to re-learn how to fly with the rest of your team. The key thing is that as long as it's still fun, keep going and you'll see yourselves improve faster than you think.
Credit: Alex Bitner
1. How many years has Eclipse been together and how did it form?
We formed seven years ago. Martin, Simon, and I knew each other because we all started skydiving at the old Skydive St Andrews. Jenny, Ben and Martin did a scratch team at the 2009 Nationals and decided to do a trained team next year in the single A category. They got together with Simon and I, and Eclipse was born. We went on to win Silver in single A in at the Nationals in 2010, decided we quite liked it, and have kept going ever since!
2. 7 years is a long time, what do you think the reason for the longevity is?
There probably isn't one single reason why we have lasted so long, but we were lucky enough to find a line up that seemed to work both on the ground and in the air. It's not always been rosy, we've argued and fallen out over the years, but having the consistent line ups means we've learned how to not wind each other up too much.
For the most part, it's just been fun to be in the team, and we've all had similar goals which we've been able to work towards together.
3. How does the team set it's annual goals each year and has there ever been problems with one team member wanting to spend significantly more on training?
Thankfully, most of the time we've all been in a position to commit a similar amount of time and money. There have been years when people have wanted to do more but generally our rule is always to go with whoever can commit the least. We've always felt that keeping the line-up together and seeing year-on-year progression is a more beneficial approach than constantly swapping team members in and out. Over the years we've kept things flexible - some years have been big with foreign training camps and others have been much more low key.
In 2015 we only managed 27 training jumps and still managed a decent increase on our average.
4. Which coaches have you used over the years and what have they contributed towards the team dynamics?
We've had various coaches over the years, but the ones that have worked with us most are Katie Woods, Pete Allum, and Steve Hamilton. When we were young and still learning how to build a good team dynamic Katie was great at looking after us both in the air and on the ground. When Katie moved to Canada, we started working with Pete and Steve who were excellent at teaching us when it was ok to mess around, and when we needed to focus on the task at hand. This year we are working with Katie again and it's great, feels just like old times!
5. Last year you did a 16.1 average at the UK Nationals. How have you managed to score so well with such a small budget?
By staying together and plugging away, even with a relatively modest budget, we have seen small improvements year-on-year. We've also made use of lots of tricks that have helped us make the most of our budget.
We started with simple things, like sending round a weekly draw for us all to visualise and talk about engineering. Having an agreed system for creeping also helps, see each move three times, and if one person says they want to see something again, you keep going until everyone is happy.
Finally, in recent years we have started doing the vast majority of our tunnel time with rigs on. The extra mass of the rig makes starting and stopping moves more physical, but it also makes it much more comparable to what it's like in the air.
6. Do you have any advice for new teams wanting to stay the course?
I've seen teams form with four year plans, five year plans, etc. Generally they last a year or two, usually because it is difficult to commit that far in advance. My advice would be to have no more than a two year plan and re-assess at the end of each year thereafter. If the dynamic in the team is good, and if you all want to continue, then there are real benefits to sticking together.
A consistent line up will help you get more value for money out of your training budget because you don't need to re-learn how to fly with the rest of your team. The key thing is that as long as it's still fun, keep going and you'll see yourselves improve faster than you think.
Credit: Alex Bitner
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