What Is Skydiving and Why It’s Different Than You Think

What is skydiving, exactly? Well, by definition, skydiving is the sport of jumping from an aircraft and performing acrobatic maneuvers in the air during freefall before landing by parachute.

But that sounds awfully dry for such an incredible experience. Sure, that’s technically what skydiving is, but to the people who participate in the sport, it’s so much more. Personal growth, lifelong connections, surprising life changes, and even different types of skydiving make up this activity that we all love so much. 

From the people who are making their first jump to the ones who are on their 1000th, skydiving is a life altering experience that will stay with them forever. Even just making one tandem skydive will open your eyes to an entirely new way of living. 

What is Skydiving?

And what is tandem skydiving, exactly? If you’ve never gone skydiving before, a tandem jump is actually the safest way to make your first skydive. Tandem skydiving entails an instructor and the first-time student being strapped together so that the instructor can control the safety aspects of the jump.

Okay, so what is the weight limit for skydiving? If two people are strapped together, there must be some restrictions. Our weight limit at Long Island Skydiving Center is 250 lbs for people that are weight-to-height proportionate. This ensures that both the instructor and the passenger can have a safe and enjoyable experience! 

It would be impossible to describe exactly what skydiving is and how much it means to the people who find their happiness in the sky. But we can certainly try! Read on to learn a little more about what makes skydiving so special. 

Different Types of Skydiving

What comes to mind when you think of skydiving? A bunch of people in brightly colored jumpsuits falling through the sky on their bellies while holding hands? This common inspirational poster image is a staple of skydiving disciplines, sure, but it’s not the only one. Not even close! Here are just a few of the main disciplines that skydivers participate in:

• Relative Work (RW) – This is the original freefall discipline of skydiving. In RW, skydivers fall with their bellies to the earth and try to complete as many grips (hand or leg grabs) as possible during the jump. Records for this discipline can get up into the hundreds of jumpers!
  
• Freefly – Freeflying is for those jumpers who love speed. Instead of being on their bellies, freefly jumpers fall in a sitting or head down position. Their speeds can get over 200 mph!
  
• Wingsuiting – Wingsuiting is relatively new to the skydiving world compared to some of the other disciplines, but it’s no less popular for it. Wingsuiters essentially wrap their bodies in a nylon wing that allows them to glide forward for miles. Talk about human flight!
  
• Canopy Piloting – Some jumpers prefer to fly their parachutes over freefalling. These jumpers will often exit the plane and immediately deploy their parachute. There are multiple sub disciplines inside canopy piloting, but one thing’s for sure – these skydivers love their parachutes!
  
• Tandem & AFF Skydiving – These disciplines are all about the students. Some skydivers spend their entire careers preparing and instructing brand new jumpers. The love of the sport inspires them to bring new people into the fold. Both tandem and AFF skydiving are great ways to experience the sport for the first time and achieve your own license!

As you can see, there are a ton of different options for how you prefer to enjoy the sky. And you don’t have to pick just one! Some skydivers specialize into one category, and others dabble in more than one! The sky is your playground. 

Skydiving Misconceptions

Skydiving Safety

Skydiving is known as a high risk, devil-may-care type of activity, and the people who participate in the sport are often categorized as adrenaline junkies with nothing to lose. While there are people who exit the airplane for those types of reasons, the vast majority of skydivers are here for a different type of experience. 

First of all, skydiving is a lot safer than you probably think it is. In fact, skydiving is statistically safer than something most people do every single day – driving a car! How do we know? Well, the United States Parachute Association (USPA) tracks the safety record of skydiving companies on an annual basis and reports the results publicly. 

Check out these numbers in 10-year increments that show that the number of annual jumps has consistently increased and the number of fatalities has decreased:

Year	Skydiving Fatalities in the U.S.	Estimated Annual Jumps	Fatalities Per 100,000 Jumps
2022	20	3.9 million	0.51
2012	19	3.1 million	0.61
2002	33	2.6 million	1.27

Keep in mind that these stats include all jumps – so, tandem jumps, student jumps, and jumps by licensed skydivers. You’ll likely be surprised to learn that the majority of skydiving fatalities occur within the licensed skydiver community when experienced jumpers push beyond their limits. And you’ll likely be thankful to learn that, considering a 10 year average, there is one fatality for every 500,000 tandem jumps annually. All things considered, those are very good odds. 

Skydiving Community: The People

The other major misconception about skydiving is that everyone who jumps out of an airplane is an adrenaline junkie. Sure, the shot of adrenaline is a perk of the experience (and can be quite addicting), but there are so many other reasons people make a jump and continue jumping.

Community is one of the best parts of skydiving culture. Ask any experienced jumper and they’ll tell you that one of the main reasons they stick around is for the people. There’s something about sharing an out of this world experience with like minded individuals that creates a bond unlike anything else. 

Skydiving also allows the people who enjoy it to aim for goals that are, quite literally, sky high. Where else can you push yourself so far out of your comfort zone that you are literally defying the laws of nature? 

Setting and achieving goals in the air flows over into every aspect of life. The self confidence and mental fortitude that comes with jumping out of an airplane changes you forever! 

The Benefits of Skydiving

Speaking of life changing, there are countless lasting benefits to making the leap. The confidence that comes from facing your fears and achieving goals will make you better everywhere from work to personal relationships. It’s suddenly a lot harder to feel stressed about something when you’ve launched yourself from an airplane mid-flight. 

On the lighter side of things, one of the benefits of skydiving is just that – the skydive! How many people can say they’ve jumped out of an airplane? The clout alone is reason enough to make the jump. 

And don’t forget the views! Long Island Skydiving Center offers a breathtaking sight of the scenic coastal waters and picturesque landscapes just outside of one of the biggest cities in the world. 

The freedom that you’ll experience while skydiving will permeate your life in the best ways! Are you ready to learn what skydiving is really all about? Come spend the day with us and find out!