Pulling both steering lines evenly just above the ground: the angle of attack rises, sink rate and forward speed drop — the approach turns into a landing.
No other single action in the sport decides as much. A Swedish study put 87.9 percent of injuries in canopy flight and landing, against 2.7 percent in freefall — and a Dutch review covering 25 years and roughly 2.1 million jumps names incorrect flare timing as the most frequently documented cause of landing injuries. Flare too early and the canopy climbs briefly, then drops you hard; flare too late and nothing slows you at all. What gets passed around as a fixed number isn't one: beginner briefings quote roughly three to four metres above ground as a guide, but the real height shifts with canopy, wing loading and wind. That is why the timing is coached from the ground — and why the parachute landing fall stays the fallback whenever sink or forward speed run high.