Point, Outside Center, Inside Center, Tail: how the four slots on a four-way team work, what keying means and how points get scored.
Why does every four-way team have the same four roles, no matter who's jumping? The honest answer: because competitive formation skydiving works by slot — every position has a fixed job, regardless of who fills it.
The four slots are called Point, Outside Center, Inside Center and Tail. Point usually forms the tip of the formation and often handles solo moves. Inside Center sits centrally, has the best overview and usually handles keying — the signal for when the team moves to the next formation. Tail, together with Point, regulates the formation's axis.
And then there's the fifth person on the team who's rarely mentioned: the camera flyer. They fly solo alongside the team, have to keep the whole formation in frame, and are judged too — a discipline within the discipline.
In competition, every second counts: a four-way team gets exactly 35 seconds of working time from exit at 10,500 feet to build as many dive-pool formations as possible. 35 seconds — barely longer than it takes you to take one deep breath in and out. Up to 5–6 formations have to land in that window.
Point forms the tip and often handles solo moves in blocks. Outside Center is Point's piece partner and frequently turns outward. Inside Center sits centrally and usually sets the pace of the jump. Tail, together with Point, keeps the formation's axis stable.
Someone on the team has to decide when the next formation starts. Usually Inside Center does this, because that position has the best overview. Without clear keying, four people build four different formations at the same time.
From the exit at 10,500 feet, 35 seconds run. After that, every correctly built formation counts: one point for a random, up to two for a complete block. A team that knows the order by heart doesn't waste time thinking.
Formations are judged from video footage, evaluated independently by at least three judges. An incorrectly or incompletely built formation doesn't count — precision beats speed. Over a competition's ten rounds, a team accumulates its total score this way.
Experienced teams have their members regularly swap slots, even outside competition. Anyone who's flown Inside Center once understands afterward why Point flies certain moves the way they do.
Clear slot assignment is also a safety matter: knowing where you should be relative to the others prevents unplanned closeness. Talk through the order of planned formations out loud before every jump, not just in your head.
If confusion happens mid-jump: better to skip a formation and hold distance than fly uncontrolled into an already-occupied slot. This rule applies equally to every position, regardless of how much experience you bring to the team.
Watch the video together after every training jump — not just to find mistakes, but to see how the other three experience your own slot. That outside perspective often changes more than ten additional jumps would. Say out loud what you simply couldn't see from your own slot — those blind spots are usually what cost the most points in competition, far more than any single technical imperfection.
Point, Outside Center, Inside Center and Tail. Each position has a fixed job: Point forms the tip, Inside Center usually sets the pace, Tail and Point together regulate the formation's axis.
The signal for when the team moves to the next formation. Usually Inside Center handles it, because that position has the best overview of the whole team.
35 seconds from the exit at 10,500 feet — in that time, as many formations as possible have to be built correctly.
From video footage, evaluated by at least three independent judges. A random counts one point, a complete block up to two — only correctly built formations count.
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