Fall rate control in freefall: how body position makes you fall faster or slower so you stay level with others, and what the USPA requires of you.
The honest answer up front: your fall rate is the speed at which you fall, and you change it through body position [2]. Whoever jumps with others has to adjust it so everyone stays at the same level. Fall too fast and you shoot past the group. Fall too slowly and you hang above it.
As a rule of thumb the USPA uses an average terminal velocity of 120 mph (about 190 km/h), roughly as fast as a fast train [1]. The first 1,000 ft take about 10 seconds while you accelerate, each further 1,000 ft about 5 seconds [1]. In the literature the vertical speed range in the sport is given as 110 to 500 km/h depending on the discipline [5].
For beginners, fall rate control is a matter of safety: according to the USPA the speed differences between two jumpers can exceed 150 mph [6]. This guide explains the basic idea and the standards. You practise with a coach or in the wind tunnel.
Everything starts in the neutral position: hips forward, legs slightly extended, arms relaxed [2]. From here you go down (faster) or up (slower). Milestone: you can hold neutral for 10 seconds without rising or sinking, measured by how your coach moves relative to you.
The USPA describes it like this: you push your hips forward, raise your chin and lift your shoulders and knees to spill air [2]. That makes you narrower and you fall faster. You do it only until you are level. Then back to neutral.
To fall slower you make yourself wider: round your spine, knees wide and low, round shoulders and chest, extend your arms and push them slightly down. Your legs stay neutral [2]. You catch more air and sink more slowly.
As with turning, you begin the movement (start), return to neutral and let the momentum run (coast), and if needed you stop with the opposite movement (stop) [2]. Whoever stays in the movement overshoots the target. Milestone: after a level adjustment you remain calmly at your coach's level.
In category G the USPA requires that from a distance of 6 ft (about 1.8 m) you get to the coach's level both up and down, each with start-coast-stop. After that you dock with a level adjustment of 5 ft (about 1.5 m) [2]. Later you learn to match the fall rates of others for a whole skydive by adjusting your neutral position [2].
This explains and motivates, it does not replace supervised training. With other jumpers in the air, practising without a coach is taboo.
Change your fall rate with the chest, not with the arms alone. When going up the USPA describes a "bowl shape" (rounding shoulders and chest) and when going down lifting shoulders and knees [2]. Whoever moves the chest deliberately changes fall rate cleanly without overusing the arms. This is also the basis for later disciplines in which the hands have jobs (practical experience).
Fall rate is the speed at which you fall, and it can be raised or lowered through body position [2]. As a rule of thumb the USPA uses 120 mph, about 190 km/h, for belly-to-earth freefall [1].
You become faster with a narrower position: hips forward, chin up, shoulders and knees lifted. Slower with more area: round the spine, knees wide, round the chest, arms slightly down [2]. You should practise this with a coach.
In USPA training it comes in category G, where you get to the coach's level from 6 ft away, both up and down [2]. In the DFV system fall-rate adjustment techniques belong to instructor training [4].
Yes. According to the USPA a tight suit raises the fall rate, a loose one slows it [3]. Especially for group jumps this is a reason to agree on the suit with your coach.
Flying Forward and Backward in Freefall