Forward and backward movement in freefall: how legs and arms move you horizontally, why stopping matters more than starting, and what DFV and USPA require.
The honest answer up front: in freefall you move forward by extending your legs, and you brake or go back by briefly taking your arms forward and pushing slightly down [2]. The basic movement needs nothing more. The art is not taking off but stopping cleanly.
The principle is simple: extended legs create more drag in the rear half of the body, your lower body lifts into the wind and you tilt slightly head-low. The USPA describes exactly this: the added drag at the back lifts the lower body, and the tilted attitude sends you forward [1]. You already feel it in a small dose when you extend your legs for three seconds [1].
The guide explains the basic idea and the associations' standards. It does not replace training. You practise with a coach or in the wind tunnel, not alone.
From neutral you extend your legs smoothly with pointed toes, arms stay neutral. You hold for three seconds and return to neutral [1]. That teaches you what your legs do to your body. Milestone: you feel the legs pushing you forward and can abort without losing your position.
For real forward movement you extend both legs. That tilts you slightly head-low and starts the forward motion. The arms stay neutral, and you correct heading with arms or legs [2].
Before the desired stopping point you return to neutral. The momentum from the start carries you on, like a car that keeps rolling after you lift off the gas [2]. In this phase you assess speed and distance to time the stop [2].
To stop you briefly extend both arms forward and push slightly down. That produces a backward movement. The legs stay neutral [2]. In category H the USPA describes a similar stop position for larger distances: arms forward, flatten the arch, lower the knees slightly [3]. Milestone: you stop at arm's length from your target without sliding in.
In the DFV manual controlled forward movement is optional in level V: altitude check, legs longer, arms shorter if necessary, and to stop neutral position, if necessary legs shorter and arms longer [4]. It is the same idea: legs push, arms brake.
This explains and motivates, it does not replace supervised training. Horizontal movement with other jumpers in the air is a collision topic.
If your stop comes too late, do not panic into a huge movement. For too much speed the USPA says: start the stop earlier and more firmly, and if you flew past the target, return to the right level with the up-down movement [3]. So you fix height and distance separately, never both at once.
You extend your legs with pointed toes and keep your arms neutral [1][2]. The added drag at the back lifts your lower body, your body tilts slightly head-low and you fly forward [1].
With arms briefly extended forward and a slight push down, legs staying neutral [2]. That gives a backward movement. For larger distances the USPA uses a similar position with a flattened arch and slightly lowered knees [3].
The USPA introduces leg work in category B and forward movement to docking in category G [1][2]. In the DFV manual controlled forward movement is optional in level V [4].
No. Here we mean the short backward movement of the stop. Back fly is flying on your back and a skill of its own. How you learn back flying is in the back fly guide.
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