Question about matching fall rate

Hello I am a newer skydiver with only 36 jumps...my exit weight is 200lbs and I fall pretty fast compared to most of the other people I jump with. The question I have is say we exit the aircraft with a dive exit (not linked) and are going to try to dock in the air. I have already fallen further than the other jumper but am doing my best to get big and slow my fall rate. Is it the job of the other jumper to get down to me or is there some skill I might not have yet that will help me get back up to the slower falling jumpers? When I jump with a coach or someone with quite a bit more skill we have no issue getting together and making the dock but with the other newer jumpers I am having a hell of a time making it happen. Any input would be great!

IMO, and I caveat this with the fact that I'm a fast faller, there's only so much range someone has to fall slower. You can get a baggier suit made in poly drill or another slow material but there are going to be limits to how slow you can fall and still be able to move around the sky.

It's much easier for someone to fall faster through arching , carrying weight, etc. so, if you're unable to fall together after doing what you can with suits and technique then the onus should be on the slower faller to do something to stay with you.

I've done some jumps recently with guys at my DZ and had no issues staying with them in their civilian clothes but, as soon as they put on their RW suits which had relatively slow material and big competition grips, there was no hope. Given the disparity in fall rate once they put those suits on, I think it's on them to either wear weight with those suits or change the suit to a faster falling option.

What helped me at the beginning of jumps with other people is to say who's the base. If you are the base - you just fall in the most relaxed & neutral way and the other jumper(s) try to get to you. If you don't specify who's the base you will be going up and down as everybody tries to slow down & speed up simultaneously.

Now you already know that you fall fast, so get baggier suit and make sure other jumpers on the dive know that you are fast faller so they can get skinnier suits and arch more.

I agree with the poster who stated that there's a limit to how slow you can fall, and that it's easier for someone to fall faster than to fall slower, especially if the faster faller still wants to be able to move with some sort of precision.  That's why the typical convention is that if the exit funnels, you go to the low person.

But I wouldn't think of this as whose "job" it is to match fall rate; rather, I'd frame the question as to what all parties can do to make the jump more successful.  The faster faller can get a baggier suit, the slower faller can get a tighter suit and/or wear weight.  Unless the disparity in fall rate is really that great (in which case you may just need to jump with other people), little tweaks like this should allow the jumpers to match fall rates and turn some points.

Watch Kinesthesia, The Art of Body Flight by Norman Kent and Guy Manos. It gives a progression of skills necessary to acquire before jumping with another new jumper. As mentioned by @wmw999, you can acquire these skills in a wind tunnel faster than you can making individual skydives.

Unlinked exits are particularly tricky and I recommend you exit as shown in the video, but, only AFTER going through the program with an experienced skydiver mentor/coach/instructor.

I had the opposite problem. I'm a 'feather-butt'. 

I had a very hard time keeping down with other jumpers at the beginning.

I jumped with 10# of dive weights in my pockets for a while. Although a definite 'crutch', it allowed me to be able to jump with others and stay with them without needing to be maxed out on my fall rate.
As I got better, I learned how to fall better (faster) and am now able to fall fast enough to keep up with almost anyone.

A friend and jump partner had your problem. He's a fairly heavy guy, and muscular, not fat. So he's pretty dense (from a physics point, not an intelligence one). 
He has gotten somewhat better at falling slower, but he needs to 'dress for success'. He needs a bigger, slower suit to not end up going low. Until he found the right suit (actually a couple different ones), he was low a lot. 

For now, I'd suggest finding jumpers who have the body type or the skills to be able to fly with you. As you progress, the range of fall rates you'll be able to jump with will grow along with your skills. 

Thank you all for your replies. These were all pretty much exactly how my thought process was going. I will definitely look into a baggier suit and try to talk through who will be the base and all the other great tips that were posted above. 

18 hours ago, BMAC615 said:

Watch Kinesthesia, The Art of Body Flight by Norman Kent and Guy Manos. It gives a progression of skills necessary to acquire before jumping with another new jumper. As mentioned by @wmw999, you can acquire these skills in a wind tunnel faster than you can making individual skydives.

Unlinked exits are particularly tricky and I recommend you exit as shown in the video, but, only AFTER going through the program with an experienced skydiver mentor/coach/instructor.

What a GREAT training video. thanks! 

What ever happened to the "Bat suit", I think that was it. Anyway, they offered a standardized fall rate jumpsuit. I owned one.

This is probable off subject but the topic reminded me.

18 hours ago, BMAC615 said:

Watch Kinesthesia, The Art of Body Flight by Norman Kent and Guy Manos. It gives a progression of skills necessary to acquire before jumping with another new jumper. As mentioned by @wmw999, you can acquire these skills in a wind tunnel faster than you can making individual skydives.

Unlinked exits are particularly tricky and I recommend you exit as shown in the video, but, only AFTER going through the program with an experienced skydiver mentor/coach/instructor.

I love how this sport has some parts of it that just work! The fact this video is still 100% relevant today is great. I have added it to my favorites to keep reviewing later. Thank you for your response.

23 hours ago, ST0RMTROOP3R said:

When I jump with a coach or someone with quite a bit more skill we have no issue getting together and making the dock but with the other newer jumpers I am having a hell of a time making it happen.

Ha! No surprise there. Did your AFF coach not ever use the hand signal for "fly better"?  Just remember to do that!

The major jumpsuit manufacturers know how to achieve a draggy RW suit with as little bagginess as possible. Don't just fill out an order form, make sure they know what you're trying to achieve to get their ideas. Type of fabric of course is important, and double layers, large diameter grippers on the outside of your legs (not the back of leg), along with inner leg grippers, knee padding, cordura for the booties and entire lower leg starting above the knee.  The first suit i bought from Tony Suit had all of the above and their swoop cords, which I only used twice, so it is an expensive option not likely to actually be used. Dual arm grips might be useful for extra drag without flappiness.

From my own experience as a big flyer, I would add one more thing:
I would not overdo it with the "slowing down". The problem is, that if you get used to constantly flying near the minimum fall rate you are capable of, you will develop a style that you will later have to unlearn, because it is not the most efficient and flexible style of flying, especially if you get into more competitive formation skydiving, such as 4-way or 8-way. Now, some of that may be unavoidable, and there will probably be multiple times, when you have to unlearn some things and update your flying style.
Nevertheless I think it's best if you mostly try to fly somewhere near the middle of your range and, if anything, try to increase your range in BOTH directions--which, as others have pointed out, is best achieved in a tunnel: For example, if you are currently most comfortable flying at 74% speed in the tunnel, but can fly between 72% and 76%: Don't just try to get to 64%. Instead try to increase your range to be able to fly between 68% and 80%, etc.
That way, when you DO fly with really slow fallers, you can match them, but you'll be aware that you are flying on the low end of your speed--rather than just unconsciously adopting an extra-slow flying style.
Ultimately, in teams, the slower fallers will wear weights. The only way the faster fallers should probably adjust to the slower ones is by loosing weight! 
...but for beginners, wearing weights is not a good idea, because of canopy loading--so don't ask them to do it...yet!

Suits will definitely help. A little bit of extra fabric between the upper arms and body can greatly help. I got my first RW suit, by talking to Bev from BEV Suits, and 400 jumps later it still works great. tony suits is a bit more expensive and takes much longer to get, but everyone says they are absolutely excellent.

Anyway, just wanted to add that.

19 hours ago, mbohu said:

From my own experience as a big flyer, I would add one more thing:
I would not overdo it with the "slowing down". The problem is, that if you get used to constantly flying near the minimum fall rate you are capable of, you will develop a style that you will later have to unlearn, because it is not the most efficient and flexible style of flying, especially if you get into more competitive formation skydiving, such as 4-way or 8-way. Now, some of that may be unavoidable, and there will probably be multiple times, when you have to unlearn some things and update your flying style.
Nevertheless I think it's best if you mostly try to fly somewhere near the middle of your range and, if anything, try to increase your range in BOTH directions--which, as others have pointed out, is best achieved in a tunnel: For example, if you are currently most comfortable flying at 74% speed in the tunnel, but can fly between 72% and 76%: Don't just try to get to 64%. Instead try to increase your range to be able to fly between 68% and 80%, etc.
That way, when you DO fly with really slow fallers, you can match them, but you'll be aware that you are flying on the low end of your speed--rather than just unconsciously adopting an extra-slow flying style.
Ultimately, in teams, the slower fallers will wear weights. The only way the faster fallers should probably adjust to the slower ones is by loosing weight! 
...but for beginners, wearing weights is not a good idea, because of canopy loading--so don't ask them to do it...yet!

Suits will definitely help. A little bit of extra fabric between the upper arms and body can greatly help. I got my first RW suit, by talking to Bev from BEV Suits, and 400 jumps later it still works great. tony suits is a bit more expensive and takes much longer to get, but everyone says they are absolutely excellent.

Anyway, just wanted to add that.

Thank you for that point of view. I agree that if I really want to "get good" I need to spend some time in the tunnel...now how to convince the wife to up my allowance haha J/K

19 hours ago, ST0RMTROOP3R said:

Thank you for that point of view. I agree that if I really want to "get good" I need to spend some time in the tunnel...now how to convince the wife to up my allowance haha J/K

Tunnel time is very helpful for honing freefall skills. But it's not the same thing as jumping. 

Thoughts for your pleas to your wife:

Get a group together and share the cost of block time and coaching (at your level, coaching is vital). Compare the cost of the time with the cost of freefall when jumping (at one minute per jump, plus gear rental if you're doing that). 

Invite her to join. Even if she has no desire to jump (which is pretty typical), tunnel is lots of fun. If you can get her to try the tunnel, she may find it's fun enough that she would do it again. 

Make sure she understands that more/better skills make you a better and safer jumper. This training isn't just for fun. It improves your 'survivability'. 

Kinesthesia was a great training video in the early 90s.  Skydive 100: Basic Body Flight was also terrific.  Produced by Tom Piras and Rob Laidlaw of Skydive University in DeLand, their video was supplemented by an excellent, comprehensive workbook that breaks down the fundamentals of relative work (formation skydiving) into easily digested, modular building blocks for study, ground and aerial exercises.  If you can't find a copy online, you might contact Skydive U for information.  First-class coaching program to help you transition from recent A-license to safe, skilled formation skydiver.

1 hour ago, WV177RG said:

Kinesthesia was a great training video in the early 90s.  Skydive 100: Basic Body Flight was also terrific.  Produced by Tom Piras and Rob Laidlaw of Skydive University in DeLand, their video was supplemented by an excellent, comprehensive workbook that breaks down the fundamentals of relative work (formation skydiving) into easily digested, modular building blocks for study, ground and aerial exercises.  If you can't find a copy online, you might contact Skydive U for information.  First-class coaching program to help you transition from recent A-license to safe, skilled formation skydiver.

 

Totally agree about Skydive 100! I just haven’t been able to find it on YouTube.