You’re a skydiver. You’re not the type to spend weekends on the couch snacking on potato chips. You push limits. You set goals. You know how to achieve them.

But do you know how to draw the line behind you?

When pushing limits, there are times when we go too far. Knowing how to learn from those experiences—and having the humility to step back—is literally a matter of life and death.

What is “drawing the line?”

Akin to drawing a line in the sand, every jumper should establish personal limits for various situations. Take, for example, your personal wind limit. Since there is no regulated limit on wind speed for licensed jumpers, every licensed skydiver should have a maximum wind speed in mind, and may even want to write it in their logbook. Many jumpers also set a gust spread limit, such as a 10-mph difference between the low and high wind speeds. This is drawing a line. Other lines you might draw include the size of canopy you jump, how many jumps you make in a day before fatiguing, when you do or don’t turn to the next load and the number of skydivers in your group jump.

Where do you draw the line?

Where did this line come from? Did you set your personal limit based on advice from experienced and trusted mentors? Did you set it based on your success with that particular situation so far? Or perhaps you witnessed someone else endure a bad outcome and decided to learn from their mistake? Or did you, by chance, set it based on your own bad experience, realizing you reached your maximum capacity for handling that situation?

The best way to draw a line is to base it on your current knowledge, successful experience and comfortable skill level. Your personal limit should not be the absolute maximum level you are capable of handling. It should be set at a point that allows room for error and accounts for unpredictable factors. We rarely operate at maximum capacity, so having a built-in cushion is critical for those times when you find yourself unintentionally over your line.

How do you know you’ve gone too far?

As curious creatures, once we draw a line, we are likely to approach it and eventually intentionally cross it. This incremental discovery of our personal abilities is part of the human adventure. Without that drive to push boundaries, none of us would have learned to walk as toddlers.

However, simply crossing that line without suffering injury does not mean you should immediately allow yourself a greater limit. Chalking up all successes as signals that you are now skilled enough to expand to a new normal will set you up for drawing a line well beyond what is reasonable and incremental. This also creates an insatiable pursuit of “what’s next?!” and devalues mastery.

It is easy to feel invincible after “getting away with it.” You might even convince yourself you meant to do it. However, these close calls, if ignored or miscategorized as growth, can accumulate into a false sense of competence. Especially if someone you trust says, “Wow, that scared me,” take it seriously as a sign you have gone too far.

How do you get back behind the line?

A jumper is most likely to hold the line when the experience they set up matches their abilities. Once you have drawn the line, it should be immovable in the moment. You should not shift it as you go; it should be set before the jump, not during it. Accidental crossings might sometimes lead to discovery if you are open to learning from them. But more often than not, crossing your line puts you at greater risk. While some may turn these experiences into boastful bonfire stories, the wise ones turn them into opportunities to draw the line behind them. That means, you should be open to not only keeping your line where it was before you accidentally crossed it, but perhaps choosing an even more conservative personal limit.

Redrawing the Line

Skydiving culture often glorifies those who push the envelope. However, when you are willing to draw the line behind you, you create a safer and more sustainable approach to skydiving. What once seemed challenging becomes easier, so redrawing your line in front of you after an honest evaluation of your abilities is a natural part of growth. Ultimately, the process of drawing your lines takes time, introspection, openness to advice and, most importantly, the understanding that lines sometimes have to be redrawn behind you instead of in front of you.

Jen Sharp, Ph.D. | D-17516
AFF, Tandem and Coach Examiner Rating Course Director