With tracking growing in popularity, there is even more demand than ever for TR coaches. The aim of this post is to outline the general steps you can take to become a TR coach; it’s worth noting that every coach’s personal journey is different, but this should help you plan your own route.
If you’ve got any questions on becoming a coach and coaching at Langar, please speak to Laura Hampton in the first instance on Facebook or laura.hampton@skydivelangar.co.uk.
The TR stickers
There are three TR stickers that skydivers can aspire to:
TR1
TR1 is the first tracking sticker and requires skydivers to:
a. Fly in a tracking position without noticeable change in fall rates or ‘loss of heading’
b. Fly in a controlled tracking position relative to others in groups of no more than 4
c. Control fall rate in a tracking position
d. Safely control directional ability upon break off and have a fully deployed main canopy by 3000ft AGL
TR2
TR2 is the second tracking sticker and requires skydivers to:
a. Fly in a tracking position without noticeable change in fall rates or ‘loss of heading’ utilising another TR Parachutist as a guide for directional control
b. Fly in a controlled tracking position relative to others in groups of no more than 4
c. Control fall rate in a tracking position
d. Safely control directional ability upon break off and have a fully deployed main canopy by 3000ft AGL
TR3
TR3 is the third tracking sticker and requires the skydiver to:
a. Fly in a ‘belly to earth’ and ‘back to earth’ tracking position of more than 45 degrees without noticeable change in fall rates or ‘loss of heading’ utilising another TR3 parachutist as a guide for directional control
b. Control fall rate whilst in an angle flying position greater than 45 degrees
c. Control angled flight of angles greater than 45 degrees relative to others within the group, of no more than 4
d. Safely control directional ability upon break off and have a fully deployed main canopy by 3000ft AGL
Who can learn to track?
According to the British Skydiving Tracking Manual, a skydiver needs to be able to do the following before they can learn to track:
- Control fall rate and turn in place
- Dive and approach a target and achieve docking techniques
- Break-off turn and track away to obtain clear airspace for deployment
- Maintain good altitude awareness throughout the skydive
- Control horizontal movement (forwards, backwards and sideways)
Fortunately for us, we don’t need to go and jump with the student to test their skills on all these things, as they are all part of FS1! That means anyone with FS1 can learn to track.
There are also considerations around equipment and conditions that needs to be taken into account; check out the Tracking Manual for more detail.
Who can coach tracking?
In order to teach others to track safely and well, you have to be able to do those things yourself. Makes sense, right?
And while tracking might seem a fairly simple skill (after all, we first teach it during AFF level 6), there’s a lot more to being a good tracker than first meets the eye.
Below are the British Skydiving requirements, which are very much a minimum. After that are some general tips on how to improve your own TR skills – and as noted already, your own journey will be personal to you and requires you to get to a point of being very good at TR yourself before you can teach others.
British Skydiving Requirements
The following are the minimum requirements laid out by British Skydiving:
Basic Tracking Coach
A basic tracking coach can coach others in small groups up to and including TR2. According to British Skydiving, the requirements to become a Basic TR Coach are:
- Hold TR2 or equivalent
- Have a minimum of 300 descents and 3 hours Freefall time
- Have been involved in Sports Parachuting for a minimum of 2 years
- Be at least a;
- Category System Basic Instructor, or
- Has attended a Sportscoach UK Course on ‘Coaching Methods and Communication’ or
- Has specific teaching or coaching qualifications, or
- Has attended a Methods of Instruction lecture, given by a BPA Advanced Instructor, or
- Has attended a Military Methods of Instruction Course
- Is fully familiar with the Tracking Manual
Tracking Coach
A tracking coach can coach others in small groups up to and including TR3. According to British Skydiving, the requirements to become a Tracking Coach are:
- Hold TR3 or equivalent
- Have a minimum of 300 descents and 3 hours Freefall time
- Have been involved in Sports Parachuting for a minimum of 2 years
- Be at least a
- Category System Basic Instructor or
- Has attended a Sportscoach UK Course on ‘Coaching Methods and Communication’ or
- Has specific teaching or coaching qualifications, or
- Has attended a Methods of Instruction lecture, given by a BPA Advanced Instructor, or
- Has attended a Military Methods of Instruction Course
- Is fully familiar with the Tracking Manual
Commit to developing your own skills
The upshot of all of the above is that you need to be a skilled tracker before you can coach tracking. That means you need to invest in yourself, gaining the skills you need to be a consistent, reliable and skilled tracker, able to track in groups and having achieved either TR2 or TR3 depending on which rating you seek.
The way you choose to do this will be dependent on your own personal situation and existing skillset. However, these tips are worth considering (and assume you have TR2 or 3 already):
- Become a consistent, reliable and effective tracker
You need to be on your top game in tracking to be able to coach others to do it. That means being able to fly slot in belly and back to a high level, and to be able to keep with other trackers in groups.
- Go on TR skills camps
There are TR skills camps all over the world, all through the year. Many take place in the UK but if you’re willing to travel, there are also loads you can attend across Europe and beyond.
The more diverse the groups you track with, the better your own skills will become. Test yourself in different situations, learn from the setbacks along the way as well as the wins. Be coached by different people and take note of the coaching techniques you like, and those you don’t. This will all be essential in helping you find your own style.
It’ll also solidify your TR skills. You want to be in a position where you can deal with pretty much anything, whether it’s fast, slow, flat, steep… you should be a proficient tracker before you consider yourself ready to teach others.
Check out upcoming events at Langar on our Facebook page here.
- Get involved in TR groups at Langar
It doesn’t have to be a formal event for TR to be happening at Langar. Get involved in the TR scene by joining tracking groups and where appropriate, put yourself forward to load organise them (speak to Laura if you have any queries about this).
Tracking with other coaches is always a good way to improve your skills. It’s important when teaching anything to stay relevant in it yourself and that means doing fun TR jumps – who better to do it with than other coaches who can help you improve along the way?
- Develop your FF skills
TR may have become its own discipline with its own stickers but it can still trace its roots back to freeflying. If you’ve been in the sport for more than just a few years, you will remember a time when TR stickers didn’t exist and instead, it was FF1 and FF2 that you needed to be able to track well.
That means it’s well worth continuing to invest in your own FF skills, noting that those skills go very much hand in hand with those of a tracker. The sky and the tunnel are great tools for this.
The desire to teach others
While some people might describe coaching as ‘free jumps’ because your slot is covered by your student, the reality is that it’s really hard work.
The preparation, the briefing, the jumping, the debriefing, the constant reflection on and refinement of your own skills, the mental agility needed to adapt your style and content to your student, the tough times when the student isn’t progressing, the happiness when they are, the demands on your time while on the DZ… there’s a whole lot happening!
Show your commitment (and build your skills) by taking newly qualified trackers up for jumps and showing them a good example of how it should be done. This is a great way to practice coaching in a safe manner and will position you positively as someone who wants to help others learn TR.
The key to being successful is that you have to really want to do it. You have to be passionate about TR and want to teach others. If you’re not committed to hard work, it’s probably not for you.
How do you know you’re ready to be a coach?
Becoming a TR coach can be a long journey. That’s because the skills required to do it well take time to earn and can only be achieved through hard work and dedication. There are many benefits to becoming a TR coach but first, you need to be great at TR.
The same is true in any discipline, so be sure to take the time to do jumps in the discipline you want to coach. When you’re consistently staying with groups, able to fly solid in a range of slots and confident in your understanding of TR, you might be ready to take that next step. We’re here to help you along the way.
Ready to become a coach? Practical steps to take
- Write your lesson plans; you’ll need these to plan what you are teaching and also to show our coaching trainers what you’ve got prepared
- Shadow existing coaches; you’ll learn a lot from watching how other people teach
- Attend ‘coach the coaches’ including a methods of instruction brief; the purpose of this is to prepare you to teach effectively
- Be evaluated; our coaching trainers will evaluate your ability to teach TR lessons and jump with you to check your flying skills
Benefits of TR coaching at Langar
As a coach at Langar, you can earn the title of Progression School Coach, which rewards quality and currency of coaching by giving you benefits in return for a successful evaluation of your skills, followed by further benefits after 50 coached jumps and 100 coached jumps.
To find out more about the Progression School, check out this blog post.
To talk about becoming a tracking coach at Langar, contact Laura Hampton on Facebook or laura.hampton@skydivelangar.co.uk in the first instance.