The Taihiko Trade is the name given to a simple yet seldom used idea to improve your freeflying. Trade coaching for coaching.
We do one dive that's all about you, whatever you want to work on, and whatever I can do to help facilitate that for you, and then we do another dive that's all about me, whatever I want to work on, and whatever you can do to help me. It's almost ridiculously simple, but it's a great way to push yourself to try new things. You won't be worried about "messing up someone else's dive" and you can focus on what you want to learn how to do. It's an effective, relatively inexpensive, and fun way to learn how to freefly. For example: I have a friend who is a great sitflyer and wants to work on his headdown. He needs to have whole dives where he's on his head trying to control it. What can he do?
While this concept is extremely simple, there are a few rules that make it more fun.
If somebody offers to trade coaching with you, and you don’t want to for any reason, then politely decline. Being a member of the club does not obligate you to make deals you don’t want to make. The idea is simply to facilitate the communication, uncover coincidence of wants, and help everybody have more fun and productive skydives.
You're going to have to be humble and willing to listen to what others have to say about your skill level. It doesn't matter what you think about your proficiency, only what your partner thinks. You may think you're proficient in a sit and offer to coach someone on a sit dive in exchange for whatever. But if they don't think your sit is strong enough to pull off the coach's role, no deal.
Belly flyers are welcome. It's all freeflying to us. I personally would be happy to work with a belly flyer who wants to learn to sitfly or lead a tracking dive. I would simply ask that on the next dive, the belly flyer lay a belly base while I practice backflying or lead me as a tracking base. I imagine that I'm not alone.
My hope is that this system provides newer jumpers with: * a safe method for building skills * an inexpensive program for building skills * more opportunities to jump with experienced flyers * an organized system for doing 2 ways with other newer jumpers Even if selling yourself as a coach is tough in the beginning, I believe that you'll get much more productive, quality air time with this program than you would just figuring it out on your own. Your best bet will be to locate other jumpers who want to work on the belly to belly dives. Get proficient on your belly and belly track. Then be on the lookout for more experienced jumpers who want to work on back tracking or back flying. Offer to trade coaching with these guys and gals.
The dives that are all about you are a chance for you to work on those things that you simply cannot do currently.
I never do this, but I should. This is just a little protection for the coach that goes first. Ultimately, the coach is then going to turn right back around and buy the student a slot as the roles reverse, so it's a wash. But if the student who goes first never gets around to doing his part as coach, then at least the coach who went first got a free slot. This is more of a guideline than a rule. You don't absolutely have to do this, but if you don't, then the coach who goes first is taking on a little risk. We SOI Tahiko Traders have not been doing this. We've all been buying our own slots because it's more convenient, and we all trust each other.
Surprise answer - it's OK. As long as: * The student is ok with it * The dive remains completely focused on the student and the skills the student wants to build * It is safe Case study: I'm getting coaching from Matt Hill. He's going to lay a belly track base for me and I'm going to fly relative to him on my back. Jim Adams wants to tag along. Of course Jim can come! It has to remain all about me and what I want to work on, but I have no problem sharing my base with Jim. Case study: I'm coaching a neophyte headdowner. Most people won't want to join this dive. If someone less than awesome asks to join, I'd say no. Maybe if Mr. Awesome is the only other freeflier on the plane and wants to join - if it's OK with the student, and it's safe, then OK. But the dive has to remain totally all about the student. This guy wants to learn headdown, and this is his jump, so by golly he's going to try and fly on his head. Now let's take out a 3 way headdown round... But if somebody less than very talented wants to join. Sorry, not safe.
If your first reaction is to think that you don't have anything to offer as a coach, you're probably wrong. Can you lay a sit base? Then I'd be willing to take you out on your head in exchange for that. Can you fly a belly base while I backfly? Then I'll teach you to back track or sitfly in exchange for that. By the way, you actually learn more than you might think by playing the role of coach.
Feel free to horse trade with anybody in the club whenever the coincidence of wants and skills is present. However, you can refuse an invitation for any reason and nobody can question you. If you don't want to trade with anybody but your one buddy, then you don't have to. If you and your buddy want to use the club dive ideas and other materials - no problem.
Figure out what you'd like to learn how to do. If it's a new body position, get the page with the appropriate solos, and if you haven't successfully performed those solos - do them till you can. Then, find somebody you trust at your DZ that you'd like to have coach you, and approach them with an offer to make them a "Tahiko Trade." They'll ask what that is. Tell them you'll make a dive with them that's all about them - whatever he/she wants to work on and whatever you can do to facilitate it. In exchange, all you want is to do a 2nd dive together that's all about you - whatever you want to work on and whatever they can do to help.
You can also print out the materials here on this site. This "What the Heck is Tahiko?" page currently seems to print ok in landscape format. I know that's crap that it doesn't print right in portrait, but this whole website is kinda amateurish. I've got alot going on. One day I'll overhaul the whole kit and kaboodle to make it look eyepoppingly porfessional (mispelled on purpose) but I'm more interested in getting the content right.
Everyone learns. Everyone wins.
And that's it! You don't have to pay lots of money for coaching, SOI can save for the new hanger, you get a bunch of coaching, and you get to help others. I get to create a network of people who want to learn this way, use it myself, and I get to put to good use all these coaching materials I've gathered and created.