The Social Benefits Of Skydiving 

In a world where digital connections overshadow face-to-face interactions, skydiving stands out as a unique exception. Skydiving has to be done in person (hehe) and offers a wealth of social advantages. 

The social benefits of a physical activity, like skydiving, are infinite. Curious about how skydiving can change your life? Keep reading to discover the impact of flying through the big blue sky! 

Making Friends

There are many social benefits of being physically active, most significantly: an awesome sense of community, and the skydiving community is no exception. As we get older, it becomes more difficult to cultivate meaningful friendships – it’s a good thing skydiving breaks the ice for us!

The social benefits of sports go far beyond just meeting new people. They allow us to truly foster friendships that enable us to grow into the best versions of ourselves and reach our full potential. Through a shared sense of achievement, crushing pre-set limits, and supportive critique, the friends we make from skydiving are unmatched. 

How do we know the skydiving community is the best of the best? Because skydivers come to the dropzone to just hang out. That’s right, if the weather is iffy or a jumper isn’t up for sending it that day, it’s common for them to still come and join in on the fun from the sidelines. The intentionality and effort that skydivers show to make the community embody everything good is RARE.

Increased Confidence

There are a plethora of ways skydiving gives us a confidence boost, here’s our top three: 

1. Conquering fears. Skydiving presents the unique opportunity to stare fear right in the face and show it who’s boss. It gives you the chance to take full autonomy and say “YES” to discovering your best self. 
2. Learning. Skydivers live by the motto: The learning never stops. This means that regardless of having multiple years in the sport and thousands of jumps, there is always more to learn. When we learn from mistakes and start crushing skills that once intimidated us (especially while being supported by friends!), our confidence grows exponentially. 
3. Acceptance. Skydiving is for the misfits, the outliers, the cool kids, and the wallflowers. The skydiving community as a whole prides itself on making everyone feel accepted as they are. The reassurance that you’re perfect just the way you are is a hug for your confidence!

Leadership Skills

Skydivers are immensely passionate about sharing the mental beauty of the sport with others. As skydivers progress and gain knowledge in the sport, they’re able to share that knowledge with others. By meeting various qualifications, such as a minimum number of jumps, skydivers can achieve USPA ratings, like Coach and Instructor. 

These ratings ignite leadership attributes, contributing to growth for leaders and followers, alike. Ya know how they say you don’t understand something until you can effectively teach it? This rings true in the world of skydiving. Not only must skydivers understand why they do what they do, but they have to be able to demonstrate that to others. 

Better Communication Skills

An increase in effective communication is a benefit of skydiving that immediately becomes evident in other areas of life! It is critical that skydivers correctly convey their intentions with and without verbal language. For example: While under the parachute, skydivers can communicate with one another by kicking their legs when they see another near their airspace. When this is done, the one being kicked at engages and kicks back. This allows each jumper to know that the other is aware of their position in the sky – this communication can prevent canopy collisions! 

Communicating with other skydivers, packers, pilots, and ground crew is necessary for safety to be at the forefront of skydiving operations – which is something we ALWAYS prioritize as #1! When something is not properly portrayed, it has to be reiterated until it’s understood – this repetition and adjustment in communication style allows skydivers to improve their communication skills for use on and off the dropzone. 

Increased Accountability 

Growth happens when we mess up and take accountability. We wish there was a less emotionally painful way, but that’s just the fact! Whether you misplaced an SD card, tripped over someone’s lines while they were packing, or did something more serious like cut someone off in the landing pattern (come on, man!), it’s critical to own your mistake. Skydivers are forgiving people, which makes this easy. 

Learning how to take accountability in a learning-oriented setting will transcend into other areas of life, making you a more well-rounded person. See? Skydivers aren’t a bunch of crazy people, we’re very self-aware! 

Does Skydiving Make You Happy? 

Can skydiving cure depression? Well … we aren’t doctors, but skydivers have coined the phrase: Skydiving is cheaper than therapy. 

Whoever said skydiving can’t buy happiness has never been skydiving! Alright, alright, hang on, we’re putting our emotionally serious hats on. Skydiving is a combination of physical activity, mental toughness, and supportive people. The mental benefits that are directly related to the social aspect of skydiving are immeasurable, and we think it contributes to happiness. 

When we skydive, our brains release dopamine and serotonin, and when this happens in a persistently encouraging environment, can it get any better? Does skydiving help depression? We aren’t exactly sure how, but we sure think so. 

Ready to discover the social benefits of skydiving for yourself? Come check it out! We can’t wait to have you.