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Does anyone have any good advice on running exits? I very rarely do them but occasionally it would be really useful and I'd like to be more confident at them. I have a lovely 360 ft jump which is perfect for practicing - I just always loose my bottle when it comes to it! I get worried about missing my footing on the edge and going arse over tit.

Do you still launch on your final step or just carry on running?
Do you pace out the run-up?

Thanks,

Gus

There was article about running exits at ABA while ago. You could try to find it.

Like most things, practice makes perfect.

Stability on a low jump is, in my opinion, more important than a super fast running launch. Both of those, of course, would be ideal.

In general, the harder you are running, the more you are going to tend to rotate head down. To compensate, you'll probably need to launch even more head high.

It's very easy to practice running exits into a swimming pool--even without a diving board,

Pace out your steps, keep your head up, eyes focused on a focal point just like a poised exit and launch on the last step.

At least that's the way I do it.

Considering my low number of jumps I have a quite a few running exits. I never pace it out and while watching those that do...... not many actually hit it that way.

I practiced them over and over off the 5 metre tower at the pool and still do occasionally. Tom's right on the head high thing for sure. I think pacing messes up the average person. It is not too likely you will blow it and miss your footing because you know if it wasn't a BASE jump you could easily do it. Start small 2-3 steps working up from there.

360ft is not for practicing IMO. It is for performing. "Loosing" your bottle is the right thing.
Try some slider up up/trackability jumps for practice.
That being said...

Never pace your steps for a true running exit. It puts your attention directly on foot placement which will more than likely cause one to go head down because of your 20 pound head is in front of the body. Just run until you know that you can leap past the edge, focusing on the vector you wish to take

Trying to short step so you can have your last step on or very near the edge will decelerate your lower body and your upper body will rotate fwd.
Some degree of sucking up the knees to the counter the rotation of your head down will be needed.

The physics of running deem that you are falling head first and your feet must compensate to keep you at that inclination. Though running exits are one of my favs, They are very difficult for me to nail non rotationally. I've not looped one but I have been vertical head high and low once or twice out of maybe 60 running exits and have nailed the absolute IMO non rotational once or twice.
I hope this helps.
take care,
space

just run off proud

you got it bro

run off of there like carl lewis and dont even worry about going head down... I dont get why people fear this so much, if it starts to happen, just put your arms way forward palms down grabbing the air to stop the forward rotation, it works great even in low airspeeds espcially with any sort of longsleeves.

i see people so scared about going head down that they exit all strangely head up and have off headers that way and weak launches etc...

others refuse to look down because they think that brings them head low and then they miss out on all kinds of nice ground rush and even altitude awareness.

here is the thing... your body will always want to go head down, that is just the way it works, you gotta just find balance in it and be comfy and capable of countering it if it really is going further than the amount of degrees you are comfortable with.

being a little bit head low when the harness catches you is no big deal as long as you remain symettrical and that is hard to do if you are panicking.

dont think too much, just run off with confidence, and yeah, be enthusastic with that last step

gus:
I have a lovely 360 ft jump which is perfect for practicing. Does anyone have any good advice on running exits?
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You got the right idea on staying alive. Do the Running Exit every time. Making Clearance from the object is more than your best friend. It is your Primary Goal when exiting a cliff on a slider-down deployment.
I totally agree with 914. If you get all worked up on all the little details. You are just going to end up Mindfucking yourself.
After your on top & all geared-up on exit and ready to Go. Try just taking a few deep breathes relax and do a couple of (mental dirt dives) on exiting. Just like you would do on ride up to altitude on a skydive. What ever you THINK you will do will translate into your exit. Being head-low is not the end of your world. Just square it up & maintain symmetric body form like 914 says. It will open on heading.
Be confident, relax, breath. Because on that moment when you exit that is your cliff. So strut off that motherfucker like you own it.
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Beauty...

Yeah, but you've never seen Gus run - he looks like an epileptic baby giraffe! (but he jumps harder than most, 3 jumps on a school night last week and he only has 1 rig)

Personally I favour the Wile E Coyote method, just keep running until you don't feel the cliff under you anymore. Keeps the spectators even more entertained than kick-starting the motorbike in freefall. People who do that launch thing often look like they're trying to jump off a springboard, they lose most of their forward speed when they plant both feet.

they're trying to jump off a springboard, they lose most of their forward speed when they plant both feet.
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Dude it's the funniest thing to watch I have seen it happen twice. Both times they went into & did there first Front Flip. That Technique is Not the way to go.....
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you could go to http://www.gravitypimps.com and see what might be one of the most amazing running exits in the history of the universe. It should tell you most of what you need to know.

Thank you everyone for the advice, I especially liked this:


It's a nice way of thinking about it.

Gus

"school night"

pfft. must be nice (-;

Running is more fun and beautiful...

when your just standing there you can see everything, and its not a big surprise when it jus starts moving, you jump and you start falling.

but when you RUN...

its as if you get all this speed running, and as you leave the object you get an explosion of ground/cliff/exit point visuals... and then with this added relative motion, (and freinds, its ALL about relative motion) you start to get ground rush. (after a flip maybe, flips are cool)

I love running exits

don't worry Gus!

I give your fear a test stumble last night from your 360' - interestingly not so worry anymore!

BA