Getting Started in … Freefly with Chazi Rutz

Recent News
Monday, September 22, 2025

So many of us have been there, or will someday be there. You’ve gotten comfortable with flying on your belly and put in the work on 2-ways, 4-ways and some sunset-load BFRs. But as skydivers, we like to push limits, and for many that means flying our bodies in new orientations. Freeflying is the name of the game for many skydivers who’ve put in a couple hundred jumps on their bellies, but where do you start? And how can you make sure you’re progressing safely? Should you start on your head or your butt or your back? U.S. Parachute Team member and freefly wizard Chazi Rutz is here to answer those questions and more!

 

If I’m looking to move from belly flight to three-dimensional flight, what skills should I already be comfortable with?

First, make sure you have freefly-friendly gear. Before you start throwing together horny gorillas and sit-train exits, have a “butt-bungee.” At the very least, use a pull-up cord to tie your leg straps together to keep them from sliding down your thighs. Most new rigs are freefly-friendly straight off the line, but just in case you bought used, take a look for proper tuck tabs (no Velcro), properly seated pins, secure main and reserve flaps as well as a hidden bridle and functional bottom-of-container pilot chute. Premature openings are not fun and could make for a really bad day (not to mention chiropractic bills).

If you have freefly-friendly gear, go for it! Once you’re tired of bouncing around in the sky like a pinball, find a tunnel and learn how to backfly. It seems like a waste of time, but the time for the money and the instant feedback is well worth the investment to have backflying in your toolbelt. Learning to backfly in the sky is less than feasible, but it’s a necessary skill to have in order to progress to upright flight.

What orientation of flight should I tackle first in the sky?

Your goal will help to determine your starting point. Can you backfly? If so, do you want to pursue angles like there’s no tomorrow? Then learn to track efficiently, within docking distance, and be able to follow and mirror the leader on your belly or your back. Progressing to angles will come with repetition. If the goal is to get to head-down flight, start with backflying, then upright flying and then head-down flight.

 

What mistakes do people make most often when trying new types of body flight?

One of the most dangerous things when learning a new discipline is getting in over your head. If it’s your first upright attempt ever, maybe a 6-way is not for you. Keep the groups small and with people you trust to stay as close to on level with each other as possible. “On level” is the name of the game—it makes breakoff much safer when you know where everyone is going. The other issue I have seen too many times is deviating from the plan. Plan the dive and dive the plan. Everyone being on the same page contributes to the success of the dive and to everyone’s safety.

 

How will I know I’m ready to freefly with other people?

You won’t know unless you try. Learning to freefly by way of 30 solos doesn’t lend to learning. Grab a load organizer so you have a reference in the sky. Chances are they will have some feedback to help keep you on a progressive path.

 

How helpful is the tunnel?

The stupid tunnel. It’s immensely helpful. The cost-to-time ratio alone is worth the first hour you spend in there. The tunnel is a tool to fast-track success in the sky.

 

What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten?

Relax. Just kidding. We are skydiving, we are trying, and it’s impossible to harness relaxation when every bit of our body wants to do something so foreign. My two favorite lessons when I learned head-down were as follows. My very good friend made me lay down on the ground and proceeded to grill my body position. Engage your legs, hold your arms here, push your entire spine into the floor, stare through your eyebrows, etc.

A few weeks later, my second lesson came from an entirely different direction. We were on the plane and he grabbed my shoulders and kept gently shaking me and telling me to let it go, this skydive is boring, be loose. He didn’t stop until I was near catatonic. Ok, so maybe you can relax.

 

What do you know now that you wished you’d known then?

I wish I would have known how useful the tunnel was. It’s worth the road trip, the flight, the hotel, the hour drive … Go, fly, fly with different coaches, go back, fly more.

 

What was the hardest lesson you had to learn?

The hardest lesson came with my intro to big-way head-down formation flying. “Go to where the base is going.” This simple sentence took years for me to grasp. The way it was presented plus my lack of experience and the lack of example videos available made the concept inconceivable.

 

What can more-experienced skydivers do to take their freeflying to the next level?

Go to a camp and work toward a common goal. Setting goals for the next state record or competing at Nationals is a great way to advance skills.

 

What has your path through freeflying been like?

I love freeflying. I had less than 100 jumps when I started to think I was sit-flying. The idea of doing flips intrigued me from day one; eventually I found vertical formation skydiving, then the best teammate ever offered to video me trying freestyle. He is my best friend and we’ve been competing together since 2011 in VFS, freestyle and occasionally freefly. We have been to many vertical world record attempts together. This sport has a fun way of bringing people together.