How Skydive the Mag Helps You Start or Progress in Skydiving

Skydive the Mag is the magazine site of British Skydiving, and it is useful at two stages: if you are working out how to become a skydiver, and if you already jump and want to move into a new discipline. Its content is organised into sections rather than a single beginner course, so you use it as a reading and orientation resource, then follow the pathways it points to. The site itself does not present pricing or booking details in the material available, so treat it as guidance and news, not as a place to sign up or pay.

What the site actually covers

The section structure tells you what you can expect to find:

For someone starting out, the relevant parts are Progression, Safety and Club News. For someone already jumping, Competitions, Gear and Events add the wider picture.

If you are trying to start skydiving

The site addresses the beginner question directly. Its content includes "Find out how you can become a skydiver" and "What next? AFF!", which points to Accelerated Freefall as the entry pathway. It also covers "How you can start freestyle skydiving" for people thinking beyond the first licence.

A practical way to use it:

1. Read the "become a skydiver" and AFF material to understand what the training pathway involves.
2. Use Club News to identify drop zones near you and see what they are currently doing.
3. Check Events for courses and meetings that relate to beginners.
4. Read the Safety section before you commit, so you understand how risk is managed in the sport.

The site explains the pathway and the disciplines; it does not replace the drop zone's own booking and training process.

If you already jump and want to progress

Progression is treated as its own section, and the topic list shows the range of directions available:

• Freestyle — how to start, aimed at people moving beyond basic belly flying.
• VFS (vertical formation skydiving) — a dedicated "Get into VFS" item.
• Wingsuit — including coverage of a UK wingsuit record, useful for seeing what the discipline looks like at a high level.
• Coaching — "Why coach?" and "New coaches from the tunnel to the sky", for jumpers considering the coaching route.
• Skills and mindset — items such as "Think like a fighter pilot" and "Harnessing your spirit", which sit alongside technical progression.

The pattern is that each discipline gets an entry-point article plus context from competitions and records, so you can see both how to begin and where the discipline leads.

How to use it alongside your training

Skydive the Mag works best as a supplement to instruction, not a substitute. Read the Progression and Safety material to arrive at your drop zone with better questions, use Club News and Events to find what is happening locally, and use Competitions coverage to understand the competitive side if that interests you. The site also offers a British Skydiving Newsletter signup, which is a way to keep receiving updates without checking back manually.

If your goal is simply "how do I start", the AFF material and Club News are the two places to begin. If your goal is "what can I do next", start with Progression and pick the discipline that matches your interest.