For all those newer wingsuiters (and experienced ones too), we decided to do an article about the simple things in life, such as “how do I position my hands?” It is our hope that wingsuiters can use the basic techniques to begin their progression toward bad-ass wingsuit ninja.

This article will have a few parts because the topics to cover are vast: hand position, body position, small turns, keeping it stable, slowing down, speeding up, leg position, arm sweep, head, shoulders, knees, and toes. We will start with hand positioning.

This will help beginner wingsuiters with some of the basic skills to fine-tune before moving up. But if you’re James (even if soft as puppy shit), you just figure shit out and it works. But one must know what they did in order to keep doing it and be consistent in the skills.

For hand positioning, I like to call it the Jesus move (blasphemy?). Arms extended to the sides in a T-shaped manner. The thumbs are pointed up toward your head (relative to your body). The sweep of the wings will dictate how far you can raise your arms, but the wing should be extended fully no matter how the wings are swept.

Keeping the hands in this position allows the wing to stay straight and does the best job of preventing bending at the elbows. Trying to bend your elbows from this position is almost impossible because the wing is in the way (unless you hulk out of the suit). Bending the wing deforms it and affects the flight characteristics of the suit (that’s just science). Whatever hand position you use, you should be able to “pull full lateral tension in the suit to optimize performance” *Thank Zeeshan for that nugget* (full extension, tension on wings).

Let’s go out and practice proper arm positioning. This skill alone can improve flight dramatically. Having good wings is important in wigsuiting. Birds don’t soar with bent wings, why should you?

Keep those arms straight and those wings soaring. It’s all about the little things.

Be on the lookout for Part 2.

Blue Skies,

WSL