How to Become a Skydiving Coach

Now that you’ve got a few skydives under your belt, you may find yourself wondering how to become a Skydiving Coach. Whether you want to start helping others who are new to the sport or know that you need a Coach rating to become an Instructor in the future, we’re want to tell you what it takes.

Becoming a skydiving Coach is an incredible way to help others in this sport and getting your USPA Coach rating is the first step toward becoming a professional skydiver. Coaches are one of the few people who have the privilege of being a fundamental part of someone’s skydiving career. With a Coach rating, you can teach new skydivers in the First Jump Course as well as train solo students on the ground and then make Coach jumps with them in the sky.

In order to become a skydiving coach, you’ll need to attend a coach course but there are a few requirements that must be met prior to attending. You must have your B license and you must have made 100 skydives. Additionally, there is a Coach Rating Proficiency Card (available here) that you’ll need, along with a couple of prerequisites that must be signed off before arriving at the course.

At Skydive Carolina, we host Coach courses that span over the course of a few days. If you’ve met all the requirements above, all you need to do now is sign up for our next course. Check our events page to see upcoming skydiving coach courses. You know how to skydive but at this course, you’re going to learn how to teach someone to skydive – very different skills!

Be sure to bring your personal copy of the current SIM and IRM with you (download for free or purchase a physical copy at uspa.org) and maybe even bring a skydiving buddy to go through the course with you. The more, the merrier!

After you attend our Coach course and have sent your completed proficiency card to USPA, you can start using your new rating! But the learning doesn’t stop here. In fact, you could say this is only the beginning as you will continue to learn how to improve your techniques with each Coach jump that you make. Every student will have something different to work on, which is an opportunity to help them grow and a chance for you to give back to the sport.

Related Article: Can You Become a Professional Skydiver?