20/11/2023
Free flight failures: a discussion post
Failures in free flight are not uncommon, in fact some of the greatest free flyers you know of have probably had a failure or two.
What is a free flight failure? A fly off where the bird needs retrieval, a bird gone missing, an overnighter, a bird completely disregarding the handler for a majority of the session, a bird killed, or a bird injured are all examples of free flight failures.
What is NOT a free flight failure? A tree sit that spans a couple of hours, a bird not looping, a bird only landing on a perch, or the bird not performing to as high of a degree as the handler wants them to.
Who’s at fault for a free flight failure? The simple answer is not the bird. As trainers/handlers/owners we are responsible for doing everything we can to ensure our birds are properly set up for their free flights. It is our responsibility to maintain their safety, health, and confidence. If you are learning under a mentor then the mentor is at fault. If you are self taught or have disregarded your mentor you are at fault.
What do you do when you experience a free flight failure? If you are under mentorship ask you mentor what went wrong, pay attention to how your mentor thinks through the issue and brainstorm with them. If your mentor is unable to come up with a reason for the failure or blames the bird, that is not a capable mentor. If you are self taught you should have the ability to analyze the free flight and see what went wrong, you need to grow from it and understand the next steps forward.
It is important to note that just because you have experienced a failure, doesn’t mean you are a failure. It doesn’t mean you are incapable, to be incapable is to be someone who doesn’t grow from things or gives up after a failure. If you’ve experienced a free flight failure and have reflected on that failure and revised your training plan then you are capable, if you’ve implemented your new training plan and it worked, you are a success.
Every free flight session should be a chance for you to grow, failure or not, but the best growth happens during a failure.
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