The New Way to Master Paragliding

Answering Your XC Questions This Weekend

Most paragliding training focuses entirely on externals - glide angles, polar curves, instrument settings, and technical rules.

While that information has its place, it leaves out the single biggest factor determining how far (and how safely) you fly: your inner world.

In a recent survey I shared with you, almost every single pilot said something similar:

• “I want to fly distance, but the moment I look out into blank space past launch, I tense up.”

• “I get jittery when conditions get punchy and end up landing early.”

• “I’m overthinking instruments instead of flying by feel.”

You don’t need more calculations or rules or techniques, you need presence, intuition, and flow.

“We grow up in school where you always have to think, calculate, and be able to justify everything... We have so much data available now—numbers, black and white—that it prevents you from listening to your gut. If pilots learn to listen to their intuition and less to the facts, they’ll have more opportunities.”

— Chrigel Maurer (8-time X-Alps Champion)

Intuition isn't magic, it can be trained. When you quiet the overthinking and tune into feeling, you unlock possibilities in the sky that black-and-white instrument data will never show you.

The “No Time” Illusion

So many of us tell ourselves, “I just don’t have enough time in the air to practice or build confidence.”

But if we’re completely honest, “lack of time” is often a clever defense mechanism. When launch anxiety, fear of rough air, or self-doubt is lurking in the background, our subconscious makes sure our schedules stay packed so we don’t have to face it.

Real progression isn’t about waiting for 100 hours of airtime to magically cure your fear. It’s about recognizing the hidden avoidance patterns, building a consistent weekly practice (even 30 minutes of ground handling on a flat field), and removing the mental interference that blocks your natural skill.

Help Shape This Weekend’s Q&A Video

I’m filming a dedicated Q&A video this weekend breaking down the inner game of XC flying, thermalling by feel, overcoming avoidance, and moving past launch anxiety.

I want to answer your specific scenario.

Hit reply to this email, leave a comment below or DM me: What is your #1 paragliding struggle right now?

(Whether it’s making confident weather decisions, leaving the home hill, tensing up in punchy air, or making excuses not to fly - tell me what’s happening in your head, and I’ll do my best to answer them in this weekend’s video.)

Fly in flow,

Grant

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P.S. Less than 16 hours to get 20% off Wingmates using the code SPRINGMATES.

Wingmates is the paragliding community where we work on this stuff together - breaking down launch footage, identifying mental blocks, making friends, and keeping each other accountable.

Here is what Jason posted inside the community recently:

And what other members are saying:

“Wingmates became for me „the paragliding club I always wanted to have“, even that it is virtual it became a good place for exchange of ideas.”

“Seeing others with the same challenges so your not alone, understanding how they have progressed through and what can I learn from this.”