The most popular skydiving training method is probably the tandem jump. This is perfect for first timers who want to experience the thrill of skydiving without all the stress and danger of more intensive training methods. You jump with an instructor who is certified to train you. He or she will have extra parachutes and equipment to help you both safely land after your free fall. Most droopiness will let you take a one time jump if you like. This only takes an hour or so, and it is that fastest way to skydive for beginners who just want to try it out. You can also take a tandem progression course that will let you spend more time learning and jumping over the course of a few hours.

Static line training is another method for learning skydiving. Students are trained for a few hours on the ground and then go up in the plane. Upon jumping out, the diver will fall away from the plane while the canopy is deployed by a static line attached to the aircraft. The student practices pulling a dummy ripcord each time. After a few jumps, they will be ready to do a real free fall on your own. As you get more experience, you can go to higher altitudes and free fall for longer periods of time.

Finally, there is the accelerated free fall skydiving method. You get extensive ground training before taking a high altitude jump with a fifty second free fall on your very first jump. Instructors will jump along with the students but separately. They are just there to assist with a stable fall while monitoring the altitude until it is time to pull the ripcord for the parachute. This is definitely a more intense way to learn to skydive.