Julian Barthel

In more than 12,000 jumps since 2009, I've been learning how people actually get better in the air, and why some don't. I coach skydivers, tunnel flyers and complete beginners, and I speak and write about how people make good decisions when the stakes are real.

I work with skydivers who want structured progression in angle and vertical flying, canopy piloting and flocking, with the technique and judgement to do it safely. I work with tunnel flyers, from first-timers to teams, who want each session to move them forward, and with people starting skydiving who want a clear, safe path from first jump to licence and beyond. Organisations book me to speak on fear, risk and performance, since that is what I teach for a living.

Wherever we fly, I coach technique and strong foundations first. Skills built on a solid base keep working when the dive gets complicated. Skills built on compensation fall apart right there. In the sky that means one-on-one coaching, group coaching and skills camps. In the tunnel, where I've flown 500+ hours myself and coached since 2017, it means stripping flying down to air, body position and time, with no jump to pay for and no weather to wait for. Either way, we agree a clear goal, work in short blocks and review the video together, so you leave knowing what changed and what comes next.

I've trained AFF students, coaches, AFF and tandem instructors, and guided people from their first jump to record level, in both freefall and canopy. Tandem and AFF instructor in Spain and Greece. Head freefly coach at Skydive Spain. Canopy instructor for sport and military students at Flight-1. USPA examiner from 2014 to 2021, certifying coaches and instructors on three continents. I've been part of world, European and national records in head-down flying, and in 2026 my first canopy flocking record.

Safety runs through everything I teach. I write for Skydive Mag on downsizing, decision altitudes, emergency communication and reserve choices. I've spoken twice at the European Skydiving Symposium, in Warsaw and Seville, on managing fear in students, the downsizing progression, reserve choices, and modern movement jumps and skydiving operations. In Seville that was in front of more than 800 people from the industry.

I co-founded the Fluid Dynamics Freefly School and run it with three teammates, with 20+ camps a year across Europe. I'm also an instructor with Momentum, the US-based team behind Flock and Flow and modern canopy flocking instruction. I hold a B.Sc. in Sports and High Performance from the German Sport University Cologne, and I'm based in Sweden.

Not sure which of these fits you? Write to me and we'll work it out.