If you run a vertical drop and are freefalling roughly vertical or even boof to 20 degrees or so, and then wish to change your angle of drop mid flight, do you adopt the same techniques as when bow stalling on the flat - i.e. lean back to bring the boat more vertical and vice versa? Or is it different when the boat is surrounded by air and not water? I realise its all split second stuff but just interested to know! - and if you do have to lean back to quickly adjust elevation, I realise you have to get back onto the front deck for impact...

What you need to remember when freefalling is that is it a lot harder to bring your boat from being over vertical than it is to push your bow down to become more vertical. It is possible to kick the nose up to correct yourself from falling over the handle bars but you must avoid landing in a sitting upright position which will expose your spine to impact injuries. In certain situations you may be able to use the back blade of your paddle to pry the bow back up from being over vertical but this is dependent on the drop you are running and it is a very tricky technique.

You will have much less control over your boat when in a freefall scenario than you will when bow stalling etc.

My advice to you when it comes to controlling your freefall is to decide before running the drop how you want to land and to run the waterfall in such a way that you are being active rather than reactionary i.e if you want to land vertically then roll of the lip, spot your landing, keep your weight moving forward on tuck for impact - rather than flying off the lip in a boof and trying to kick your heels down at the lust minute (although this is a good way to avoid an unwanted flat landing!)

And like you say, whether or not you are boofing or plugging - always land with your body tucked forward so that your core muscles, rather than your spine, take the brunt of the impact.

Hope this helps.