Two tips. I have always heard that diving is a thinking man's sport (read man as person). Prove it by thinking.
1. Get in water - pool is fine. Lay on bottom for extended periods and practice breathing - alternate with buoyancy practice. After a while of laying on bottom and having gotten as close to perfectly neutral as possible. Swim around maintaining depth and not using B/C to adjust buoyancy. First slow and easy. Later work hard at swimming maintaining depth and not using B/C to adjust buoyancy. Got back to laying on bottom practicing breathing and think about what happened. Repeat as necessary. Do as many in-water sessions as required. Add other skills such as mask clearing, reg recovery, etc. and notice effect. Think and learn to make adjustments. This is extremely boring for most people, but remember what your goal is.
2. Works easier done at depths of least 60 feet; but does work a shallower depths. Plan this before dive. Just dive as normal. Get buddy to watch how you are diving and to tell you when to look. Look at your bubbles in water column - compare to other divers; try to find someone with good air consumption to use as a control, if possible. Again do this in various type of swimming conditions. Buddy is trying to show you how you are breathing when you are not paying attention aka surprise you. If you are able to surprise yourself and observe breathing pattern in water column. Again like in #1 think about breathing and conditions. Think and learn to make adjustments. For example, one good one to think about is do I really have to be swimming as hard as I am, if I have 10 different exhalations visible in the water column at one time???? Sometimes you do, but not always.
ps., Like a boat captain once warned me - I can never look at the coffee cup full of coffee without spilling it when walking. So I try not to look.
1. Get in water - pool is fine. Lay on bottom for extended periods and practice breathing - alternate with buoyancy practice. After a while of laying on bottom and having gotten as close to perfectly neutral as possible. Swim around maintaining depth and not using B/C to adjust buoyancy. First slow and easy. Later work hard at swimming maintaining depth and not using B/C to adjust buoyancy. Got back to laying on bottom practicing breathing and think about what happened. Repeat as necessary. Do as many in-water sessions as required. Add other skills such as mask clearing, reg recovery, etc. and notice effect. Think and learn to make adjustments. This is extremely boring for most people, but remember what your goal is.
2. Works easier done at depths of least 60 feet; but does work a shallower depths. Plan this before dive. Just dive as normal. Get buddy to watch how you are diving and to tell you when to look. Look at your bubbles in water column - compare to other divers; try to find someone with good air consumption to use as a control, if possible. Again do this in various type of swimming conditions. Buddy is trying to show you how you are breathing when you are not paying attention aka surprise you. If you are able to surprise yourself and observe breathing pattern in water column. Again like in #1 think about breathing and conditions. Think and learn to make adjustments. For example, one good one to think about is do I really have to be swimming as hard as I am, if I have 10 different exhalations visible in the water column at one time???? Sometimes you do, but not always.
ps., Like a boat captain once warned me - I can never look at the coffee cup full of coffee without spilling it when walking. So I try not to look.