Mask removal skill = no fun..

[Jim Lapenta]

16 hours is required by agency standards. Be tough to get in everything we are required to cover and give the student enough time to practice and become comfortable with those skills as a general rule. Some do learn faster. We still spend the time and they are the ones who get extras like a bag shoot or other skills they may need or wish to learn in addition to time just swimming and working on buoyancy and trim.

 

[Diver0001]

Ah yes. 16 hours is for the whole course, not for the mask skill... LOL

small detail there.

<small hijjack>
Jim, how do you see the issue of drilling skills that the student gets right away? I've noticed that most people get maybe 80% of the skills/material naturally without a whole lot of drilling. For example, showing cramp removal or towing a tired diver I don't focus on a lot of repetitions to see if they understood it... just 2 or 3 times on different days of the course.

For some skills I do, for example, mask skills, air sharing, and buoyancy control, to pick a few examples, get huge amounts of repetition, for some students more than for others, depending on their needs/performance. These are what I see as "core" skills". Do you guys make a distinction between core skills and non-core skills and focus more energy on the core skills or do you see all skills as equally important and subject to equal amounts of repetition?

Also, do you tailor you approach to the needs of the student or do they all go through the same number of hours?

I'm asking to get a sense of why you take 16 hours in the water with students. The PADI system is more "performance based" and I've had students who were naturals and could probably have learned to dive without an instructor and people who have taken considerably longer than 16 hours to reach a level of comfort that both they and we were comfortable with (I think the record to date for our shop is a little over 30 hours--maybe a *lot* over 30 hours, with some people we stop keeping track...LOL)

I'm curious how you see this
</small hijjack>

 

[Yellowmask]

Why do people do this with their eyes closed? I understand if you're wearing contacts, but if you're not, why not leave your eyes open? Might make it less stressful.

For me, partly because I wear contacts and am not fond of having whatever water I'm diving in (salt or chlorinated pool water) held against my eyes by them. Mainly because I find it less stressful to keep them closed so that my brain can focus on the things it needs to do: breath through reg, replace mask on face and pull strap down, clear mask with breath, all of which are mechnical skills that don't need vision.

If my eyes are open, I find part of the brain's processing power is taken up with going OMIGOD OMIGOD OMIGOD I CAN'T SEE AND I'M UNDERWATER and I have to ignore that to get the job done.

Funnily enough, I'm fine swimming with my eyes open under the water if I'm just normal swimming. Probably because with scuba you can't just bob your head up above the water if you want to figure out where you are or blink the water out of your eyes.

If it helps the OP: I recognised the importance of this skill whilst training but didn't like doing it, I had to do it twice on my OW Open Water dives to pass because I got it wrong the first time. Last Wednesday I did a refresher dive in the pool and it was the first skill. I was first up to do it and it went really smoothly. I remember opening my eyes, looking through a clear mask and going "YAY" inside my head (I'd have done the Underwater Victory Dance if there had been room). Keep practising and it will come!

 

[Boiler_81]

I would like to understand the issues people have with this as well. Like Dirty-Dog, I had absolutely no issue with mask removal and clearing while a few of my classmates struggled. Is this a physiological, technical or psychological issue or a combination of some or all of these factors?

I have to admit I don't understand why mask removal is such a big deal for some people. Why do people do this with their eyes closed? I understand if you're wearing contacts, but if you're not, why not leave your eyes open? Might make it less stressful. I'm apparently also backwards because I put the strap over the back of my head (with my eyes open...) and then pull the mask down over my face. Sure, everything is blurry till you get the mask on and cleared, but I'm so damned nearsighted that I'm used to things being blurry.

Just try to relax and enjoy your time in the water.

 

[softballer]

I would like to understand the issues people have with this as well. Like Dirty-Dog, I had absolutely no issue with mask removal and clearing while a few of my classmates struggled. Is this a physiological, technical or psychological issue or a combination of some or all of these factors?

It was technical for me - for whatever reason I just kinda fumbled with the mask.

 

[shoot2retrieve]

I had no issue w/ my remove and replace in the pool. However, on my OW swim it gave me fits. The water was much colder at 42 degrees F, and when that colder water rushed in onto my warm skin I almost panicked. I had to concentrate very hard on the task at hand. My instructor had me do the exercise again, and the whole ordeal went much better, because the water was not quite the shock as it was the first time. I hope that I never have to perform that skill ever again!!! Good luck with your certification the minor pains are totally worth it!!!

 

[Rob9]

For most people, just getting a little water up the nose triggers the reaction that the body thinks it is drowning.

THIS IS ME!!!! and something I need to get more comfortable with and I need to figure out the best angle for me to hold my head on while replacing my mask.

I drilled this skill multiple times in the pool without any issue what so ever and I came off as quite confident doing it. Doing it in the salt water at depth was a very different story for me, salt water stings my eyes badly and it lasts for quite some time even after I have replaced and cleared my mask. As soon as I feel water starting to make its way up my nose I get very stressed and while doing my course panicked on more than one occasion.

In my very very very limited experience diving is a mental sport and working on all those skills you don't like will make you feel much more confident and comfortable in the water. When your confident and comfortable you can then start to enjoy your diving.

 

[tstormdiver]

THIS IS ME!!!! and something I need to get more comfortable with and I need to figure out the best angle for me to hold my head on while replacing my mask.

I drilled this skill multiple times in the pool without any issue what so ever and I came off as quite confident doing it. Doing it in the salt water at depth was a very different story for me, salt water stings my eyes badly and it lasts for quite some time even after I have replaced and cleared my mask. As soon as I feel water starting to make its way up my nose I get very stressed and while doing my course panicked on more than one occasion.

In my very very very limited experience diving is a mental sport and working on all those skills you don't like will make you feel much more confident and comfortable in the water. When your confident and comfortable you can then start to enjoy your diving.

This is how I explain mask clearing & removal to my students. It tends to work quite well with most. I tell them to tuck their chins to their chests anytime they are not exhaling through the nose & water is against the face & to keep their oral & nasal airways separated. This tends to help prevent water form going up the nose. Then to begin exhaling through the nose a very quick moment before tilting the head back to clear the mask.Continue to exhale & clear the mask. If you run out of breath before you get the mask cleared, then immediately drop the head back down while still exhaling. Once the head is down, then you can cautiously begin the inhale while controlling the airways. If someone struggles with this part, I tell them to breathe just like they would if they had the worst head cold that they can imagine (controlling the airway). One thing I see with beginners & mask clearing using the method of slightly cracking the mask skirt seal at the bottom is, they want to pull the skirt way too far away from the face, thus allowing water back into the mask & sometimes up the nose. When I say cracking the seal, all that is meant is that the seal is loosened at the bottom. It should never actually leave the face. I also teach the method of just pressing the top of the frame just between & over the eyes to loosen that same seal. Like you, I also struggled with the skill until my technical instructor worked these skills at length with me. Now it is no big deal. I wish I had been given that kind of thorough instruction & practice at the beginning, then it would have never been an issue.

You are quite correct,... Diving is VERY mental. You're making your body do something it is not supposed to be able to do (breathing underwater), but is because of the equipment. Keep practicing, it will come. Soon depth will not be a factor at all. Make sure to practice it in neutral buoyancy. Like I said earlier, I had a mask failure during my cave diving course. When in a situation like that, there's no surface to go to, I had to deal with it then & there, & I did, with no problem, because of the repetition. It had become second nature. Practice your skills until they become second nature to you. Remember, as long as you have air you have time to sort through your issues. Take your time & don't hurry through the skills. The air on your back is your closest air source. Only when you run out of air do you truly have an emergency. The rest is only an inconvenience.

 

[tstormdiver]

I had no issue w/ my remove and replace in the pool. However, on my OW swim it gave me fits. The water was much colder at 42 degrees F, and when that colder water rushed in onto my warm skin I almost panicked. I had to concentrate very hard on the task at hand. My instructor had me do the exercise again, and the whole ordeal went much better, because the water was not quite the shock as it was the first time. I hope that I never have to perform that skill ever again!!! Good luck with your certification the minor pains are totally worth it!!!

Congrats on doing mask clearing in cold water. That is a mighty achievement. Generally when water that cold hits the face, it can trigger the mammalian diving reflex, interfering with breathing. I was not until I began technical diving that I had to deal with that. We had to do the full mask removal & replacement. Cold water is a fact when diving deep at the local quarry we dive, so it was a requirement. It took me several attempts before I could do it smoothly. While far from pleasant, I can now do it without issue.

 

[Diver0001]

If my eyes are open, I find part of the brain's processing power is taken up with going OMIGOD OMIGOD OMIGOD I CAN'T SEE AND I'M UNDERWATER and I have to ignore that to get the job done.

I'm curious about this.

If you close your eyes you can't see either but with your eyes closed it goes ok. Can you explain how that works?

R..