How do you just 'practice'?

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Practice in things like finning and buoyancy control are part of every single dive, no matter who you dive with. If you are circling a wreck, you are controlling buoyancy to move up and down to look at things, or to stop and inspect them. You are practicing your kicks as you move throughout the entire dive. As you ascend, you are practicing stability (assuming you aren't hanging onto a line).

It doesn't sound as much as though you need to find specific buddies for practice, as that you need to find buddies whose vision of how the dive goes is the same as yours. I found photographers to be great to dive with, when I was working on my stable platform, because they gave me a lot of time to work on just hovering. If you ask the person to take a couple of pictures or some video of YOU, you get incredibly useful feedback, too.

I don't know where you are doing most of your diving, but I do know some people in the Ottawa area who would be quite receptive to a new diver wanting to improve his skills . . .
 
Practice any where/way you can......I drive 8 hrs round trip to dive [solo] at a place just to test/practice new equipment/changes in set-ups, rebuilds etc.....I go through drills w/reels, practice basics like trim, buoyancy, kicks, flooded mask, computer-out etc......It's only 40' deep but I get to do it at my own pace and when I'm done I have the confidence my equipment works properly.....It's a simple thing but it's surprising how relaxing and how much confidence it builds w/o the distraction of other divers.....Gives you time to think........
 
Thanks all! I'll just keep on doing what I'm doing - and lots of it. I never thought of 'pratcicing' during the saftey stop, but I'll keep that in mind.

Im pretty good at learning by doing... So I'm going to keep doing!

Thanks again
 
Agree with Tfast78. You can't be the only rookie in town. Ask another rookie to hang with you and you both will progress.

While I agree that diving with an experienced buddy is of course better for input, going with another rookie means you have a lot in common and he/she may be more prone to wanting to work on skills. I also did not do very much practising in the ocean at first --and should have--my buddy was also new. At the risk of getting into a different arguement, most of the OW skills can be practised solo. I would not at all advise this at first, but it was a good choice for me later on. I don't do any practising of skills by myself unless it is a very "benign" dive site that I know, with little or no current and good viz. Another idea is to review the skills from your manual out of water--ei.--memorize and go through the motions on something like OOA routine, 5 point descent, ascent--stuff that requires a buddy. If you have a buddy not interested in a lot of time spent practising maybe he would agree to just do one skill on a dive? Practising in 10-20' of water wouldn't take much air--a couple of minutes at the start of a dive also takes little time from the dive. Sometimes I have more air left than expected, so I practise reg. retrieval, CESA, etc. The other stuff you mention like buoyancy, finning should improve just by diving lots without a lot of conscious "practising".
 
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I think if you just dive with a spirit of continuous improvement you will get what you need. Before long you will get to lead dives with either newer divers or mentors. Then you can set the pace and pick the challenges.

At the end of a nice shore dive when everyone still has air and knows the exit is at hand is a good time to start poking around practicing stuff. By then everyone has gotten what they came for and they will be grateful that you extended the experience.

Pete
 
The best "practice" to me was always by just doing. I did as some mentioned a lot of diving with other newer divers who had the same needs that I did.

After you get the basic mechanics down all you need IMO is just more experience which you get by just diving.
 
I suppose I could pay for more courses, but my aim is to build on what I already know, and then take it to the next level.

How did all y'all do it?

Thanks
G

I wouldn't take another course just to practice. It sounds like you need to find some buddies that are willing to work with you. I've spent many times in the water just hovering with people. Trim, propulsion and buoyancy control are something you should focus on every dive. I've found the best practice sessions I've ever had was a simple day at our local quarry with good friends and a nice BBQ. :)
 
Buddy with the most inexperienced divers you can find, at least some of the time. I've learned more, faster, from a buddy's mistakes or shortcomings that I had to try to help fix or compensate for, than I have with 'good' buddies.

Of course, afterward have a debrief with one of the more experienced divers, tell what happened, what you did, and whether that was correct or there's a better way.

It's not just the better divers that teach you, it's also the worse (or newer--not always the same thing) divers that "make' you learn.
 
Make "practice" a game that both you and your buddy can enjoy together.

I used to suspend a Hula-Hoop from the bottom using a 5-pound weight. We took turns trying to swim through without touching.

Great fun! Good practice! The possibilities for such practice are endless.

This is a good suggestion.

You can take it to the next level by having a contest with your buddy: who can hover inside the hoop without touching it for the longest time. It's a lot harder than simply swimming through it. Good fun...loser buys lunch :crafty:
 
You've been given some excellent advice so far but allow me to add to it. Skip diving with other new divers if possible. Find a mentor, one that you'd like to emulate and dive with them. Most would be more than happy to do a drill or two during the stop. But one way or the other, they will teach by example, watch and learn the right way first.
 
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