Best form for the hover position? (aka Frog kick pose)

[MichaelMc]

@tbone1004, to be fair on not needing to move lead, none of your students have lead they can move.... If they had lead they could move, is there a posture X that you would rather they could assume? Knees bent a bit beyond vertical and more towards the back? Or just bent up where it is comfortable and gives a decent range of adjustment?

Your students start with their steel BP/W ballast mostly centered on their center of buoyancy, not in lower BC integrated pockets or in a weight belt. With no ballast movable, their leg position or fins are their only option for getting horizontal. You and buddies are fully weighted with steel tanks and presumably a steel plate with nothing to move either. I'm not advocating adding lead just so you can move it.

My limited experience is if I am head heavy and skulling to keep level, shifting 2 pounds from shoulder pockets to weight belt fixes that and allows a calmer hover, letting my legs rest bent up where I think I want them to. But, properly weighted, I have lead I can move. An AL BP/W + lead in the pool, SS PB/W + lead in the ocean.

Most of our students have lead they can move, our program doesn't provide BP/Ws so most are in integrated BCs, except a few that got BP/W's. Last year one girl had a great SS BP/W and no lead but was head heavy with legs straight out. This year, as a TA, she is using a weight belt, so she may have switched the plate to aluminum.

 

[tbone1004]

@MichaelMc if you need lead in the rig that's fine, though I don't like shoulder pockets. You should still be able to put a reasonable amount of lead *8-12lbs ish* on a weight belt and still hover without problems. One of the drills that they have to do is pick up an 8-12lb weight belt in the shallow end of the pool without touching the floor or surface. Flat turn around, hover for 30 secs, then remove it. You can't go out of trim because if you do, you'll hit the deck or surface. You can do all of that with body positioning.
Any weight moved should allow trim with legs at 90* in an ideal world. That gives you ability to turn, back up, go forward, etc. from a "neutral position". With legs extended, or anything else it restricts your ability to maneuver

 

[MichaelMc]

if you need lead in the rig that's fine, ... Any weight moved should allow trim with legs at 90* in an ideal world. That gives you ability to turn, back up, go forward, etc. from a "neutral position". With legs extended, or anything else it restricts your ability to maneuver

Thanks!

Are your students donning the weight belt? We teach a roll maneuver of holding one belt end to the hip, rolling 360 so the belt rests across the back, then buckling. Or do they pass it behind them while still face down, which seems hard for an 8-12 lb. belt. How deep is your shallow end?

 

[tbone1004]

Thanks!

Are your students donning the weight belt? We teach a roll maneuver of holding one belt end to the hip, rolling 360 so the belt rests across the back, then buckling. Or do they pass it behind them while still face down, which seems hard for an 8-12 lb. belt. How deep is your shallow end?

don weight belt, no roll, while hovering on the cross. Standard olympic diving well so 1m depth

we teach the roll for normal donning of the belt, but this is a neutral buoyancy drill.

very old video of the drill. This would not be a pass at the leadership level due to foot touching surface *fin tips are allowed*, but would pass at the AOW or OW level. I believe that is a 6lb belt but the actual weight doesn't really matter so long as it is more than you can work with on your breath alone

 

[aquacat8]

Wow I wish my OW class was like that... your students are lucky!

 

[tbone1004]

Wow I wish my OW class was like that... your students are lucky!

I believe that was a leadership candidate, but when the head of the program has been cave diving since the 60's, and you have a full semester with college kids, it helps quite a lot

 

[TMHeimer]

This seems unduly complicated. I don't think I've ever consciously rested mid water column. Unless I was practicing hovering. What's the difference? I think if I ever "rested" it was vertical, head up--but, maybe horizontal.

 

[aquacat8]

I was wondering... is there any decompression reason why you SHOULDN'T do you stop hanging upside down?

 

[MichaelMc]

This seems unduly complicated. I don't think I've ever consciously rested mid water column. Unless I was practicing hovering. What's the difference? I think if I ever "rested" it was vertical, head up--but, maybe horizontal.

Yes hovering. Like for a safety stop, or to look at stuff in a kelp forrest, or to look at some small crabs on a coral head, or to wait while your buddy does something.
Edit: I changed the thread title from 'resting' to 'hover'

I was wondering... is there any decompression reason why you SHOULDN'T do you stop hanging upside down?

Well horizontal gives you more vertical drag, so it is easier to hold depth. And your lungs and reg are at the same depth, so breathing may be easier. Edit: Well its easier than breathing vertical head up; breathing vertical head down should be easier breathing in, but harder breathing out. But depth control is still harder in either vertical way than it is horizontal.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

This seems unduly complicated. I don't think I've ever consciously rested mid water column. Unless I was practicing hovering. What's the difference? I think if I ever "rested" it was vertical, head up--but, maybe horizontal.

When I make deep dives requiring long deco stops I sometimes use my spool as a jon line on the anchor rode. I clip the spool off to a chest D-ring, fold my arms over the jon line and lay my head down on my arms. I never fell asleep during a deco stop, but I felt rested when I surfaced.