Biggest problems for Newbies???? Hypnosis Related- sort of

[FreeFloat]

I'd have to agree with the mask removal/replace being the toughest skill for a newbie to conquer. I know for me, it doesn't bother me to have the thing either completely on (and cleared) or completely gone, but for some reason it still bothers me to have this THING stuck to my face trying to force a maskful of water into my nasal passages.

 

[doole]

Yes, all of the above, but as an o/w instructor I don't have much trouble getting around most of those. The biggest challenge I seem to have is getting them to maintain buddy contact. I teach in some fairly dismal viz but no matter how much I hammer it in, I still get buddies losing one another from time to time.

BTW any tips on how to pound this point in more efficiently would definitely be appreciated. I am currently at, "if you're more than one breath away from your buddy, then you're diving solo, which you're DEFINITELY not qualified to do" but that doesn't seem to phase them, either.

 

[bwerb]

sticker shock at the LDS?
is this DIR or not?
am I really a diver without a snorkel?
Does this drysuit make my butt look fat?


Sorry...I'm in a funny mood...
ut:

 

[starfish365]

My problem is with not with removing the mask as I've been swimming since I was a kid. Remembering that ya I can still breathe but not thru my nose sometimes takes a second - LOL.

My problem is actually clearing my mask of water after. Seems I'm having difficulty breathing out my nose with enough force to blow my brains and the water from my mask....been practicing though....my sinuses have never been clearer...ha ha

 

[carebear]

I'm usually a fish in the water, did competitive swimming for most of my life, so most of it was easy for me. Also, thanks to an ex that was completely obsessed with diving I learned a lot before I even ventured into the water. My biggest problem was getting into the open water with low viz...that was really scary for me, considering I had been no where but the pool all my life.
I think most of the fear for people comes in where they aren't comfortable and can't see...ie, the mask clearing was a problem for some of my classmates. I think it would be beneficial for you to develop some kind of hypnosis that would help people against getting narced as well, if that's even possible.
I think this is a great idea though, so good luck! There is nothing worse than a panicked diver.

 

[plsdiver4377]

starfish365 once bubbled...
My problem is with not with removing the mask as I've been swimming since I was a kid. Remembering that ya I can still breathe but not thru my nose sometimes takes a second - LOL.

My problem is actually clearing my mask of water after. Seems I'm having difficulty breathing out my nose with enough force to blow my brains and the water from my mask....been practicing though....my sinuses have never been clearer...ha ha

This I understand perfectly, I couldn't have cared less whether I had a mask on or not, or whether it had water in it. I just had a major problem with clearing the thing, I couldn't seem to switch between breathing through my mouth and then having to breath in through my mouth and exhale through my nose if water is in/or up against it. I can honestly say it never freaked me out, usually just made me mad because I had such a hard time doing it. :upset:

 

[RiverRat]

hypnodean once bubbled...
Ok, I have a question that I welcome any and all answers to but PARTICULARLY those who recently when through basic OW cert and instructors who teach them.
The question is: What are the top problems (challenges, fears, blocks) that seem to affect MOST new dive students?
Dean

When I was younger I suppose I was a "water baby". My Grandfather was a Maritime artist, into sailing etc. and had a big pond with a beach, dock for his boat etc. and we were always over there swimming, fishing and boating. While not a total athlete I've always been comfortable in the water. Now I'm 39 yrs. old and hadn't been swimming as much as when I was a kid.
I just got my OW and AOW certs. My first "dive" was a Discover Scuba on a cruise in St. Maarten. Awesome experience! Warm, blue water, great vis and nice people. All in all a great dive to about 35 fsw. Now to training up here in the Northeast. The pool dives went well. Mask flooding, mask off, reg swapping etc. all no problem. The first dive of OW was different though. We dove a dark, cold quarry up here close by in NY. I had been feeling particularly anxious just before we got in the water. Performance anxiety maybe. Heavy gear, full 7mm wetsuit, hood etc. Big difference from pool dives. Anyway I was the last one with my buddy to decend. He dropped down and I just felt isolated, bad vis, looking down into the black as he disappeared (sort of). Anyway I started to hyperventillate, breathing fast and pulling hard on the reg I could not get my breathing under control no matter what I did. I'm sure CO2 build up started to occur. Anyway I surfaced from about 10 ffw as I did not know why I could not control my breathing. I felt "panicky" although I did not really panic, I was able to abort at a controlled rate and asses the situation. Anyway it took me a bit to calm down, then my instructor led me down the quarry wall for a visual reference. Boy did that help! After a minute or two I was diving all weekend without any problems! It was just mind over matter for me. I think it was really anxiety brought on by no vis or whatever. I'm a little claustrophobic (only if stuck in a really tight spot) but I've managed to overcome that somewhat over the years. Ok, so now on to my AOW dives, same quarry. Now that I had been researching this issue I was prepared to deal with it on these dives. First dive, same thing! As I got down a bit I started to breath erratically, but this time I STOPPED, and FORCED myself to breath DEEP and SLOW. Within a minute or less I was again fine for 2 days of diving. Weird, on both occasions it was just the first dive of the weekend. On the second day on both weekends I was fine. To me it was the initial first dive of the weekend. I'm still trying to figure out "how" the calming lasted for the next day, weird. Anyway, for me it's just relaxing on that first dive, sort of a Zen thing to calm down then I'm good.

 

[midwestdvr]

During my OW cert, the only problem I really had was on the first dive. I got a little panicked at first coz I was now breathing in far deeper water than I have ever been under before. After I realized that the regulator wouldn't quit on me, I relaxed and just enjoyed the whole experience. My next biggest problem was the fear that I would crash into the corals (never did, knock on wood of course). I just kept repeating on my head that corals are our friends, and that people will kill you if you crash into one.