mer-maiden
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Now that I have the mask clearing issue taken care of I need to work on my ablilty ( actually the lack thereof ) to maintain neutral bouyancy. Any tips from the more experienced divers here?
Bouyancy problems
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Ever seen a photo of skydivers free-falling through the air?
Go to the pool. (Assuming you've got your weighting pretty well worked out...) Lay on the bottom of the pool with an empty BC/wing in the position of a free-falling skydiver.
Begin adding gas to your BC/wing in short spurts, only one or two at a time. Count to ten in between adding gas. (It takes time for the impact to become noticable.)
Notice how when you inhale you become more bouyant, and less so when you exhale? So...hovering also has to do with proper breathing - slow steady inhalation/exhalation cycles - by the time your bouyancy is responding to an inhale the next exhale cycle has begun, keeping your hover at a constant depth.
Don't wait til you 'rise' off the bottom - too much gas. Instead when you think you've hit equilibrium use your fingertips to gently push yourself off the bottom to arms length - keeping that "skydiver" body position. If you've hit the sweet spot, you'll simply hover there at arms length off the bottom. This is easier in the deeper end of the pool than the shallow...but you should be able to use either. It will take some time. Be patient. (One trick is to completely relax, holding the horizontal position is difficult at first, but after you learn to arch your back and relax it comes easier.)
Keep at it. Once you have it figured out in the pool, it is relatively easy to translate your 'trim and bouyancy awareness' to open water. (Whereas 'bouyancy' refers to equilibrium in the water column - completely neutral bouyancy - 'trim' refers to your 'attitude' in the water column, or the position of your body, horizontal to vertical. You're attempting to hover perfectly horizontal or slighty head down, in that 'skydiver' position.)
Don't get discouraged! You'll get it with just a little practice.
Hope this helps.
Go to the pool. (Assuming you've got your weighting pretty well worked out...) Lay on the bottom of the pool with an empty BC/wing in the position of a free-falling skydiver.
Begin adding gas to your BC/wing in short spurts, only one or two at a time. Count to ten in between adding gas. (It takes time for the impact to become noticable.)
Notice how when you inhale you become more bouyant, and less so when you exhale? So...hovering also has to do with proper breathing - slow steady inhalation/exhalation cycles - by the time your bouyancy is responding to an inhale the next exhale cycle has begun, keeping your hover at a constant depth.
Don't wait til you 'rise' off the bottom - too much gas. Instead when you think you've hit equilibrium use your fingertips to gently push yourself off the bottom to arms length - keeping that "skydiver" body position. If you've hit the sweet spot, you'll simply hover there at arms length off the bottom. This is easier in the deeper end of the pool than the shallow...but you should be able to use either. It will take some time. Be patient. (One trick is to completely relax, holding the horizontal position is difficult at first, but after you learn to arch your back and relax it comes easier.)
Keep at it. Once you have it figured out in the pool, it is relatively easy to translate your 'trim and bouyancy awareness' to open water. (Whereas 'bouyancy' refers to equilibrium in the water column - completely neutral bouyancy - 'trim' refers to your 'attitude' in the water column, or the position of your body, horizontal to vertical. You're attempting to hover perfectly horizontal or slighty head down, in that 'skydiver' position.)
Don't get discouraged! You'll get it with just a little practice.
Hope this helps.
the_cat_keeper
Contributor
Be conscious of your breathing 
and carry the right number of weights. After that, it's practice.
When I first started diving, I had to overweight myself to do the safety stops. I was quite amazed by the DMs whom I was diving with; they did not carry any weights and were stationary during the safety stops. They said it was my breathing technique... So I tried different ways of breathing (fast, slow, deep, shallow, hold - just briefly) to understand the effect of breathing on my buoyancy. That really helped.
I also noticed many new divers fin vertically like they were cycling. If you could get your body to be horizontal, the finning would be effective and that would also make buoyancy easier to control (less exertion and hence slower breathing with added bonus of lower air consumption).
and carry the right number of weights. After that, it's practice.When I first started diving, I had to overweight myself to do the safety stops. I was quite amazed by the DMs whom I was diving with; they did not carry any weights and were stationary during the safety stops. They said it was my breathing technique... So I tried different ways of breathing (fast, slow, deep, shallow, hold - just briefly) to understand the effect of breathing on my buoyancy. That really helped.
I also noticed many new divers fin vertically like they were cycling. If you could get your body to be horizontal, the finning would be effective and that would also make buoyancy easier to control (less exertion and hence slower breathing with added bonus of lower air consumption).
Welcome to the board.
Buoyancy control is a learned art and takes time to master. New divers tend to be way overweighted so my first suggestion is to do a good weight check. Being overweigted makes controlling your buoyancy a lot more difficult, same goes with underweighting. Remember that your weight needs change from the beginning of the dive to the end so if possible, do your weight check with a low (500 psi is my preference) tank. Keep in mind your weight needs will change from fresh water to salt and anytime you add or remove equipment. I log my weight needs every time I dive, noting the place and type of equipment I am using. It makes weight selection easier the next time.
My next suggestion is to slow down and reduce the amount by which you react and WAIT A FEW SECONDS. New divers tend to make an adjustment, many times a way to big of an adjustment and if nothing happens instantly, they do it again. The problem is that there is a significant lag time between when you make a change and when it becomes appearent that the change has had the desired effect. It goes something like this. You add air, nothing happens, you quickly add more air, nothing happens then all of a sudden you start heading up quickly- the lag time has ended and to make matters worse, all that air you added to your BC is expanding quickly giving you even more lift so you dump air, nothing happens, you dump a lot more air, nothing happens- then the lag time catches up to you again and you are heading down fast sooooo you add a bunch more air and the cycle continues. Try adding/venting small amouts and waiting several second before deciding to make another adjustment. You will be happy to know that buoyancy contol is the harder at 20 ft or less than at any other depth so if you master it there, deeper is actually easier.
Try not to wiggle, fidget or move when you are trying to hover. Any slight movement of your hands and especially your feet (remember those big fins you have on?) will cause you to move, possibily in a direction you don't want to go.
It takes practice and experimentation to master buoyancy. Find a buddy and a safe shallow place and practice. You will soon get the hang of it.
Buoyancy control is a learned art and takes time to master. New divers tend to be way overweighted so my first suggestion is to do a good weight check. Being overweigted makes controlling your buoyancy a lot more difficult, same goes with underweighting. Remember that your weight needs change from the beginning of the dive to the end so if possible, do your weight check with a low (500 psi is my preference) tank. Keep in mind your weight needs will change from fresh water to salt and anytime you add or remove equipment. I log my weight needs every time I dive, noting the place and type of equipment I am using. It makes weight selection easier the next time.
My next suggestion is to slow down and reduce the amount by which you react and WAIT A FEW SECONDS. New divers tend to make an adjustment, many times a way to big of an adjustment and if nothing happens instantly, they do it again. The problem is that there is a significant lag time between when you make a change and when it becomes appearent that the change has had the desired effect. It goes something like this. You add air, nothing happens, you quickly add more air, nothing happens then all of a sudden you start heading up quickly- the lag time has ended and to make matters worse, all that air you added to your BC is expanding quickly giving you even more lift so you dump air, nothing happens, you dump a lot more air, nothing happens- then the lag time catches up to you again and you are heading down fast sooooo you add a bunch more air and the cycle continues. Try adding/venting small amouts and waiting several second before deciding to make another adjustment. You will be happy to know that buoyancy contol is the harder at 20 ft or less than at any other depth so if you master it there, deeper is actually easier.
Try not to wiggle, fidget or move when you are trying to hover. Any slight movement of your hands and especially your feet (remember those big fins you have on?) will cause you to move, possibily in a direction you don't want to go.
It takes practice and experimentation to master buoyancy. Find a buddy and a safe shallow place and practice. You will soon get the hang of it.
As my friend Uncle Pug says "Bouyancy and trim are conjoined twins."
Ideally you want to be able to hover in the water without moving up or down. There are several components to achieve this.
Being horizontal increases your your resistance (up and down) in the water column. What this means is that if you take a big lung full of air and are horizontal you will see less of an ascent versus if you were vertical.
One of the problems with staying horizontal is that your trim comes into play. What I mean by that, is your balance. Think of yourself as a see-saw. If you have too much weight toward your head, you will go head down and be constantly in motion so you don't act like a lawn dart. To much weight toward your feet and you will be swimming through the water in a heads up position. The problem with this is that it is very inefficient. You are now pushing the water with your torso. Your ultimate goal is to have a spot right around your navel become your balance point. Trim is affected by weight position. One way to to change this is by moving your tank closer or further away from your head. If you are feet heavy - move the tank towards your head and vice a versa if you are head heavy. Another way to achieve trim is move some of your weight from your weightbelt to pockets on your tank.
Now that you have your balance point - trim taken care of you can move onto other aspects of buoyancy. This is controlled mainly by your BCD. It is effected by your lungs though. If you take a breath and hold it - your head will rise. Please don't hold your breath as it can cause some really nasty over expansion issues with your lungs. When you exhale you will tend to sink. When you understand how your breathing affects your buoyancy then you can move to the BCD. One of the best tips I can offer is to try to be proactive on inflating/deflating your BCD. Lets say you are descending down a line. You are in a horizontal position - much like a free falling skydiver. As you descend you need to add short puffs of air to your BCD. What you are looking for is a gradual but steady descent rate. To keep from slamming into the bottom, you want add enough air so that you can now hover above it a few feet. Unless you are approaching terminal velocity, short puffs of air are far better than one big burst. It's sort of like using your brakes in a car. Pumping is better than the terrorized skid.
Hovering off the bottom you decided that you want to move downward. Again watch your descent speed. Short proactive puffs will keep you from going too fast. One long belch into the BCD and you'll be rising towards the surface. Now you're at a depth where you just want swim along. See how your breathing affects your trim. Nice slow deep breaths and slowly exhaling are the ticket.
Phase 3:
Time to come back up. You are following a nice gradual bottom contour. As you ascend let out little burps of air from your BCD. Again be proactive. As you feel yourself just starting to ascend - deflate just a puff. I prefer (since I use a drysuit) to tilt my head up just slightly to do this and purge from my inflator/deflator hose. Using a rear dump is excellent techinque. You keep doing this until you get to your desired depth. You're at the anchor line and making your way up to your 15' stop. Again be proactive on deflating your BCD. Remaining horizontal will increase your resistance and thus slow and make your ascent more controlled. Holding your 15' stop is the same principle that you applied earlier by swimming at the same depth along the bottom. The only issue now is that you may have surge which moves you a bit.
A recent of example of why buoyancy and trim are conjoined:
My skills in the buoyancy department are very satisfactory. I have also become adept at my trim. Last week I had to use a backup drysuit. Normally I don't use ankle weights. I've always loathed them and thought of them as being poor solutions for bad technique. I had not used this suit in quite sometime, so I had forgotten that I used ankle weights with it. On my first dive I was head heavy and had to stay in constant motion just to keep from going head down. While my buoyancy was fine, my trim was appalling. I struggled the whole dive and my air consumption was very elevated. The next dive I added ankle weights. Phew!!! What a relief! I no longer felt like a new diver. I was able to hold a stationary position in the water and perform to my normal standards. My air consumption (SAC) went back to normal. The bottom line was not that I needed extra weight, but I needed the weight moved to balance out my trim.
So don't neglect your trim. If you do, it won't matter how good your buoyancy is.
Ideally you want to be able to hover in the water without moving up or down. There are several components to achieve this.
Being horizontal increases your your resistance (up and down) in the water column. What this means is that if you take a big lung full of air and are horizontal you will see less of an ascent versus if you were vertical.
One of the problems with staying horizontal is that your trim comes into play. What I mean by that, is your balance. Think of yourself as a see-saw. If you have too much weight toward your head, you will go head down and be constantly in motion so you don't act like a lawn dart. To much weight toward your feet and you will be swimming through the water in a heads up position. The problem with this is that it is very inefficient. You are now pushing the water with your torso. Your ultimate goal is to have a spot right around your navel become your balance point. Trim is affected by weight position. One way to to change this is by moving your tank closer or further away from your head. If you are feet heavy - move the tank towards your head and vice a versa if you are head heavy. Another way to achieve trim is move some of your weight from your weightbelt to pockets on your tank.
Now that you have your balance point - trim taken care of you can move onto other aspects of buoyancy. This is controlled mainly by your BCD. It is effected by your lungs though. If you take a breath and hold it - your head will rise. Please don't hold your breath as it can cause some really nasty over expansion issues with your lungs. When you exhale you will tend to sink. When you understand how your breathing affects your buoyancy then you can move to the BCD. One of the best tips I can offer is to try to be proactive on inflating/deflating your BCD. Lets say you are descending down a line. You are in a horizontal position - much like a free falling skydiver. As you descend you need to add short puffs of air to your BCD. What you are looking for is a gradual but steady descent rate. To keep from slamming into the bottom, you want add enough air so that you can now hover above it a few feet. Unless you are approaching terminal velocity, short puffs of air are far better than one big burst. It's sort of like using your brakes in a car. Pumping is better than the terrorized skid.
Hovering off the bottom you decided that you want to move downward. Again watch your descent speed. Short proactive puffs will keep you from going too fast. One long belch into the BCD and you'll be rising towards the surface. Now you're at a depth where you just want swim along. See how your breathing affects your trim. Nice slow deep breaths and slowly exhaling are the ticket.
Phase 3:
Time to come back up. You are following a nice gradual bottom contour. As you ascend let out little burps of air from your BCD. Again be proactive. As you feel yourself just starting to ascend - deflate just a puff. I prefer (since I use a drysuit) to tilt my head up just slightly to do this and purge from my inflator/deflator hose. Using a rear dump is excellent techinque. You keep doing this until you get to your desired depth. You're at the anchor line and making your way up to your 15' stop. Again be proactive on deflating your BCD. Remaining horizontal will increase your resistance and thus slow and make your ascent more controlled. Holding your 15' stop is the same principle that you applied earlier by swimming at the same depth along the bottom. The only issue now is that you may have surge which moves you a bit.
A recent of example of why buoyancy and trim are conjoined:
My skills in the buoyancy department are very satisfactory. I have also become adept at my trim. Last week I had to use a backup drysuit. Normally I don't use ankle weights. I've always loathed them and thought of them as being poor solutions for bad technique. I had not used this suit in quite sometime, so I had forgotten that I used ankle weights with it. On my first dive I was head heavy and had to stay in constant motion just to keep from going head down. While my buoyancy was fine, my trim was appalling. I struggled the whole dive and my air consumption was very elevated. The next dive I added ankle weights. Phew!!! What a relief! I no longer felt like a new diver. I was able to hold a stationary position in the water and perform to my normal standards. My air consumption (SAC) went back to normal. The bottom line was not that I needed extra weight, but I needed the weight moved to balance out my trim.
So don't neglect your trim. If you do, it won't matter how good your buoyancy is.
Hey... you misquoted me!
"Bouyancy control and breathing control are conjoined twins that cannot be separated without killing both."
Trim and weighting are their younger siblings
"Bouyancy control and breathing control are conjoined twins that cannot be separated without killing both."
Trim and weighting are their younger siblings
OP
mer-maiden
Registered
Wow. Thanks for the tips. I really appriciate them!
DOH! I'm so sorry sensei. Perhaps after going to the bottom of many oceans I will become worthy.Uncle Pug:
What Pug says is true. You can't have one without the other. You can have buoyancy without good trim and we see this particularly with new divers. Having good trim and correct weighting affects your buoyancy. It also makes you much more efficient which means your tank will last longer.
You will know you are worthy, grasshopper, when you can close your eyes and find Sensei's lost magnifier and camera housing by seeking with your inner eye.OE2X:
EricJ
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While following all this great advice, don't forget to relax and enjoy your dives. For me, buoyancy control just kept getting better the more I dove and the more comfortable I got with all the diving skills and equipment.
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