Breathing and bouyancy

[SangP]

Hi all,

Of all the skills to learn, bouyancy control is the most important to learn and the most difficult to master.

I noticed that some of us tend to take deep breaths and others tend to take more shallow or regular breaths.

I usually take deep breaths but it causes some bouyance problems as I raise and fall according to my breathing.

How can I improve my bouyancy control and what drills should I do to find out which type of breathing best suits me to improve my bouyancy.

Practice is always the best but it helps if there are any tips from the experts to best self train myself before, during and after the dive to improve my bouyancy.

Cheers,

SangP

 

[DiverBuoy]

These threads will help you with your questions:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=82482
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=112056
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=103301
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=55817

and of course search on "buoyancy" and "breathing" for a list of a thousands threads.

 

[SangP]

Thanks so much,

I really needed those threads as the thousands that were available are just too much info to digest.

Cheers,

SangP

 

[jmps]

These are great threads. This was not talked about enough during my OW course. I read about it here and when I got to my check out dives in Roatan I was SO much better prepared. The instructor there said that I was trained really well, much better than the typical referral! He said he actually enjoyed diving with me and that is usually not the case for him during referrals. Scubaboard really helped me understand a lot.

 

[H2Andy]

i find myself adjusting my breathing all the time... i try not to get
behind the 8-ball re/ bouyancy (anticipate, anticipate, anticipate), but
even then, sometimes i need to use breath control

most of the time, i breathe normally, not too deep, not too shallow

however, i can use my breath to affect bouyancy when i need it... if i am
too negative, i will begin to breathe heavier and hold the air longer (without
closing my airway)

liewise, if i am positive, i will breathe shallower and keep my lungs
"empty" longer (again, without closing my airway)

usually this gives me sufficient time to adjust my bouyancy so that
i can go back to "neutral" breathing

also, lots of times, rather than using my BC, i change bouyancy with
breathing changes, to minimize disruption to the "equilibrium"

 

[GDI]

read this and see if it helps. breathing is a big part of buoyancy.

http://www.genesisdiving.com/buoyancy.shtml

 

[Manta Aria]

I'm with H2ANDY. Once my weight is set properly all I have to do is adjust my breathing to whatever situation arises and I try to avoid using my BC too much as I did in the beginning. This not only conserves air but brings a greater level of personal awareness and discipline in the equation. I was VERY frustrated at first but all the veteran divers told me it would come in time, and it did. : )

 

[moneysavr]

Dive,Dive,Dive! as you dive more you relax,get your lead right,RELAX! Relax some more,and get into this Zen like thing and wam! your skills will be in tune,it takes time ! It will all fall in place~!
Brad

 

[scubafool]

Something that will help with bouyancy control is getting your trim right. Adjusting placement of your weights in order to get a horizontal attitude will help, since the drag a horizontal profile presents to up or down movements is much greater than that of a vertical profile.

 

[mfalco]

I found that adjusting my boyancy with breathing came naturally to me. I think I am an exception. My diving instructor said he has seen very few people that take to it as well as I do. Possible it was to make the others in the class feel better.

It seems to me that your lungs hold alot more air than you breath in and out during normal breathing. I found that I could breath out a little extra in one breath to decrease my boyancy, or breath in a little extra in one breath to increase my boyancy. After that one breath I would just breath normally.

Thena again I am a VERY inexperienced diver.