Buoyancy 101

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Lateralus

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Any thread or resource on here to read up on Buoyancy. I have trouble with this. It seems like I'm either riding a Bike underwater or I'm about to run into a Coral. It's kind of annoying.

I've done about 20+ dives and the situations always change. Wetsuits, weights, etc...

Would like to read up more on this. Got a trip coming up and would like to focus this trip on Mastering Buoyancy.
 
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First do a weight check. If you are over-weighted life will suck. Most new divers are over weighted for a variety of reasons. Like they don't stop finning during their weight check. ;-)

Then find an instructor who, in the water, looks like the diver you want to be. (Which should be horizontal, rock stable, and completely controlled.). Take a buoyancy class from that person.
 
I always suggest that students never think about buoyancy in a vacuum. You have to consider "the holy trinity" of dive skills together: Bouyancy Control, Horizontal Trim, and Efficient Propulsion techniques. They work together to allow you to be in control of where you are in the water column.

Your bouyancy can be spot on, but if you are 45deg head up... you're going to swim up. Likewise, you can overweight yourself to correct for swimming head-up in order to pull yourself back down. And ultimately how you move your body in the water can overcompensate for bad weighting/trim... or upset good weighting/trim.

Work on them together... as they are all interrelated.

Ray
 
What decompression said... Take a buoyancy class... The more you dive, the more you will relax.

One insta-buddy lady I was diving with, was all over the place. Her arms were flailing and her feet were pedaling. I motioned for her to stop moving her arms and pedaling her feet. Voila!... She was neutrally buoyant. Just a thought...

Jim
 
Oh, I love this question, because I have such good resources to share with you!

Check out the Skills section on diveDIR.com -- http://divedir.com/Skills-articles/Categories/Listings/skills/Page-1.html. Articles on buoyancy, and a whole set of exercises you can play with. Also check out what he has to say about Trim, because it's an important part of stability underwater.

Also check out Don Chennavasin's articles at Page not found | Deep-Sea SherpaHe has some great stuff on buoyancy and trim. (Ignore the fact that the link parses as page not found . . . at least for me, clicking on the link in this thread works.)

Kudos to you for caring . . . and it CAN be mastered. I am living proof. I can't even keep track of the number of corkage events I had as a new diver, and now I can do valve drills in 3' of water, without moving. Buoyancy can be learned. You just have to want to do it, and be willing to put in the time.
 
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It is good you recognize a problem exists and the primary issue is you are overweighted and out if trim.

Another is that you are subconciously attemoting to walk rather than swim.

And please do atay off the coral as it may never grow back or take many years. Once gone it dies not easily come back.

N
 
Go kick your instructor in the nuts and ask for a refund because he has "stolen" your money. Buoyancy is a basic but vital skill and the foundation for scuba.

I know its a lot of time and money, but I would seriously look at a Fundies class if you can't find a mentor to help you fix the problems you currently have.
 
You may find The Six Skills and Other Discussions by Steve Lewis to be a useful reference for theory.

There is no substitute for working with a competent and experienced instructor, and even that will make little difference without practice, practice, practice.
 
To stop bicycling just use a LOT less knee action. Use your legs more like long levers and kick from the hip using your core and thigh muscles more than the calf muscles. This will make your finning more powerful and help you trim out as well.
 
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