Buoyancy Issues

[DiverDean59]

As a NEWBIE OW with 12 freshwater dives, I will say this. My class did not teach me anything about breathing, (well besides just keep breathing and don't hold your breath) buoyancy, trim, or fin pivots. I was told that would come after about 30 dives. Ok, so not being able to hold myself in the water on dive one will somehow magically change because of some magic number? Thank goodness I was saved from myself by a skilled diver who saw my potential. In one weekend, I was taught and understood the concept of trim. By the 2nd day, I had accomplished a fleeting moment of neutral buoyancy! Now, taking what I had learned, I went to the pool...along with some changes in my set up. Granted, In that weekend, it took almost 20lbs to get me under the water. (hood, 2 part ws total of 6ml) I worked on my breathing in the pool, worked on holding myself in trim, and worked on my frog kick. Now this past weekend, I dropped down 10lbs in the same gear. I also added JET FINS which after getting used to them, actually made it easier to move in the water. Because I had learned to exhale completely on descent, I didn't need all the weight to get me under. However, ascending will take alot more work. I do have much more control with my descent and no longer bounce off the bottom. The amazing thing I found, when moving in the water horizontal, hands clasped in front of me, the fish swam with me. They also were very friendly when I hovered. When you aren't stirring things up flailing around, they tend to want to check you out! So. as a new diver coming into this sport, I found the OW course through SSI to be very lacking, and when it came to safety, the thinking was it probably will never happen. Umm, I do not think that way. Call me a pessimist, but I prepare for the worst, if it doesn't happen then it has been a good day. I am headed back to the pool one more time before my trip next week to the Bahamas. It will be my first Ocean dive so I am a bit anxious. I am going with my instructor and others from my dive shop. I know they will be looking out for me, but I am grateful and lucky that I have had alot more training outside my LDS to get me where I am now. Practice, get comfortable, and learn from other divers. That is what has been working for me!

KUDOS to my MENTOR and DIVE BUDDY PERRONE FORD! Without him, I would still be flailing in the water scaring all the fish and probably the other divers!

--Carolyn

ONWARD, DOWNWARD, and into the BLUE!

Everyone that has the desire to be a good diver should have the opportunity to have a great Mentor. Do you or Perrone have any addtional foolproof methods for buoyancy or is it mostly by feel? There must be some foolproof methods and maybe it is how most training is started that develops bad habits.

 

[DiverDean59]

Check out this link on the board. One of the reasons I want to learn good buoyancy control.


http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/59428/cat/all/si/buoyancy

 

[TSandM]

Do you or Perrone have any addtional foolproof methods for buoyancy or is it mostly by feel?

I know you asked Carolyn and Perrone, but can I offer some thoughts?

For me, the first key to buoyancy control was the ability to be still. My Fundies instructor told us something that hit seriously home: If you have to be in motion all the time, you aren't balanced. A lot of new divers, because of the feet-down attitude they assume in the water, have to dive with a nasty combination of persistent negative buoyancy and constant finning. The inherent instability in this scenario also results in a lot of swimming with one's hands. Steve told us, "Using your hands is INFORMATION, because you are doing it to try to deal with a buoyancy or balance problem somewhere else. Look at what you are doing -- If you are pushing yourself up with your hands, you're negative; if you're pushing yourself down, you're positive, and if you're only using one hand, you may be unbalanced."

Spending the time to work on hovering -- Hover horizontal and see where you tend to tip. Use a combination of posture and redistribution of weight to get yourself to where you can maintain a horizontal position without major finning or hand waving. (Don't worry if you have to do a little bit. It takes YEARS of practice to be perfectly still, I think!)

Once you have a stable basic platform (horizontal hover), you'll be able to see the effects of the changes you make -- whether that's with breath or BC or attitude or finning -- much more easily, and the learning curve gets MUCH steeper.

 

[DiverDean59]

I know you asked Carolyn and Perrone, but can I offer some thoughts?

For me, the first key to buoyancy control was the ability to be still. My Fundies instructor told us something that hit seriously home: If you have to be in motion all the time, you aren't balanced. A lot of new divers, because of the feet-down attitude they assume in the water, have to dive with a nasty combination of persistent negative buoyancy and constant finning. The inherent instability in this scenario also results in a lot of swimming with one's hands. Steve told us, "Using your hands is INFORMATION, because you are doing it to try to deal with a buoyancy or balance problem somewhere else. Look at what you are doing -- If you are pushing yourself up with your hands, you're negative; if you're pushing yourself down, you're positive, and if you're only using one hand, you may be unbalanced."

Spending the time to work on hovering -- Hover horizontal and see where you tend to tip. Use a combination of posture and redistribution of weight to get yourself to where you can maintain a horizontal position without major finning or hand waving. (Don't worry if you have to do a little bit. It takes YEARS of practice to be perfectly still, I think!)

Once you have a stable basic platform (horizontal hover), you'll be able to see the effects of the changes you make -- whether that's with breath or BC or attitude or finning -- much more easily, and the learning curve gets MUCH steeper.

You mention a couple of things that hit home.

I feel that sometimes I am in constant motion to try to compensate for the buoyancy issue. I especially use my hands a lot to either float up or down.

The other thing you mention is the fin down position. Is that just a posturing thing or as a result of being improperly weighted?

 

[wulvrine74]

I think it's all about practice practice practice. The more you dive, the better you will be at it.
Dont be too concerned about not feeling "self-confident". You are a new diver and you are entering a world that you have NEVER been in before. You will soon see how amazing it is, learn how to control yourself and feel like you are anamazing diver.

Relax, all in good time!

 

[TSandM]

The other thing you mention is the fin down position. Is that just a posturing thing or as a result of being improperly weighted?

It can be either, or both.

A lot of newer divers carry way too much weight. (We went diving with a couple last weekend, and took a total of twenty four pounds off the two of them!) And if you take that overweighting and hang it all in waist-level integrated weight pockets, or on a weight belt, you are very often far too heavy low on your body, enough so that you can't really do anything with your posture to compensate effectively.

So the first thing is to get properly weighted. Then, once that's accomplished, you can play with your posture to see if you can get horizontal with your weight where you have it (although almost anybody diving in cold water is going to have to get some of the weight up on their shoulders somehow). Understanding how arranging your body parts affects this is key, as is knowing your gear -- If your fins are negative, then getting them further out behind you wil help bring your feet down; if they are positive and you're wearing neoprene booties, putting your feet further out behind you may not do much, or may even make you more head-down. Why is why, of course, you have to play with these things.

Several things contribute to the feet down posture: Too much weight, especially low on the body. Diving with your hip joints flexed (dropping the knees). And setting your tank too low in the cambands. Finding a position where you can reach the valve on your tank while you're diving will fix the last problem. Concentrating on using your butt muscles to keep your knees up will fix the second one (and yes, it's uncomfortable at first). And a good weight check and using your trim pockets (or camband weight pockets, if your BC doesn't have trim pockets) will fix the first.

I think it's all about practice practice practice.

There's a lot of truth to this, but you have to do more than just practice. Physics is unarguable -- If gravity is not working in your favor, no amount of practice is going to solve the problem.

 

[MaconBubbles]

One of my pet peeves in watching people get taught mask flood skills is watching them do it kneeling -- which, when they tilt their head up almost always tilt their body back! This, of course, has the tendency to put their nose in a position to be the exit point for the water which means when they try to clear the flood they are blowing water into their nose and down into their throat.

I have the problem of getting water in my nose while clearing my mask if it is full of water. What is the best position to be in to prevent this?

 

[Thalassamania]

any position that permits you to exhale through your nose.

 

[Peter Guy]

Stephi asked

I have the problem of getting water in my nose while clearing my mask if it is full of water. What is the best position to be in to prevent this?

IF you must be kneeling to do this exercise, bend your torso forward so you are looking down and then tilt your head up. This will put the bottom of the mask as the lowest point, not your nostrils.

wulverine74 wrote

I think it's all about practice practice practice. The more you dive, the better you will be at it.

Not to make too much of point of this, but "t's all about PERFECT practice...." All too often people will go and "practice" but they are practicing the wrong thing and just reinforcing the wrong thing.

I started playing with doubles on 1/1/2007 and now have about 14 dives on them. TSandM has been "mentioning" that my trim stinks although I feel that I'm absolutely horizontal and flat -- hmmm. So while TSandM did her pre-RecTriox freak out dive last night, I told my buddy his job was to let me know if I horizontal or cockeyed. Now I had been practicing, practicing, practicing being quiet and horizontal in my doubles BUT I had not been Doing It Right! OTOH, when my buddy told me I was cockeyed, I adjusted my position and checked him again -- he said fine. To me I was VERY head down -- but this dive gave me the opportunity to "perfectly practice" how it felt to be horizontal in my gear.

 

[PerroneFord]

OTOH, when my buddy told me I was cockeyed, I adjusted my position and checked him again -- he said fine. To me I was VERY head down -- but this dive gave me the opportunity to "perfectly practice" how it felt to be horizontal in my gear.

I think this is the magic bullet for most. You just cannot BELIEVE how heads down you feel the first time you actually get in trim. You feel like you are doing a head stand. I actually overdid this for about 2 months before Fundies, and had to move back the other way. Now, my trim is pretty good. Back to working on buoyancy!