Buoyancy techniques

[ScubaKeith001]

As a new diver I have always wanted to continue to learn and broden my horizins to be the best I can be as a diver. Can anyone on here give me some good buoyancy techniques that I can learn that will help my buoyancy, maybe that I didnt learn from the OW course???? I have a regular BCD with a weight belt and some tank weights. (Not sure if that matters at all).

 

[elan]

Dive dive and dive, thats the best technique i have ever learned minimize the amount of lead you need and dive

 

[Pelagicsal]

Dive dive dive That's the best way to improve your buoyancy control.
Slow down and pay attention to how your breathing affects your vertical movement. Closer to your perfect neutral weight (get the lead out) the easier your buoyancy control.
Get someone skilled to help you work on your trim so that you are horizontal in the water without working to get there.
Good luck! Glad this is an important goal for you!

 

[Jim Lapenta]

It can matter a great deal if they are not used correctly. You first need to be properly weighted and those weights distributed correctly. The procedure should be in your OW manual and mine can be found in my book. Once you are correctly weighted you need to distribute those weights so that they are where you need them. You should be able to hover in a prone position horizontal in the water. With minimal movement you should not tilt in either direction. You can also do things like move your tank up and down in the straps. I did a workshop with guy two weekends ago and moving his tank up in the BC 2 inches had a major effect on his trim as well as shedding 8lbs from his weights. In addition getting him to arch his back slightly and bend his knees up to use a modified frog or modified flutter was of real benefit. If you have someone that understands - I mean really understands buoyancy and trim it will be a big help. Have them watch you swim and hover in actual diving positions.

Just saw someone mention breathing. Very important! Your breathing rate should not change no matter what skill you are doing. You do not need to take a bigger breath than normal to clear your mask, reg, or any other task. You can breathe deeper and exhale slower to change position in the water column but not to do skill.

 

[Pelagicsal]

What he said!

 

[herman]

Great post Jim. Not really a buoyancy technique but making sure you are getting ALL of the air out of your BC before doing weight checks will make your life easier.

 

[ramasule]

"Your breathing rate should not change no matter what skill you are doing. You do not need to take a bigger breath than normal to clear your mask, reg, or any other task. You can breathe deeper and exhale slower to change position in the water column but not to do skill." Jim

That one takes some getting used to Just remind yourself to do it before you do it, as you will probably have a natural tendency to take a deep breath and hold it before performing a task I imagine.

 

[gypsyjim]

Every answer above is correct. Diving till you are really relaxed in the water, all by itself will reduce the weight you find that you "need". Learning to ascend and descend in the horizontal position, and use the rear dump valve will give you much better control of your buoyancy. Learning to truly empty the buoyancy device completely, and then relax, and begin the descent is one of the stumbling blocks I see a lot of newer divers take some time to accomplish. Relaxed, controlled breathing gives you both a stable buoyancy, and a tool you can use in a dive to adjust you buoyancy as you need to, by minor adjustments in volume of each breath.

Get in the water and dive. Watch for other divers who seem to stand out for their stability and control, and see if you can see what it is that they are doing differently from other divers.
ask them for pointers. Most really good divers are more than happy to share their knowledge, and help other develop better skills.

 

[TSandM]

One of the best things anyone said to me, when I was struggling with buoyancy control, was Doc Intrepid's comment that buoyancy is about 80% mental.

It is important to understand the relationship between proper weighting and buoyancy control (being overweighted makes you much more unstable in the water column, as the extra air you have to carry for the excess weight expands and contracts). It is important to understand the relationship of position (trim) to buoyancy control, and HERE is an article that explains it better than I can.

But in the end, relaxed, rhythmic breathing is the core of buoyancy, and it's what goes out the window when you are task-loaded, or anxious, or inattention gets you into a situation of instability. Staying calm and focused helps you keep your breathing regular, and keeping your breathing regular makes you more stable and allows you to be more relaxed and calm. And spending more time in the water helps you learn to relax -- but it won't come easily if you are improperly weighted or badly out of balance.

If you have a local dive site with some structure in it, it is an excellent exercise to hover and move up and down the structure -- move up three feet, stop, and move down three feet and stop. Another good exercise is to break your ascents and descents into chunks -- descend to ten feet, stop, okay your buddy/ies, and then proceed to the bottom (or stop every ten feet on the way down). For best learning, it is important to do your buoyancy practice while you are NOT swimming, because finning can mask a fair amount of incorrect buoyancy.

 

[DevonDiver]

There will an awful lot that probably wasn't taught or fine-tuned on an entry-level scuba course.

You have to perfect your weighting first. Unless you've specifically been down at 5m, with less than 500psi, and experimented with adding/removing weights, then there is still improvement you can make in this respect. You need enough weight to achieve neutral buoyancy for your safety stop, at reserve gas levels. No more, no less. If you eliminate surplus/unnecessary weight, then you will also reduce the air needed in your BCD that has to compensate for over-weighting. Less air in your BCD equates to less dramatic variance in that volume as you ascend and descend. Having properly confirmed your weighting, you will also know that any issues involved with descending will be due to technique, not weight.

Once you've got your weighting sorted, you need to work on your trim. Trim is important because the angle of your body in the water will determine whether 100% of your fin thrust is used for propulsion - or whether it also contributes to/confuses your buoyancy. If you have a head-up/feet-down trim, then some of your fin thrust is contributing to upwards (rather than horizontal) lift... which is mistaken for positive buoyancy. You have to learn how to get horizontal. Then you have to fine-tune your configuration (tank position, trim weights, choice of positive/negative fins etc etc) to make it easy to attain and maintain horizontal buoyancy.

Having ticked weighting and trim from your list; it is time to work on your breathing. Without bad trim/fining interfering with your buoyancy, you can finally start to get a real feel for BCD control and fine-tuning with lung volume manipulation. This comes easily only once the other foundation factors (weight/trim etc) are perfected.

@scubakeith... drop me a pm with your email. I will send you a draft copy of my Advanced Buoyancy Workshop handout.

Also keep an eye on my Blog... as I have a series of articles on buoyancy over the coming weeks. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/blogs/devondiver/27-scuba-buoyancy-masterclass-1of9.html