Ok - this is my confession - I hate the sensation of falling so the giant stride is not my friend. I understand the water will "catch" me, I understand my BCD has air in it that will stop me from sinking like a rock before I am ready to go under - but that feeling of falling between the dock and the water terrifies me.
Becca65,
I learned the "giant stride" or "life-saving stride" during the initial skin-diving part of my open water course: Wear swimsuit, mask, fins, snorkel, and weight belt, only. (No wetsuit, no diveskin, no scuba.) Just stride out, snorkel in your mouth, holding your mask so it does not come off your face, and bring your legs/fins together forcefully immediately as you enter the water to generate upward thrust which keeps your eyes and snorkel from submerging. Some people hold the buckle of their weight belt, too, while striding in. With a few repetitions, this becomes quite easy to do, quite comfortable.
Give this a try next time you're at the pool. Repeat. Repeat again until it's no big deal. (Obviously, the pool has to have sufficient depth. You wouldn't do this in shallow water, right?)
When you're ready, after a few of these skin-diving sessions, add scuba, and do it again. Things are simplest if you use an Al 63, an Al 80 or a steel 72--you know, a tank that can never become too negatively buoyant. The only new cares are (1) cradle your gauges (and 2nd stage, too, if you choose to enter under snorkel power), and (2) tilt your head forward a bit more (to guard against impact with your 1st stage). You'll be amazed how easy this is once you've "mastered" the skin-diving giant stride first!
Safe Diving,
rx7diver