Different buoyancy on different positions?

[nshon]

I seem to float in the horizontal position and sink when vertical. Is this normal?

 

[ScubaFreak]

You should be able to hover and descend in both positions, its the joys of learning to control your buoyancy.
Try different weight placements and see if that helps.

 

[jbd]

I seem to float in the horizontal position and sink when vertical. Is this normal?

If you float in any position you are positively buoyant and won't sink. Likewise if you sink in any position you are negatively buoyant and won't float in any position. The real joy, as ScubaFreak noted, is in being neutrally buoyant unless you choose to be otherwise for some reason i.e. to ascend or descend.

 

[Jester]

Try different weight configurations and practice, practice, practice!

It really does get easier as you gain in experience.

 

[miketsp]

What's probably happening is you've got air trapped in your wet-suit/hood and when you go vertical the air rises out and you sink. This is quite common if your wet-suit is not a good fit. Once you start descending you should be able to go horizontal.
On most hoods the air-release slot is on top.

 

[MB]

You might be practicing horizontal buoyancy while holding your breath temporarily. For many folks, a horizontal position UW feels weird at first. It means seeing the world thru a different perspective. Because of this, some people inadvertantly hold their breath, with full lungs, while they adjust to a horizontal position. Result? A bit of a float... While working on buoyancy in an upright vertical position, you might be breathing normally, or even using a slow resting breathing pattern. Several seconds with relatively little air in your lungs --> a bit negative. Or if your breathing is normal in the vertical position, you might just be a little over weighted.

So next time, pay attention to your breathing pattern while you are in the different positions. You might discover your bbuoyancy is more related to that than to the horizontal vs vertical positions. Its cool to learn about your body UW!

 

[MSilvia]

Another thought is that you might be negative when horizontal too, but that you are kicking at a slightly downward angle and therefore propelling yourself slightly upward, thereby offsetting the tendancy to sink... literally putting yourself in a sink or swim situation. If this is what's going on, you're wasting a lot of energy, and will probably find that if you drop several pounds of weight both your bouyancy and air consumption will improve considerably.

Can you maintain neutral bouyancy when horizontal if you remain motionless and breathe normally?

 

[pasley]

Lets start with some simple physics. An air bubble is an air bubble and it will have the same displacement (lift) capacity regardless of your orientation IMHO.

I agree with MSilvia. The most likely cause is that you are actually negative and creating lift by swimming, even slowly and or by swimming at a slight angle. Remember movement, any movement will create lift. Conversely, if you rise while vertical, it could be you are swimming at a slight down angle to compensate.

MB also has a point. Often when we stop to check our gauges, or "talk" with our fellow divers and go vertical to do so, our attention is elsewhere and you may hold more or less air in your lungs which would affect your buoyancy. While I am neutral in the water and can hold my position with out moving whether vertical or horizontal, I often find myself drifting up when "talking" to another diver about their air or what ever, as I am distracted and may take in more air than I normally do. This is not an issue when I am just looking at something. I tend to control my depth more with my lungs than with my BC so it is just a matter of focus.

MikeTSP could also have a point. You could be catching some of your exhaust bubbles in your hood, and dumping that air out in the verticle position.

 

[Charlie99]

I seem to float in the horizontal position and sink when vertical. Is this normal?

No it's not normal.

In addition to the other possibilities mentioned, you might monitor your breathing next time. Perhaps you tend to keep your lungs more inflated when horizontal than when vertical.

 

[ChrisA]

I seem to float in the horizontal position and sink when vertical. Is this normal?

It's not possable. The problem must be in your method of testing. Perhaps the amount of air in your lungs is different in each possition or small movments of the arms or legs propell you up or down. In order for what you describe to occure you have to be doing something in addition to changing possitin in the water likely without even knowing it.