DIR-F Report

[Sloth]

Yes, Mark, but that you know that you know what you really don't know, is good to know. Ya' know?

My head hurts .... :confused1

 

[detroit diver]

In addition, if you do any photography or video work, it is invaluable.

I'd like to use this skill when:

>I'm facing my buddy and want to be able to back away a bit.

>I'm diving a wall, facing it, and want to back away a foot or so (no touching!).

>I move into some enclosure - small cave, wreck, kelp, etc. - and need to get out without turning around.

>We're in a circle around a stubby squid and I slide forward with the current and scare it away, wrecking the experience for the group (this actually happened!) and I want to be able to hold myself against the current.

I'm sure there's more examples, but the backwards kick is NOT just a parlor trick

 

[kidspot]

Congratulations to both of you! I've still got to pass and my 6month provisional rating is nearly up ... hopefully the next time a GUE instructor comes through town I can complete everything...

Aloha, Tim

On July 15-17, my husband and I took the DIR-F course in Houston, TX. I am very ecstatic that we both passed the course on our first try! Admittedly, we still have a lot to work on .

For the full(er) report, visit here:

http://www.chumclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=475

We had a great time and highly recommend doing the course early-on. We both had 22 dives before the course... 15 of those were in our BP/wings, which also helped.

Instructors Tyler Moon, Dave Sweetin, and intern Derek Bennett were outstanding.

 

[mer]

Back kick is also useful for stopping forward motion on a dime. Useful when reeling up a reel and needing to stop, all while keeping tension on the line.

The GUE standard for kicks at the fundamentals level is: "Comfortably demonstrate at least two propulsion techniques that would be appropriate in delicate and/or silty environments." Ergo, if you can do a modified frog and a modified flutter kick, you are good to go.

But keep working on that back kick, trust me, it becomes *really* important down the road.

 

[jonnythan]

The back kick is, IME, most handy at simply keeping your position in the water. It's extremely difficult to keep perfectly still.. even look at the DIR videos and you will see very slight finning just to maintain body position.

Back kicking is the only good way to, as mer noted, stop forward motion. Not only on a dime, but completely. Even if you're kicking moderately and stop, you will glide for quite a bit before you come to a complete stop.

Hovering over your reel while you're securing it to something, facing your buddy while ascending, holding position in a light current, etc... A quick frog followed by a quick back kick is a great way to quickly change position a couple inches or a foot but continue to remain still. Think a bit less "moving backwards" and more "not moving at all" and you will see a myriad of great new places to implement backwards kicking.

 

[mer]

Back kicking to tweak depth... back kicks can be done that will move you up or down in the water column, only without the crashing into buddy of a forward kick.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I practice this backward kick just because I was shown it once and thought it was fun to try. But I've yet to be in a situation where I actually needed to use it. For my diving so far, it's just kind of a cute trick, like walking on your hands. Takes some practice but what use is it?

For one of our local dives it comes in real handy when looking at a well-known octopus den tucked underneath the bow of a sunken boat. Once you're done looking you can back out from underneath the bow and continue your dive.

Another time it came in really handy ... although for my dive buddy more than for me ... she was videotaping some footage for a TV show on aquafarming, and we were swimming in mussel beds. If you've never done that, they hang on wires in a grid. The wires are spaced about three feet apart. She swam into the grid a bit to get some footage, then backed out.

On some of the warm water dives I've been on ... the only time I ever attempt to take photographs ... I've used the back kick to position myself to "frame" the picture. I use a Nikonos, which is a fixed lens. So I just swim in close, then slowly back up till I get it framed the way I want it. If you look at my avatar, that's exactly what I'm doing in that photo ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

The back kick is, IME, most handy at simply keeping your position in the water. It's extremely difficult to keep perfectly still.. even look at the DIR videos and you will see very slight finning just to maintain body position.

Jonny ... you have GOT to come out here and dive with Uncle Pug. He sometimes sits so still in the water you're tempted to tap him just to make sure he hasn't turned into a statue or something ... especially when he pulls out that magnifying glass to "study" a nudibranch.

I used to do just what you're talking about ... but he'd reach over and grab my fin tips and signal for me to sit perfectly still. After a while, I learned what it really meant to hover ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[jonnythan]

Well geez Bob, you don't have to make me feel bad

I do that too when I think about it.. but I really have to think about it. I'd love to dive with you guys and see how you do it.. the stories you guys tell about each other and the way you guys look at diving is always fascinating. I'll take a trip out there one of these days..

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Well geez Bob, you don't have to make me feel bad

I do that too when I think about it.. but I really have to think about it. I'd love to dive with you guys and see how you do it.. the stories you guys tell about each other and the way you guys look at diving is always fascinating. I'll take a trip out there one of these days..

Hope so ... (sorry 'bout the "feel bad" part) ...

I have to think about it too ... but not as much as I used to ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)