Diving tech with unflexible left arm

[Fangorn]

Hi

In the future I want to undertake a tech diving course and maybe start diving with a double set. Problem is my left arm is not flexible behind my shoulder/head. I can hardly put my left palm behind my neck, but not below the neck. I can probably not perform a valve drill with my left hand although I havent tried. I've had this unflexible left arm all my life, so it's probably due to some genetical joint misconfiguration It's not something I can stretch to make it more flexible.

So the question is - is there any intro tech courses I can participate in? Can I have two independent side mounts, as I've seen cave divers have? If not I will go to a doctor to see if surgery can help me

I post this here and not in the disabled divers section b/c of the tech aspect. My left arm is functional otherwise (strength etc), it's just not functional behind my back and shoulders.

Thanks

 

[Kevrumbo]

Try the UTD Z-system Sidemount
Ultimate Fun wreck diving with the Z-System - Unified Team Diving
http://www.unifiedteamdiving.com/page/side-mount-classes
Worlwide based UTD Instructors - Unified Team Diving

 

[rongoodman]

Sidemount is the first thing that I thought of too.

 

[Akimbo]

Inverted doubles are fairly common in the UK. Valve-down is a standard in the commercial diving industry, mainly to protect the regulator from impact entering the bell hatch and working in confined spaces. See: Nigel's twinset rig

All my doubles are inverted.

 

[ajduplessis]

Firstly you can gain more flexibility by doing stretches and it can be quite dramatic if you put in the effort.

That being said, independent doubles or inverted doubles are also options. You need to take a hard look at all three options and decide what setup has the best pros & cons for the type of diving you want to do. All of these options have good and bad.

More importantly you need to find the right instructor that is certified/skilled in the setup you want to dive.

 

[SandyRobinson]

When performing valve drills, you can loosen your waist belt which will give you more wiggle room with your doubles. Not sure if this will help you reach the left valve or not. If no, your future instructor may be able to help as mentioned above. Good luck in your pursuit - hope I tll works out for you.

 

[DevonDiver]

Invert or side-mount if after proper instruction, you cannot easily and rapidly attain the valves for shut-down.

 

[Fangorn]

Thanks for all the answers. After surfing the net I think I will switch to a side mount rig in the future. Meanwhile I will enjoy diving my single setup to get more diving experience. I didnt know there's that many side mount courses around. Unfortunately there's not many instructors in Sweden, were I live.

Edit: flexibility stretches won't help, I think it's a physical problem with my left shoulder/arm. It's strong but I can't reach it with it behind my back. Also, if I would try with a standard configuration, I think I would have to stretch myself really hard just to try to shut down the left vault - very high risk of injury under water. It don't think I would enjoy the dives either. So Im gonna dive a lot now for experience and save some money for a new side mount rig etc + courses next summer. Cheers!