Do you self-train?

[bluefrogfish]

Out of the OW course skills there are some that will be practice during the normal course of any dive like descend, ascend, swiming, buoyancy control, or even mask claring, etc.
But few other situations are less likely to occur and, however, should be practice until they become second nature like mask removal, regulator recovery, equipment removal and in my opinion buddy breathing.
The original question was wether we practice the skills on a regular basis or not: in me case I don´t purpousely practice anymore, but I find myself using the skills in real life situations very often. For instance: if you are making some bubble rings during a safety stop you are doing some regulator recovery. If I want to adjust the mask strap during the dive I may remove the mask to do it. If my tank strap gets loose or if my head is hitting the tank valve I´d do a equipment removal.
I do practice the basic buddy skills once in a while if my buddy has not been diving for a while.
Practice, practice, pratice....

 

[boomer68]

I am a newer diver (certified in May) and my wife is my buddy and my boss. We always do the basics just to practice. Mask Clear, Remove and Replace Mask, B. Control and Hover, Regulator Sweep, and Share Air. By practicing, in a real situation these things will become second nature. Just my 2 cents.

 

[TSandM]

I actually thought about this thread, and Mr. X's objection to teaching yourself NEW things, as I was doing my very first line-running last night. (Weird to be thinking about Scubaboard while scuba-ing ) What it comes down to is that common sense and a reasonable analysis of risk is important for any activity in this sport. Or probably any sport.

 

[Aaagogo]

every dive to me is a training dive

i learn new things each dive, be it i'm spearfishing or lobstering or wreck peneration or when i'm in the caves or even just a regular drift dive