Drills routines - any tips?

[InTheDrink]

Hi,

I've started going to the pool on Thursday's with LDS. Typically everyone's doing some course bar me. I just play about looking silly doing drills, from different finning techniques to dealing with a free flowing reg to lost mask etc. Basic skills yes but I'm unlikely to become a worse diver from practising. And it keeps me out of the pub.

Normally I just have a vague idea of what I might do and then do it as I think about it on the night. But I would like to take a more structured approach to it and work on different tasks (e.g. free flow), then different combinations of tasks (e.g. free flow & lost mask etc.) and ideally be able to measure progress, although that bit's not as important.

Anyone out there have any thoughts on what a good list might look like? I'm by myself so buddy drills won't be applicable unfortunately.

Here is my instant off the cuff list so not intended to be partial, nevermind exhaustive and any additions to this would be helpful. Or could be rather.

Swim across pool breathing from:
Freeflowing reg
BC dump

Turn tank off and on
SMB deployment (is this practical in a pool???)
Remove LPIH underwater and replace
Lost Mask
One fin swim


TIA,
John

 

[Dr Neil]

Basic drills are ok, but what about working on buoyancyand trim?
Take a variety of thermal gear, tanks etc. in the pool and perfect your buoyancy.

Practice in the pool is simply practice. There is only so much you can do.

 

[boat sju]

Hi,

Swim across pool breathing from:
BC dump


TIA,
John

John,

There's been some debate in the past about the value of breathing from your bc, but I believe consensus was not to practice it because who knows what kind of bacteria you might be breathing.

 

[TSandM]

I think mask remove and replace is a very good one to practice frequently.

Another superb exercise is to hover. Put a weight or something on the bottom of the pool, and see if you can hover directly above it. You can start by putting one finger on it, but work toward not needing any touch at all. If you're really good at hovering motionless, try it with your eyes closed.

Swimming down the slope of the pool while orally inflating the BC is another good one.

You can definitely deploy an SMB in a pool (we've practiced it in ours, which has a max depth of 9') but it may not be fully inflated on the surface. Doesn't matter; the technique is the same.

Good for you, for practicing disconnecting the inflator hose. A lot of people forget about that one.

I'd second the advice not to breathe off the BC. Proper gas planning (and buddy selection) will ensure you will never have to do that, and the risk of picking up a nasty fungal pathogen from doing it, though probably small, almost certainly outweighs the benefit of practicing the procedure.

 

[Reg Braithwaite]

+1 to mask remove and replace. I work on this one repeatedly in every session. The goal is to be able to hover motionless, remove the mask, and replace it.

If you have pockets, take a spare mask and practice losing your mask and replacing it with a spare.

+1 to hovering. What I find is that being still takes practice. While I'm finning, I compensate for all sorts of trim and buoyancy errors. There's nothing like remaining motionless to reveal problems. Typically I'm a little heavy and need to add air to hover. Then when I start kicking, I need to adjust my kicking so I don't rise. And that's why hovering is crucial: if I practice kicking while negative, I'll never learn the correct technique.

I deployed the SMB in the pool last night. Then I reeled it in, deflated it, and stowed it back in my pocket. I don't think I'd ever do that on a dive, but it's another excuse to work on maintaining buoyancy while task loaded. Be careful in a school group, some of the swimmers may not see your SMB line. I have been meaning to replace my SMB line with an orange bricklayer's line. The pool might be a good excuse.

+1 to LPIH removal and replacement. I haven't tried it yet, but I do remove and replace my rig every session. Last night I removed my rig and tightened my crotch strap in the water. That being said, I don't maintain buoyancy while ditching it. I'm working on that, just in case I need to do it on a wall one day...

And finally, don't forget your finning techniques. Hopefully others will suggest superior instructional videos, but I love the 5thD DVDs: Essentials of Recreational Diving Diving is good for most of us, along with Intro to Tech for the folks diving doubles. (There's also a full Tech Diving DVD, but if you need that you don't need my advice on learning to dive).

You mentioned no buddy drills, but you can still practice deploying and stowing regs for air sharing, switching regs, and operating without a reg.

 

[InTheDrink]

Thanks for the input. Taking them one at a time...

Buoyancy, hovering etc.: these are things that I try to mix with all my drills. I don't do anything at the bottom (except taking off my gear but that's cause I'm seriously clumsy with that). I believe that good buoyancy is essential for diving. I'm still not perfect but it forms part of (nearly) every drill and dive I do. I haven't tried hovering with my eyes closed but this time in two days I will have and will let you know how I got on.

SMB: Good to hear SMB deployment can be done in a pool. I'll be trying that Thursday as I've screwed it up before.

Re breathing from BC and fungal infections etc. - it's a risk I'm willing to take. I want to feel comfortable that I have and could again do this in a pickle. I know that there may be better ways to address the issue of redundancy, but it is one, initial skill that I cannot currently afford financially and staying close to one's buddy doesn't always happen. If my lungs get covered in moss I'll let you know

Finning. I'm all about finning. And I'm getting lots better. Sadly I'm one of those people that has more enthusiasm than grace - but that should be a word of encouragement for any learners out there. Practise does pay off. I can't quite manage the back finning thing yet but from practising my technique in general has improved immeasurably. I got the Essentials DVD but wasn't impressed. Lacked a voice over I think. Going to get the intro to tech. However, I think to work out some finning techniques, like back finning, I will need instruction. My favourite finning, by far, is dolphin style as I've no idea what's it's called. But similar to the butterfly stroke. ripple torso all the way down to the fins. Or adjust and just ripple the ankles. Amazing how little energy is used and amazing how effective in a current. I've ditched my splits in favour of some bog standard paddles and won't go back. But finning is still an area I'd like to improve on, LOTS, but it is harder by not having a second opinion to draw on.

Dr Neil, thanks for your post but I must emphatically disagree with you.
"Practice in the pool is simply practice. There is only so much you can do"

Clearly you're right on one level: there are limitations to what you can do in a pool. However, I can't go diving every week, wish I could, wish I could every day, but that's not reality so pool practise is lots better than nothing. Also, there can be advantages to working things out in a very controlled environment. Much like a simulator. There's a place for both actuality and simulation. My question was what would be good things to work on in this environment and what combination of things in particular to simulate task loading/stress/prioritisation. I'm a firm believer that people don't get things - anything - right first time, ever. I'd prefer to get things wrong in a controlled environment. Equally, I believe in reinforcing motor skills so that when the real thing happens, the reaction is automatic.

Re mask drills, I'll always practise those. Throw mask to other side of pool, descend then go find. It's probably the only thing in diving I found easy from the outset. But I still do it each go.

Here's my suggestion: I'll start making notes of my drills, categorise them (buoyancy, OOA, task loading, buddy, finning, equipment failure, etc.), look at combining them, and edit this or a future post to report progress. Yes, they'll be basics. But they may serve as some use, particularly to beginners. Maybe not. But I do think it will be a useful program for me so hopefully someone else might find the same. If I'm being ignorant or arrogant please let me know.

Cheers,
John

 

[TSandM]

Since you are headed for the pool anyway, you might try the method for learning the back kick that my husband used. He started out on the surface, in a bathing suit, with no fins. He worked on back kicking until he could do laps that way. Then he added fins and did some more laps on the surface. Finally, he added gear, and presto! He had a functioning back kick. He learned it FAR faster than I did, but I tried to learn it while diving.

You might sound out any dive buddies you have, to see if anybody is interested in joining your pool fun. A video camera is a great addition to the drills you're doing.

 

[InTheDrink]

TSandM, thanks for the advice. I will give that a blast but I'm not the world's strongest swimmer. I can swim, but my effort to distance ratio is fairly dire. I'd nearly say it's practically negative but then I'd be going backwards

I've started using mini-fins for swimming (so I can avoid using my hands at all) so I'll probably try those instead.

I would LOVE to have someone else to come play with me, and do mutual videos, that would be my val hala, but I don't really have any obvious in-roads to other divers. I'm quite sociable so I will try as it would be more pleasant looking like a couple of wierdos

Thanks again for your input - appreciated.

J

 

[Slonda828]

Jclynes,

Go on Amazon and pick up an old copy of the New Science of Skin and SCUBA Diving. It has a whole list of drills in the back that you could do until the cows come home. The 1962 edition is the best one, it has entire sections on deco theory, buddy breathing, gas laws, and all kinds of stuff that is sort of "glossed over" all too frequently these days. Plus tailor your kind of training to the kind of diving you are going to do. I'm not saying that things like back kicks and helo turns aren't useful, but if you are never going to go into a hard overhead environment, then maybe your time would be better spent practicing things like weighting yourself so you can swim your BC up dead empty from depth. Conversely, if you are going to do overhead environment, then practice helo turns and back kicks. Hope this helps.

 

[Reg Braithwaite]

I'm not saying that things like back kicks and helo turns aren't useful, but if you are never going to go into a hard overhead environment, then maybe your time would be better spent practicing things like weighting yourself so you can swim your BC up dead empty from depth. Conversely, if you are going to do overhead environment, then practice helo turns and back kicks. Hope this helps.

Reasonable advice, although possibly a false dichotomy. Unless someone has very little time to invest in their development, they should be able to weight themselves properly AND learn a new kick or two.

Also, I am working like h*ll on back kicks for purely OW diving, and encourage everyone else to do the same. They are useful when you want to maintain distance from a wall, for example, without reaching out to push yourself away or having to turn around to swim away. And if you are facing your buddy--such as when doing a safety stop--you can use back kicks to maintain your position without taking your eyes off her.