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-Arjay-

New
Messages
3
Reaction score
5
Location
Texas
# of dives
None - Not Certified
Hello there! I’m Arjay, and I’ll be taking the SSI OW course in January. I’ve been wanting to be a diver like my uncle Dave since I was around 10, and now, at 47, I’m finally in a place wherein I can afford the class.

Now a question: aside from completing the digital classroom materials before the pool and open water sessions, is there anything I can do to prepare myself to be a good student and diver?

Thanks, in advance!
 
Welcome to ScubaBoard, and welcome to diving and diving-training. You have a great attitude already, thinking ahead. In my opinion, the best time you can spend before your class is to secure an excellent instructor. Talk to people, get their feedback, the instructor can make or break your experience. Then, when you're confident you have a well-recommended instructor, listen and soak it all up. The only bad question in a class is the un-asked question. Good fit of all your gear before the class starts is also key, especially your mask. Take it to a pool and make sure it doesn't leak, and adjust the straps to your best fit while you have a lot of time to do it. Good luck! and enjoy the process!
 
Welcome to ScubaBoard, and welcome to diving and diving-training. You have a great attitude already, thinking ahead. In my opinion, the best time you can spend before your class is to secure an excellent instructor. Talk to people, get their feedback, the instructor can make or break your experience. Then, when you're confident you have a well-recommended instructor, listen and soak it all up. The only bad question in a class is the un-asked question. Good fit of all your gear before the class starts is also key, especially your mask. Take it to a pool and make sure it doesn't leak, and adjust the straps to your best fit while you have a lot of time to do it. Good luck! and enjoy the process!
Thanks, Tripp, I definitely want to be the best and safest diver I can be! Your advice is heard, understood, and acknowledged!
 
First find a good instructor.

Next don't rush through the material, there is actually a lot in there. Go through it over and over make sure you have it all down as you go through it take notes about questions you have. Ask all questions.

Realize we are land animals trying to breath underwater, this is something totally unnatural to us, but it can be done safely.

Everyone struggles with one or more skills, it's normal and expected. A good instructor knows this and will work with you on it. Don't worry about struggling, just execpt that it part of the learning process and redo/pratice till you get it right.

Get your mask well before hand. Scrub the everliving f^>$ out of it, once it's clean Scrub the f&%* out of it again, then repeat the above a few times.

And above all........

RELAX AND ENJOY!!!!!
 
Some prior gentle, progressive practice at home of breathing though a snorkel, as a proxy for a regulator, with your nose and eyes in water may help class go more smoothly. Some people have issues with it.

Various ideas on that:

If you have a pool, you could play with your weighting, trim, and kicking. But that might take a skin divers weight vest, weight belt and lead. Doing it with just a belt will likely put you head up and butt down, which is a frustrating way to swim about.
 
When I took the OW course in '05 there was no e learning. I studied and re-studied the paper manual lots before the course started and still do today (well not lots) with the manuals I got from other courses. I would advise to go over the digital work quite a few times.
 
My 2 cents:

Spend some time focusing on breathing and relaxing. Being able to breathe with your diaphragm is important, as is learning that you can breathe comfortably either with fully inflated lungs or with fairly empty lungs. Specifically, breathing out (slow and controlled) is just as important as breathing in. Yoga and/or meditation can help in practicing this. So can a snorkel in the bathtub.

I do this most nights as I fall asleep, visualizing slowly descending to the reef below.
 
That is great to hear! Scuba diving is a fantastic hobby to get into. I have couple advice that can help you to prepare for the pool class.
1. Since Scuba diving is a water related sport, I would do regular exercise and to be a decent swimmer.
2. Make sure you are comfortable in your new or rental gear BEFORE jump in the pool (means BCD is snug, safe second/dive computer are secure and regulator is working well and in place), so make sure you understand what each equipment does.
3. Please ask questions if you don't understand something BEFORE descending. Because ask a question above water is wayyy easier than ask a question underwater.
4. Unfortunately, most likely you are going to kneel on the bottom of the pool and do every skill. That just how usually the pool section goes.... So make sure you can do all the skills while you are in semi-neutrally buoyant position in the water. I would say the most important skill is to have a good trim and neutral position while diving. But REMEMBER, since you are most likely not going to wear a wetsuit in a poo-- you learn how to be neutrally buoyant in the pool doesn't mean you will be neutrally buoyant in the ocean, because the thickness of the wetsuit and amount of weight that you will need to carry. So practice neutrally buoyant is an ongoing skill...
5. Have FUN!!!

Good luck!
 

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