I look awful when I'm diving.

[theskull]

Hi Blu,

The fact that you realize you look like this and want to look like the experienced divers is more than half the battle. There are some good guesses at tips above, but you really just need to do some more diving, preferably with some better-skilled buddies who can observe you and give you tips based on YOUR actual gear and actions.

In-water help is nearly always better than on-line help. Where in MO do you live? There are a handful of us who go diving nearly every weekend during the summer, and we'd be glad to have you join us for some fun-diving. E-mail me if you'd like more details.

theksull

 

[Garyra]

...you really just need to do some more diving, preferably with some better-skilled buddies who can observe you and give you tips based on YOUR actual gear and actions.

I can't agree on this more. I started diving in April of this year and just was not progressing the way that I would have liked. I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. I had already taken AOW and was in the middle of Rescue. Since I needed to log a few dives, I got a DM friend of mine to go with me and we punched out the dives I needed for my rescue cert. I learned a great deal about my habits on this trip. He was able to point out on the very first dive several things that I needed to correct. I think I learned and improved my abilities more in those few dives than I had in all the ones previous.

 

[BluOrchid2]

theskull, thanks for the offer. Hubby and I would love to do some local diving, but we are on the other side of the state from you, in the KC area. Know anyone over here that dives locally?

Thank you all for responding, very much. The idea to experiment with video is a good one, but unfortunately the video equipment wasn't my own. We dove in the Living Seas at Epcot, and they filmed it for us. How embarassing was that! It was my first dive since getting my OW. So not only did I look stupid in front of the other divers, I got to look like an idiot in front of all the visitors to the Living Seas and the Coral Reef Restaurant. :re

My next few dives were on a vacation to the Mayan Riviera and Cozumel. I was heavily weighted, 16 or 18 pounds I think, and I still had trouble getting down. The DM finally told me (and my husband, who was also having trouble getting down) to dive downwards, head first, and fin kick ourselves down. Once we got down, it wasn't much of a problem to stay down, but I probably still had too much weight on.

We were diving in new wetsuits, which I've heard can make getting down more difficult. And we were both a bit anxious, because of it being our first time on a dive boat with other people, we felt rushed getting all of our equipment on and such.

Thanks for the encouragement. We are trying to plan another trip to Cozumel in October of this year, so maybe I'll do better then.

 

[SueMermaid]

Relaxation is everything. And I have found that adjusting the trim makes a big difference in my ease and relaxation. A good time to demonstrate this is at safety stops when you are hanging in space. Try to relax every single muscle in your body. Let yourself rise when you breathe in, fall when you breathe out. (it's very Zen, try it!). You will assume whatever position your weights tell you to. If your weights are all on your back, you will either tip up to a sititng position, or over on your back, and if they are off to one side, you'll tip that way. If your feet are too light, they will rise above your head. Etc, etc.
Adjusting your weighting (where it is plus the amount of weight) is important to being relaxed and smooth in the water.

 

[pasley]

... I was heavily weighted, 16 or 18 pounds I think, and I still had trouble getting down. The DM finally told me (and my husband, who was also having trouble getting down) to dive downwards, head first, and fin kick ourselves down. Once we got down, it wasn't much of a problem to stay down, but I probably still had too much weight on....

Ok, from observations of myself and other divers I will wager this is the issue with getting down.
1.) Since you are anxious, ask yourself if you are filling your lungs with nice deep breaths. Don’t as that increases your buoyancy when you are trying to decrease it. I exhale, exhale and then exhale some more for as long as I can (at least the first 7 feet or so) to get down. My BC has the hose dump and then there is an exhaust valve on my other shoulder. I find I drop much easier if I open both as well to quickly let all the air out.
2.) This one is the most important and most likely cause of your problem, Stop kicking! Yes, that is right, stop fining up. With out realizing it, many people (myself included) unconsciously are slowly moving their legs back and forth, or slowly fining, all this is pushing you up when you are trying to go down. Also stop moving your arms about, that too creates lift when what you want is to go down. When I noticed my buddy doing it on a dive I took a look at myself and yes, I too was moving my legs while I was trying to go down, DUH! No wonder I was having trouble getting down. So now I think about his aspect. It is real easy to start moving your fins about, especially when as you start down they try to float up above your head. To stop myself, I cross my ankles and consciously think about it. Then next time your are diving, and having trouble getting down, look at your partners legs and then your own and see if you are kicking up.

Don't worry about how you looked in the resturant window. At least you were in the water doing somthing neat instead of sitting there going, gee, I wish I could do that.

 

[BluOrchid2]

Ok, from observations of myself and other divers I will wager this is the issue with getting down.
1.) Since you are anxious, ask yourself if you are filling your lungs with nice deep breaths. Don’t as that increases your buoyancy when you are trying to decrease it. I exhale, exhale and then exhale some more for as long as I can (at least the first 7 feet or so) to get down. My BC has the hose dump and then there is an exhaust valve on my other shoulder. I find I drop much easier if I open both as well to quickly let all the air out.
2.) This one is the most important and most likely cause of your problem, Stop kicking! Yes, that is right, stop fining up. With out realizing it, many people (myself included) unconsciously are slowly moving their legs back and forth, or slowly fining, all this is pushing you up when you are trying to go down. Also stop moving your arms about, that too creates lift when what you want is to go down. When I noticed my buddy doing it on a dive I took a look at myself and yes, I too was moving my legs while I was trying to go down, DUH! No wonder I was having trouble getting down. So now I think about his aspect. It is real easy to start moving your fins about, especially when as you start down they try to float up above your head. To stop myself, I cross my ankles and consciously think about it. Then next time your are diving, and having trouble getting down, look at your partners legs and then your own and see if you are kicking up.

Don't worry about how you looked in the resturant window. At least you were in the water doing somthing neat instead of sitting there going, gee, I wish I could do that.

You know, I think you hit it exactly right on BOTH counts. 1, I like AM breathing very deeply in attempt to calm myself, and not be anxious, to relax. 2, I'm quite sure you're right about moving my arms and legs, as if I'm trying to tread water! DUH! LOL Next time I go, I will do the air dump with both releases, cross my legs at the ankles, and think of you. LOL. Thanks for the help. Anyone ever say you look like Ed Harris?

 

[BluOrchid2]

SueMermaid, thanks! I enjoyed doing that exercise when getting certified. I'm sure I do need to practice it more, and will!

 

[Wristshot]

BluOrchid

The key is to relax. As others have said, it will come in time. With only a very few rare exceptions, we all started out as messes to some degree. Some never do get any better!

Remember that you are dog paddling because all of your instincts tell you that being underwater is a bad thing, and you want to swim UP, and do it NOW. You have to train your brain to overcome millions (or at least thousands) of years of evolution.

It will come in time,


Wristshot

 

[BluOrchid2]

Remember that you are dog paddling because all of your instincts tell you that being underwater is a bad thing, and you want to swim UP, and do it NOW. You have to train your brain to overcome millions (or at least thousands) of years of evolution.

It will come in time,
Wristshot

Thank you so much for your thoughtful post! I do really appreciate that you took the time.

 

[GrierHPharmD]

A little pool practice can go a long way. If you can find a local pool that has a high dive, you can usually get permission to practice there. (You don't have to go deep - anything over 12 ft or so will give you enough depth to practice your bouyancy.) I found that just putting on my gear and swimming along the bottom really helped me learn to relax underwater. As you relax, you won't have to take such big breaths and you can learn to ditch some weight.

Of course, the two of you can always come down and join the Florida Conchs for some shore diving. The water's so warm that you don't need wet suits, so you really need very little weight to dive. (I dive with a steel 100 tank, and discovered this weekend that I didn't need any weight to dive - a finding that I have trouble believing!) You'll be amazed at how easy diving becomes when you learn to control your breathing and drop that extra lead. It takes the whole weightlessness aspect of scuba to a whole new level.

Like somebody said above, the fact that you're aware of the situation and are working on it is significant. Good luck. Hope to see you guys in our ocean down here some time.

-Grier