I look awful when I'm diving.

[H2Andy]

Instead, my arms flail in front of me, dog paddling the water. It's a natural movement, after all I am sort of swimming, but it looks godawful on tape.

well, you've identified a problem, which is half the battle!
congratz. many divers never even get to this stage
of self-awareness

lots of good advice here, but i will tell you, from my own
experience, that that "dog paddling" can easily be your
attempts at maintaning a proper trim. i found that
when i was top heavy (too much weight high on my BC),
my head would tend to "dip" and i would dog paddle to keep
myself from "falling."

so... to restate what others have said:

1. work on shedding weight

2. spread what weight is left around to get an even "trim"

3. you can do this right now: consciously GRAB your
BC straps, or cummerbund, or something with your hands
and TRAIN yourself not to let go. at first, you'll keep letting
go, but keep reminding yourself and grab the BC back.
keep doing this. you are building muscle memory, so it will
take a little bit, but you can consciously do this.

4. no one starts out as a perfect diver. those divers you
see who look awesome have been working out their problems
for quite a while, and they sure as heck didn't look that good
when they first started out.

hope this helps.

 

[Scubakevdm]

egads. I look like a floundering ....something awful ...when I'm diving.

Yeah, but you look so darned good when you're not... it kinda balances it out.

 

[DandyDon]

Yeah, but you look so darned good when you're not... it kinda balances it out.

:gorgeous: I just now learned that she's no single. She opted-in just to read over our shoulders. :sonic:

 

[BluOrchid2]

Yep, I'm nosy. My profile also says, "wife and mom." So what does that have to do with what I look like?

 

[Scubakevdm]

:gorgeous: I just now learned that she's no single. She opted-in just to read over our shoulders. :sonic:

She's okay, we're just playin'.

 

[ABQdiver]

Yep, I'm nosy. My profile also says, "wife and mom." So what does that have to do with what I look like?

It's a little talked about phenomenon that being a parent REALLY throw off your trim...... :11:

 

[DandyDon]

:gr1: Pretty gal - peek at the Profile, see she's a "Single," flirt now, read the details on the Profile later. :11: What's this? Single wife & mom. :turkey:

 

[BluOrchid2]

Hey ABQdiver! Love the avatar! ScubaMickey is going to be my HUSBAND'S next tattoo!!! And ScubaMinnie is going to be my 2nd next, right after my seaturtle. We are big Disney brats.

Dandy Don, I'm sorry for any misconceptions my former profile may have created.

 

[Kriterian]

. 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.

You can do that?! That's awesome. I used to live in Orlando and worked at Universal Studios. I visited the parks alot but I wasn't a diver at the time.

I've also heard people mention diving in Aquariums. I thought it was a special thing that a friend hooked them up with or something. Is this common? If it is, is there anyone in NC that knows if our Aquarium allows this?

 

[ABQdiver]

Hey ABQdiver! Love the avatar! ScubaMickey is going to be my HUSBAND'S next tattoo!!! And ScubaMinnie is going to be my 2nd next, right after my seaturtle. We are big Disney brats.

Have to admit so are we (like you couldn't tell). My wife and daughter were in DW this last month right before school starting and had to hide out from the Hurricane Frances. An interesting event for New Mexico residents. Anyway they brought back some new cast member pins that are from a series that include Mickey, Minnie, Donald and I believe Goofy all in diving gear. Daughter brought back a couple but the remainder were not found so far.

We are actually going to the Living Seas Dive Quest this next month for the first time. Should be a hoot!