I'm too stiff

[TSandM]

trying to sling the tank around to get stability is a losing cause.

So what do you have your students do, if the tank is slewing to the side?

I do admit that you can dive by trying to position yourself under your tanks -- I've done that with doubles, when the harness is too loose. But first you have to get them back up on your back . . .

 

[MrChen]

This hand waving is a consequence of feeling a lack of control over one's body position in the water column.

For me, I used my hands because that's how I knew to swim . In fact, I'm a very strong swimmer and it was a natural reflex to moving around in the water. Once my instructor told me I needed to stop using my hands, I hadn't even realized I was doing anything wrong. On the next dive I caught myself doing it one time and quickly locked my hands together under my torso. It's been a non issue since. Swimming and Scuba are two totally different forms of swimming and I've realized each requires their own technique.

 

[boulderjohn]

I just want to add one point. When I am working with new students and I see balance issues, I also see that they are overworking their legs while kicking. This tends to through them off balance. When I start a new group of students, I emphasize very small, gentle, slow kicks, and balance issues frequently disappear.

 

[supergaijin]

Good point BoulderJohn- excessive leg movement can really roll the hips. I have noticed while using freediving fins and 'normal Quattros' that a rapid kick from the knee gives me more speed than a 'thigh' kick... however it is much more fatiguing than the steady 'traditional' flutter from the thigh.

I like the idea of smaller kicks to start with and can envision this technique helping divers who have problems.

 

[beanojones]

So what do you have your students do, if the tank is slewing to the side?

If they are slewing, the diver is trying to get them to be somewhere instead of just being where they are.

"Stability" comes from accepting the neutral buoyancy instability, and not swinging the arms to get things "straightened out". That arm swing actually causes the instability that the diver is trying to correct for with the arm swings.

 

[Prostardiver]

Fold your arms in front of you and lead with your nose. If your nose leads, the fins will do the work to get you there.

 

[supergaijin]

Could someone explain more what is meant by the "dead man" position? What is the starting position ? When you start to roll, do you do anything to correct ?

What I meant was to try to completely relax your body and let it lie (as if dead) on the sand. If you roll to the left or right- so be it. From this (completely relaxed) position, start to move a hip, or a leg etc. to correct your position.

What can happen is that you would intend to move your left leg and unintentionally other muscles (such as shoulders) start to contract.

 

[RNR Eco Adventures]

Yes what you re encountering is common. I always tell my students to focus on using the big muscles of the legs along with those big fins on their feet along with all the bodies supporting muscles when maneuvering around underwater. As mentioned, using the arms as a primary form of movement will tire you out. It could also give you a rash around the armpits, and probably knock your buddy's mask off, or worse, damage coral which can also damage you.

 

[TSandM]

beano, I fail to see how relaxing will conquer a tank that is hanging off the right side of the student -- but maybe this is because we use relatively negative steels, and you use relatively neutral aluminums? If our students get the tank off center, they WILL roll, or they will have to fin or hand-wave constantly to avoid it.

 

[kelemvor]

I've found that when I stop paying attention I start to use my hands. Things are much easier if I have something in them like a flashlight or camera on a stick. Sometimes I hang onto my dive computer (on a retractor) to help keep them busy. It's becoming less of an issue the more I dive as others have said.