Focus on breathing through your mouth, slow and easy breathing, it worked for me.
Mask clearing worries
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jhelmuth
Contributor
For me, it was learnig to naturally breathe through my mouth and not my nose. I had a nasty habit of using my nasal passages without thinking because this was the way I breathed in normal situations. In SCUBA, you must stop that and only use your mouth. Once you do that, the problem will disappear.
Hi,
I just passed my OW cert, and I must confess, at the start I was having similar problems with the mask removal clear when in the pool.
I had no problems with being in water, having the mask off, eyes open or any of that. I could fill the mask and clear it perfectly. But for some reason, when I took the mask off, put it back on, and then tried to clear I would screw it up.
I found that I would start trying to breath in and out through my nose - obviously not 'in' as the mask is full of water and then just doing short bursts out thru the nose that weren't enough to clear the mask.
I also realised that one problem I had was that as I was refitting my mask the bubbles as I exhaled would cause some turbulence and water would bubble up my nose as the mask was still being seated.
But then I made the 'break-through' and realised that hey, that thing in your mouth is still giving you air
Now, I just "take my time" (yeah like the instructor says - I time placing my mask around my exhales so there is less bubbles around my nose. I also found tilting my head forward briefly as I fitted the mask back meant that any airbubbles I exhaled would go around the side of my face instead of right up the nose.
Then, once the mask was in place, I'd breathe a few complete breathes of the regulator. Totally ignoring the mask (shut your eyes if it helps). Then, I'd take a good inhale of the reg and exhale throught he nose, concentrating just on breathing in from the reg and out through the nose. Couple of exhales and my mask (it's a high volume) would be clear and I'm still calm, no problems .
My initial apprehension at the 'failures' first time in the pool was a thing of the past by the time of the lake dives and I even did a few more practise runs on my own just to get the confidence that it was all sorted.
The trick, really does seem to be just think about breathing through the mouth and dont' worry bout the water/mask. Even if you get water up your nose, you can still cough it out the reg any how.
Good luck
[Heh, and judging by the date of the other posts, you already figured it out ]
I just passed my OW cert, and I must confess, at the start I was having similar problems with the mask removal clear when in the pool.
I had no problems with being in water, having the mask off, eyes open or any of that. I could fill the mask and clear it perfectly. But for some reason, when I took the mask off, put it back on, and then tried to clear I would screw it up.
I found that I would start trying to breath in and out through my nose - obviously not 'in' as the mask is full of water and then just doing short bursts out thru the nose that weren't enough to clear the mask.
I also realised that one problem I had was that as I was refitting my mask the bubbles as I exhaled would cause some turbulence and water would bubble up my nose as the mask was still being seated.
But then I made the 'break-through' and realised that hey, that thing in your mouth is still giving you air
Now, I just "take my time" (yeah like the instructor says
- I time placing my mask around my exhales so there is less bubbles around my nose. I also found tilting my head forward briefly as I fitted the mask back meant that any airbubbles I exhaled would go around the side of my face instead of right up the nose. Then, once the mask was in place, I'd breathe a few complete breathes of the regulator. Totally ignoring the mask (shut your eyes if it helps). Then, I'd take a good inhale of the reg and exhale throught he nose, concentrating just on breathing in from the reg and out through the nose. Couple of exhales and my mask (it's a high volume) would be clear and I'm still calm, no problems .
My initial apprehension at the 'failures' first time in the pool was a thing of the past by the time of the lake dives and I even did a few more practise runs on my own just to get the confidence that it was all sorted.
The trick, really does seem to be just think about breathing through the mouth and dont' worry bout the water/mask. Even if you get water up your nose, you can still cough it out the reg any how.
Good luck
[Heh, and judging by the date of the other posts, you already figured it out ]
Of all the problems we see with our students, this is far and away the most common. Different things work for different people, but the main point here it just to stay relaxed, breathe slowly, and realize that it's really no big deal.
The one thing that struck me is that you said you are getting water in your nose (and mouth, but I think you diagnosed the mouth thing correctly in that you are not maintaining a proper seal on your second stage with your mouth). I've had a lot of students with whom I have spent hours and hours working on this skill, and I've found that the ones who get water up their nose tend to do one (or two) of two things.
The first thing they tend to do is to accidentally inhale water through their nose when they go to take a breath off their reg. I've found that this is most common in people who are "nose breathers" as opposed to "mouth breathers," and the solution to this is to really focus on breathing out through your nose (even sligltly) while you have water in your mask or your mask off. Take some time to practice this is water shallow enough to stand up in (in case you really get a noseful), and it will become no issue for you.
The second common reason that I see people getting water in their noses is that they tend to toss their heads waaaaay back as soon as they attempt to start clearing their masks, and the water runs up the nose and into the sinuses (which is no fun). When you put the mask back on and are going to start clearing it, start by looking down and exhaling gently while slowly tilting your head up. This will allow the air you are exhaling to naturally displace the water from the highest point in the mask to the lowest without exposing your sinuses to a sensuous dose of chlorine (or seawater).
Hope that helps, and good luck!
~W
The one thing that struck me is that you said you are getting water in your nose (and mouth, but I think you diagnosed the mouth thing correctly in that you are not maintaining a proper seal on your second stage with your mouth). I've had a lot of students with whom I have spent hours and hours working on this skill, and I've found that the ones who get water up their nose tend to do one (or two) of two things.
The first thing they tend to do is to accidentally inhale water through their nose when they go to take a breath off their reg. I've found that this is most common in people who are "nose breathers" as opposed to "mouth breathers," and the solution to this is to really focus on breathing out through your nose (even sligltly) while you have water in your mask or your mask off. Take some time to practice this is water shallow enough to stand up in (in case you really get a noseful), and it will become no issue for you.
The second common reason that I see people getting water in their noses is that they tend to toss their heads waaaaay back as soon as they attempt to start clearing their masks, and the water runs up the nose and into the sinuses (which is no fun). When you put the mask back on and are going to start clearing it, start by looking down and exhaling gently while slowly tilting your head up. This will allow the air you are exhaling to naturally displace the water from the highest point in the mask to the lowest without exposing your sinuses to a sensuous dose of chlorine (or seawater).
Hope that helps, and good luck!
~W
Windwalker
Contributor
I would recommend flooding the mask Slooooowly. Some of the Coughing and Hacking that I had was from "Water Shock" My natural reflex is to gasp, that pulls in water through the nose.
If the water is cold where you are doing your OW cert, then its more important to flood slowly, It is possible to have your breathing freeze when cold water is quickly introduced to your face.
Thanks for the all the advice. I found that placing the mask on my face first and clearing it and then replacing the strap helped a lot--the snorkel was twisting around and getting in the way too much. Also I was looking up too soon (as someone mentioned) and getting water up my nose. I can do it perfectly now. Now I've moved on to having other problems
Hi
I found that standing in the shower and spraying water up my nose with the shower nozzle while trying to breathe normally was excellent practice! It's worse than taking off your mask underwater.
Also, you mentioned having trouble with the snorkel. Just take it off, you don't need it for diving.
cheers
Rich
I found that standing in the shower and spraying water up my nose with the shower nozzle while trying to breathe normally was excellent practice! It's worse than taking off your mask underwater.
Also, you mentioned having trouble with the snorkel. Just take it off, you don't need it for diving.
cheers
Rich
Laser
Guest
Contrary to what is taught, you can clear by looking down. It's the pressure in the mask that clears. And you don't always have to clear in one snort. Use a couple short quick ones. Looking up just gets new people frustrated.
concollective
Guest
There are others who have probably offered better advice, but what helps me is to break every skill, mask clearing included, into discrete motions, and not just to perform every skill as a single, fluid, but chaotic jumble of motions. When I clear, I take my time placing the mask on in a comfortable way -- BEFORE I replace the strap. It's only when I consciously recognize that I have the mask on the way I want it that I pull the strap over. And it's only then, when I consciously feel that I'm wearing the mask perfectly comfortably (the only difference from normal now being that it's flooded) that I clear. Of course, I'm breathing normally the whole time, which you appear to have no trouble doing with your mask off or flooded. Divemaster Will may be onto something in warning you not to tilt your head too far back when you clear, but your post makes it seem as if the water-in-the-nose thing for you has to do with fumbling around awkwardly with the mask and the snorkel. Keep breathing normally and put your mask on very deliberately. Hope that helps.
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