New and not doing well

[spectrum]

You can even try this on the bottom of your bathtub. Just make sure you keep the open end of the snorkle out of the water.

And the snorkel aimed to the wall. Down on your belly, knees at the drain. Clean the tub first.

Pete

 

[spectrum]

AnnaL,

You have been given lots of great advice. Take your time and work though this skill. You are learning an adaptation and doing stuff like exhaling with a wet face goes against lots of ingraned behavior. Give yourself time and focus on the now. Trust me the effort will be worthwhile.

Pete

 

[GregA2k6]

Best....board.....ever!

What more can be said! You have to be amazed with a community that can generate a 3 page response to a new diver having difficulty with a skill. It warms the heart!

Now...onto my tiny addition to this helpful thread.

Don't be too discouraged. The first night I pool dived, one person (who was a lifeguard) couldn't even put there head under the water to breath through the reg. By the last pool dive, she was just as comfortable as the other people in the course.

Try not to get too worried about it. Keep trying and I'm sure it will come!

Greg A

 

[Walter]

Anna,

My methods may sound unrelated to your problem at first, but they will work. Often, important skills are left out of OW classes. Take your time and practice each step until you are comfortable before moving to the next.

Leave your SCUBA gear in your bag. You only need 3 things at the pool at this point. 1. Mask 2. Snorkel 3. Weight belt with weight.

At no point will you leave the shallow end of the pool.

Take your snorkel off your mask and put on your weight belt. With your mask on the pool deck, your snorkel in your hand and your weight belt on, get into the shallow end of the pool. You should be where when you stand you are no deeper than chest deep, waist deep is even better. Put your snorkel in your mouth and breathe from it. Now, bend over and breathe through your snorkel while you dip your face into the water. If you are comfortable, stay awhile until you feel natural. If you have difficulty, think about drinking through a straw while you practice the excercise. Remember, you can always stand up straight to end the excercise at any time. If you need to, you can slowly build up your time until you feel comfortable.

Next, practice dropping underwater, allowing the snorkel to flood and coming up to blast it clear, leaving your face in the water. Continue until you are comfortable

At this point, you have accomplished three important things.

1. You lowered your anxiety level by working in a no risk (shallow) environment.
2. You became an expert in no mask breathing.
3. You know you can breathe with a flooded mask.

Now, put your snorkel down and pick up your mask. Put it on and drop down to your knees. Break the seal just enough to allow a small amount of water in. Clear the mask. Do not pull out on the bottom, merely push in on the top while looking up. The biggest mistake most people make is not looking up. The second most common mistake people make is not exhaling through their nose. Keep your mouth closed. Repeat this until you are comfortable. Don't forget to stand up and catch your breath between clearings. Now, increase the amount of water you allow into the mask to about ¼ flooded. When you are comfortable with that level, move to ½, then to a fully flooded mask. When you've reached the point you can clear it easily every time, see how many times you can clear it on one breath. After you are at this point, clearing your mask will be easy. You will have reached it in a step by step manner that was easy to accomplish.

Remember, you can always stand up if you feel uncomfortable.

 

[SeaGurl]

Anna if it makes you feel any better, I am a n00b too and had problems breathing without my mask on. I just finished my pool sessions. I took in a lot of water as well when clearing the mask and taking the mask off completely.
What might help is to try doing the skill while your instructor is working with someone else or is preparing for the next skill. I know it's a cliche but without the pressure of the instructor's and my classmates eyes on me waiting for me to get it over with already, it calmed my mind a bit and I did it. After that I think it became my favorite thing to practice during idle time.

 

[beezwax]

I have seen many many people do one technique i think everyone does ....except me.

I take my two hands lift the lower part of the mask and breath out air.
The aire replace the water...thats it

Most of the diver press the upper part and exhale strongly with their nose...

...Break the seal just enough to allow a small amount of water in. Clear the mask. Do not pull out on the bottom, merely push in on the top while looking up...

Seraphimx, I mentioned I that I was recently helping with an OW class, and I asked the instructor about exactly this. Like everyone else, he taught the class to push in on the top of the mask with two fingers, like you're trying to pull a "Three Stooges" maneuver on yourself, rather than grabbing the mask on the sides with both hands and lifting the bottom out and away. His rationale was that new students would have a tendency to pull the mask too far off the face, and it would end up reflooding. I don't think there's anything wrong with doing it your way, if you realize that you only just need to crack the seal, it certainly works both ways.

 

[GregA2k6]

Anna,

My methods may sound unrelated to your problem at first, but they will work. Often, important skills are left out of OW classes. Take your time and practice each step until you are comfortable before moving to the next.

Leave your SCUBA gear in your bag. You only need 3 things at the pool at this point. 1. Mask 2. Snorkel 3. Weight belt with weight.

At no point will you leave the shallow end of the pool.

Take your snorkel off your mask and put on your weight belt. With your mask on the pool deck, your snorkel in your hand and your weight belt on, get into the shallow end of the pool. You should be where when you stand you are no deeper than chest deep, waist deep is even better. Put your snorkel in your mouth and breathe from it. Now, bend over and breathe through your snorkel while you dip your face into the water. If you are comfortable, stay awhile until you feel natural. If you have difficulty, think about drinking through a straw while you practice the excercise. Remember, you can always stand up straight to end the excercise at any time. If you need to, you can slowly build up your time until you feel comfortable.

Next, practice dropping underwater, allowing the snorkel to flood and coming up to blast it clear, leaving your face in the water. Continue until you are comfortable

At this point, you have accomplished three important things.

1. You lowered your anxiety level by working in a no risk (shallow) environment.
2. You became an expert in no mask breathing.
3. You know you can breathe with a flooded mask.

Now, put your snorkel down and pick up your mask. Put it on and drop down to your knees. Break the seal just enough to allow a small amount of water in. Clear the mask. Do not pull out on the bottom, merely push in on the top while looking up. The biggest mistake most people make is not looking up. The second most common mistake people make is not exhaling through their nose. Keep your mouth closed. Repeat this until you are comfortable. Don't forget to stand up and catch your breath between clearings. Now, increase the amount of water you allow into the mask to about ¼ flooded. When you are comfortable with that level, move to ½, then to a fully flooded mask. When you've reached the point you can clear it easily every time, see how many times you can clear it on one breath. After you are at this point, clearing your mask will be easy. You will have reached it in a step by step manner that was easy to accomplish.

Remember, you can always stand up if you feel uncomfortable.

I've been teaching Jr. High for 10 years and have a fairly good idea of what it takes to break information into parts which can be understood by someone who is having difficulty with a concept. That is by far the most effective ways I have EVER seen this skill expalined and tackled....man...if you aren't a scuba instuctor....you ought to be!

 

[Jim Ernst]

Anna,

My methods may sound unrelated to your problem at first, but they will work. Often, important skills are left out of OW classes. Take your time and practice each step until you are comfortable before moving to the next.

Leave your SCUBA gear in your bag. You only need 3 things at the pool at this point. 1. Mask 2. Snorkel 3. Weight belt with weight.

At no point will you leave the shallow end of the pool.

Take your snorkel off your mask and put on your weight belt. With your mask on the pool deck, your snorkel in your hand and your weight belt on, get into the shallow end of the pool. You should be where when you stand you are no deeper than chest deep, waist deep is even better. Put your snorkel in your mouth and breathe from it. Now, bend over and breathe through your snorkel while you dip your face into the water. If you are comfortable, stay awhile until you feel natural. If you have difficulty, think about drinking through a straw while you practice the excercise. Remember, you can always stand up straight to end the excercise at any time. If you need to, you can slowly build up your time until you feel comfortable.

Next, practice dropping underwater, allowing the snorkel to flood and coming up to blast it clear, leaving your face in the water. Continue until you are comfortable

At this point, you have accomplished three important things.

1. You lowered your anxiety level by working in a no risk (shallow) environment.
2. You became an expert in no mask breathing.
3. You know you can breathe with a flooded mask.

Now, put your snorkel down and pick up your mask. Put it on and drop down to your knees. Break the seal just enough to allow a small amount of water in. Clear the mask. Do not pull out on the bottom, merely push in on the top while looking up. The biggest mistake most people make is not looking up. The second most common mistake people make is not exhaling through their nose. Keep your mouth closed. Repeat this until you are comfortable. Don't forget to stand up and catch your breath between clearings. Now, increase the amount of water you allow into the mask to about ¼ flooded. When you are comfortable with that level, move to ½, then to a fully flooded mask. When you've reached the point you can clear it easily every time, see how many times you can clear it on one breath. After you are at this point, clearing your mask will be easy. You will have reached it in a step by step manner that was easy to accomplish.

Remember, you can always stand up if you feel uncomfortable.

very nice walter, very cool!!!! the best ive seen-heared!!!!!!

 

[Downeast Diving]

very nice walter, very cool!!!! the best ive seen-heared!!!!!!

Nice job Walter.

AnnaL, many great suggestions, and technique's. There is nothing like real world experience offered by others. Remember the next time is a new day. Do not let yourself ponder the time before. Start fresh. Let us know how you do.

Dennis--

 

[JodiBB]

I have seen many many people do one technique i think everyone does ....except me.

I take my two hands lift the lower part of the mask and breath out air.
The aire replace the water...thats it

Actually, I do this as well...it's not taught as often (according to my friend/instructor) as many time students will lift the skirt too far from their face causing water to gush in faster than they can blow...but it the student learns just to gently pull the skirt away only enough to break the seal from your face, it works quite well!