Perfecting my buoyancy

[Bent Benny]

I want my buoyancy/trim to be like the GUE/DIR guys. I've been reading as much as I can but I'm not finding anything that starts from the ground up.

So I have a couple questions. Will a NAUI perfecting buoyancy class really help much? Will the things I learn there be in conflict with the horizontal, arms out style that I see all the really good divers using?

The other question is more of a request. Can anyone recommend any articles or videos that will help me work on my buoyancy control/trim? Preferably some really basic or in depth stuff. I don't mind having to pay for information but the more I can learn online the better.

Thanks everyone.

 

[tbone1004]

Any "perfecting buoyancy class" or similar will only help if the instructor can dive like that and teach others how to dive like that. NAUI technical instructors can all dive like that, but I don't think there are any in Maine. Many NAUI recreational instructors can teach like that as well *I am one of them, and there are many on this forum that can as well*, but just because it's a NAUI class doesn't mean that the instructor can dive like that.

Now, "arms out" is personal preference and while it makes it easier for some, many of us don't dive like that for various reasons. I dive with my arms crossed unless I am cave diving and have a scooter/light with me. Shoulder d-rings make good thumb hooks.

This is not something you can learn online, this is not something you can watch any videos or read any articles on. This is something that you have to learn by doing because it is all about learning how your body feels when it is in that type of position. The best way to do it is to get in the shallow section of a pool, with as big of a mirror as you can find, and hover in front of it and watch yourself. You know what it's supposed to look like from watching videos and seeing pictures online, now you have to make yourself look like that, and the learning process is actually how it feels when you look like that. Mirrors are the best teacher for trim and body position.
The shallow end of the pool is the cruelest mistress to learn buoyancy and if you can hover in 3ft of water, you can hover anywhere.

 

[boulderjohn]

All technical divers are required to dive with proper buoyancy and trim, regardless of the agency with which they trained. It is required in all agencies. Any instructor who is also a fully certified technical diver (and especially technical instructor) can teach those skills.

 

[DogDiver]

If you want to dive like the big boys, you need to get trained like the big boys.

 

[The Chairman]

If you want to dive like the big boys, you need to get trained like the big boys.

I never did and even JJ has complemented me on my buoyancy to the point he assumed I had taken a fundies class.

First things first. Perfect buoyancy comes from having perfect trim and perfect weighting. Here's my article on Trim: Master Neutral Buoyancy: The Importance of Horizontal Trim (Simple Vector Physics) - ScubaBoard

 

[tbone1004]

I never did and even JJ has complemented me on my buoyancy to the point he assumed I had taken a fundies class.

First things first. Perfect buoyancy comes from having perfect trim and perfect weighting. Here's my article on Trim: Master Neutral Buoyancy: The Importance of Horizontal Trim (Simple Vector Physics) - ScubaBoard

yes you did, you're a full cave and CCR diver, don't sell yourself or your instructors short.... Training like the Big Boys does not mean GUE training, just training by proper instructors

 

[The Chairman]

yes you did,

I disagree. I've had only one negative comment about my trim/buoyancy in all my cave training. One. I get hammered more than most because, who wants to say they killed NetDoc, eh? But I've only had one suggestion to improve my trim. Once I made the connection between the physics of trim, the rest was easy.

Moreover, my OW students finish with excellent trim and buoyancy. It's just not that hard once you get the relationship. This whole myth that trim and buoyancy is hard is not one I ascribe to. Get your trim down => get the minimum weight you need => maintaining buoyancy becomes a piece of cake... crumb cake.

BTW, if the shop/instructor who taught you how to dive didn't correct your trim/buoyancy during OW, chances are that it's just not that important to them and their success rate with a subsequent remedial class will be minimal. The Buddha hover is nothing but a parlor trick. It's a great example of Archimedes' principle, but you certainly don't dive like that.

 

[tbone1004]

@The Chairman I agree with you on training it out of the gate and we certainly do as well. I was actually knocked during CCR training for being too flat and not being able to see anything. Too much time spent hovering over dive teams for teaching.
My bouyancy/trim/propulsion was solid before I got to cave/technical training as well, but it doesn't mean I wasn't trained by the big boys later down the road.

I do firmly believe though that no instructor can out-teach a mirror, no matter if it's JJ, GI3, Casey, any of them. Truly instant feedback is a wonderful thing and it is the best teaching aid I've ever seen. You need the instruction on how to do certain things, what it's supposed to look like, and all sorts of little tricks along the way, but the mirror gets the rough cuts done infinitely faster

 

[boulderjohn]

I don't think the two of you are on the same wavelength in your comments to each other. As I understand it, there was a comment that one should train with the big boys. The problem is that the comment is ambiguous, because it does not identify the big boys.

 

[The Chairman]

but it doesn't mean I wasn't trained by the big boys later down the road.

First, we're in Basic Scuba. Second, he wants the trim/buoyancy and not necessarily the other skills needed for cave/technical. It's my opinion that the proof is in the OW pudding. If you see an instructor or shop producing OW divers with excellent trim/buoyancy, then they actually care about the process and you'll learn lots from them. If they see PPB (Peak Performance Buoyancy) as more of an "addon" then find someone else. I teach a workshop that does not even result in a card as I see it as a remedial class.