Hello everybody,
A few months ago things went wrong on a dive.
My mask flooded,i tried to stay calm to put my mask back on.
My buddy saw me struggling and wanted to help me but accidentaly pushed out my reg.
I panicked and went straight up.
Does anyone know if this feeling will go away if i will practise more. And just to continue diving.
My answer will be a lot like the others, but I feel I have a few things to add.
Often you will hear people say "you just need to dive more to get more experience, then ...". However, I think this is an oversimplification and it misses an important point.
A friend of mine very accurately said
"There is a big distance between how easy it is to dive when everything goes smoothly to how difficult it becomes when things go just a little wrong".
This is very true. And an important implication of that is that diving in easy circumstances does not give you much experience in how to handle difficulty. Only difficulties will give you that experience. Therefore it is very easy to do 100 dives without improving your skills much unless you consciously focus on skills improvement.
You encountered some difficulties that you were not sufficiently trained to handle. And you now realize that you probably won't be able to handle a situation of similar difficulty the next time one occurs. Therefore your current anxiety is actually quite rational. It was your previous feeling of ease that was just a false sense of security.
Diving without a mask and recovering a regulator should be something that you can do comfortably and calmly. If you can't stay calm while doing that, then it is not safe for you to dive. The good news is that you can achieve that comfort by training.
Train in the pool or train in the sea at 2 meters depth. Find a buddy who also wants to improve his/her skills and train together.
Do this exercise with your buddy:
Firstly, establish neutral buoyancy and horizontal trim and hover facing each other about 50 cm over the pool bottom. Keep this position constantly while performing skills.
1. Remove and replace your primary regulator
2. Remove your primary regulator and change to your secondary regulator
3. Signal out-of-air to your buddy and have him donate a regulator to you.
4. Fill and empty your mask.
5. Remove your mask and hold it in your hand. Your buddy can grab your hand and point the thumb up or down to help you control your buoyancy. Replace your mask after a while of breathing calmly and controlling your buoyancy without the mask.
Repeat these skills as many times as it takes for you and your buddy to execute them perfectly. Don't be surprised if that means 10-20 dives. If you have a GoPro camera or similar, record video of yourselves so that you can see your improvements. Think up new challenges you can give to each other. It is a great idea if they involve doing tasks while subconsciously hovering in place. Do not underestimate how valuable it is to be able to effortlessly hover without thinking about it and doing other things.
When you master these skills - and with training you can - then your rational fear of being unable to handle a difficult situation underwater will be replaced with the confidence that now you can. And you know that you can because you have done it many, many times. Train hard, fight easy.
Happy training! It is also lots of fun
Mikkel
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Edit: While I was writing this, you posted "Plus i already have signed up for a GUE fundies class next year."
That is actually exactly the best thing you can do, and you might even recognize the 5 skills I list above.
(not at this moment to scared)
