Thank you all who have responded. He really wants to dive bad. He did try pre equalizing. He knows that if he feels pressure hes went to far. I will definitely have him try the neck stretching thing I haven't heard that one before. I'm going to ask the instructor if I can be his buddy next week. They will have an odd number of students. So if he lets me get wet I will. I've been watching pool side any way and its driving me crazy. If they won't let me maybe the AI can buddy up with him that would be better yet.
Sons second night of OW not so good.
- Thread starter DaveDog
- Start date
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DaveDog,
Last fall my daughter, 17 at the time, and I went through OW certification together. She had a heck of a time equalizing. In her case, not necessarily your son's issue, she was being very impatient. Like many teenagers, she has a problem with patience! I had to work very hard to help her learn to relax and give it time. We (the instructor and I) we finally able to get her down to 20' during our OW dives. She just had to be patient and go slow. She was trying too hard blowing against her nose and she wasn't giving her sinuses enough time to clear. Also, being unsteady in the water, she was doing alot of what I will call bobbing. She was moving up and down about 1-2 feet in the water while descending instead of moving gradually. I'd imagine that didn't help.
Anyway, we finally got her through it, but it wasn't very pleasant for her. She had a pretty bad headache most of the day, but she recovered quickly and had no ill effects. I think she just had unrealistic expectations about how tough it was going to be to learn and to be patient.
Last fall my daughter, 17 at the time, and I went through OW certification together. She had a heck of a time equalizing. In her case, not necessarily your son's issue, she was being very impatient. Like many teenagers, she has a problem with patience! I had to work very hard to help her learn to relax and give it time. We (the instructor and I) we finally able to get her down to 20' during our OW dives. She just had to be patient and go slow. She was trying too hard blowing against her nose and she wasn't giving her sinuses enough time to clear. Also, being unsteady in the water, she was doing alot of what I will call bobbing. She was moving up and down about 1-2 feet in the water while descending instead of moving gradually. I'd imagine that didn't help.
Anyway, we finally got her through it, but it wasn't very pleasant for her. She had a pretty bad headache most of the day, but she recovered quickly and had no ill effects. I think she just had unrealistic expectations about how tough it was going to be to learn and to be patient.
Joanne Hughes
Registered
I suffer with congestion and being new also was worried about equalising. I started to practise equalising often during the daytime, every so often a few days before diving. You need to blow gently holding the nose and swallowing is also very good. When he is kitting up before the dive get him to keep trying it. This has worked fine for me. And always equalise before you start to descend not leaving it too late.
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