The Most Difficult Skill to Master

[mdb]

Charlie: Lots of good info and observations in your post. This thread has stayed on topic and lots of good comments are being made. I'm a mossback, but I still try to learn and improve my skills. The newer divers just coming out of OW classes will find, IMO, this to be a very valuable thread.

 

[Hank49]

I would venture to guess that when you used your old bc you had not perfected your tank position yet. Just moving your tank up or down a little can have dramatic effects on horizontal position. The trick really is to get your overall weight distribution adjusted so that you have a natural center pivot point. When you achieve that you can remain motionless in any position. After all of that skill comes into a big play. I've got the weight ironed out and on a good day I can remain motionless but I have lots of work to go myself.

Perhaps I didn't have the tank as high as it needed to be to stop my feet from sinking...if it was even possible to move it that high, but the tank was as high as I would tolerate it because any higher bumps into the back of my head, which annoys the hell out of me.
Putting a 6 lb plate on my back and switching to strap fins with neoprene booties made the difference. I could remain horizontal before but I had to waggle my fins side to side.

 

[ClayJar]

Neither I nor my buddy could move the tank high enough without causing head trauma, so we just added a cam band at the shoulder (with a few pounds of weight, of course). If we had double-cam-band BCs, we could've just used the existing bands, but we had single-cam-band jackets (with no shoulder trim pockets, which would've also precluded the need for an extra band).

 

[DIR-Atlanta]

It shouldn't, but the reality is that anyone--even before they learn--can spot a bad driver (using your analogy). A skilled diver is something that is much less well-known. As a result, the demand and high bar simply isn't there for most people learning how to dive.

I think you are underestimating people's ability to assess diving skill. Pick any random non-diver and show him or her a couple of short video clips - one of a really skilled diver doing something, and one of a really crappy diver doing the exact same thing. Then ask the person "which diver would you rather look like when you finish your course?". I would bet you dollars to donuts that they will pick the skilled diver every time.

People don't need to know anything much about bowling to recognize that a guy who has good form and consistently throws strikes is a better bowler than a guy who consistently throws gutter balls. They don't need to know anything much about golf to tell that Tiger Woods has a much more graceful, elegant tee shot than I do (Note: I do not play golf at all). They don't need to know anything about ski jumping to tell the difference between "the thrill of victory" and the "agony of defeat" (with apologies to Vinko Bogataj).

Like a great many physical activities, diving "well" is all about form and finesse. You don't need to know anything about it to recognize when someone has those qualities - it is often painfully evident, even to the untrained eye.

I think this places the burden on the agency, but that is a different discussion . . .

Agreed.

 

[dsteding]

Pick any random non-diver and show him or her a couple of short video clips - one of a really skilled diver doing something, and one of a really crappy diver doing the exact same thing. Then ask the person "which diver would you rather look like when you finish your course?". I would bet you dollars to donuts that they will pick the skilled diver every time.

Agreed on this, but the problem, as I see it, is that people usually don't have the chance to see what a skilled diver looks like prior to an OW class . . . given the opportunity it is obvious, but the problem as it stands today is a lack of any widespread exposure to what a good diver's skills look like.

 

[GrandpaScuba]

Holding still. Perfectly still in the water column. No sculling or kicking – just hanging there motionless.

If they are smiling while they do this, then they are peeing in their wetsuit.

 

[ehuber]

Lol...

 

[Rick Inman]

If they are smiling while they do this, then they are peeing in their wetsuit.

Or, if I'm in my drysuit, you might not want to do a mask drill right then.

 

[LIVES4SHARKS]

Agreed on this, but the problem, as I see it, is that people usually don't have the chance to see what a skilled diver looks like prior to an OW class . . . given the opportunity it is obvious, but the problem as it stands today is a lack of any widespread exposure to what a good diver's skills look like.

I took my OW in January 2007. I was not taught ANYTHING about trim or buoyancy. It wasn't hardly covered in my book either. I was told that it will come in about 25 dives. Umm what will? Some divine enlightenment? Well, fortuantely I was introduced, and shown, what it is to be buoyant and trim, WHAT A FEELING! But it came from my now mentor not my instructor. When I told my instructor that I have been working on my diving and especially in the pool...he flat out said that I couldn't learn buoyancy in the pool. Umm it isn't easy, but very much possible! So that is what OW divers are facing. At least in this area of the world! When I went to the Bahamas, I was the only one truly holding trim, then was told that my frog kick was useless in OW....but then I was the only one NOT silting up the bottom. So I was shunned by the same group that trained me because I was no longer part of THEIR club. ( The long hose and JET fins really kept me out of the COOL group). So, as a new diver who is embracing with open arms a great way to dive, other diving communities totally try to turn you the other way. So I hope that kind of gives y'all some perspective of what I have been facing. Oh and when I went into another LDS and was looking at gear, I told them what I was looking for(of course they didnt have a BP/W) they asked me "SO...you like to dive HORIZONTAL?" As if I was an alien from another water world! Like it's a bad thing? LOL! SHEESH! The dark side beckons me...and I like it!

HAPPY HORIZONTAL DIVING Y'ALL!
Carolyn:sharks:

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Hahahaha.... I really have to thank ScubaBoard for the education I've received in proper trim, kicking techniques, and buoyancy control. This place ROCKS!