The Most Difficult Skill to Master

[Ber Rabbit]

While doing nothing is good in lakes and quarries or even the ocean if there's little or no current...other times, you just need to kick a bit to stay where you are.

You would be surprised at how much current can be in some quarries. I like to go limp and see where my body goes during my safety stops sometimes. I tend to rotate slightly right and a little head down with my arms hanging loosely then I drift slowly toward the south side of the quarry usually. It's my "unconscious diver" imitation and must be fairly convincing since I've had other divers come up, completely ignore my buddy who's right there, and flash me an "OK" with a wide-eyed look.

Rick you're right, I'd LOVE to be able to quietly stay in one place while maintaining a horizontal body position. Maybe one day!
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Ben_ca]

:lol: The Borg Queen is famous... When you pop up on Google you know you're a big deal

In opposition to Sparticle's post I think that not enough emphasis is given to "doing nothing"

Being able to hold position is one thing but doing nothing will expose the flaws in your trim and techniques.

 

[Hank49]

Rick, would you agree that the biggest trick to mastering this skill is equipment selection, especially weight distribution, suited for one's body type?

 

[SparticleBrane]

I agree that it's an important skill when you're doing skills dives or training (or even when you just want to hover to look at something)---no disagreement there at all. I'm just saying that there are many situations where being completely still would result in the diver being swept off the wreck or down the river...etc.

 

[Nomad]

It is all about being weighted properly (having the right amount of weight AND having it distributed right) and controlling your breathing.

Obviously it is a whole different thing when there is a current, but it can be a pretty amazing experience. Kinda zen-like.

 

[Ben_ca]

It's a tool for the tool box... You would use it when necessary

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Or kneel on the bottom.

BTW, I just typed in "kneel on bottom diver" in Google Image search, and look at what came up as the second picture!

http://images.google.com/images?q=kneel+on+bottom+diver&gbv=2&ndsp=20&svnum=10&hl=en&start=40&sa=N

OMG ... blast from the past!

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[SparticleBrane]

It's a tool for the tool box...

I said that about bare-tank breathing but people jumped on me.
I agree though--it's definitely something that is appropriate some times, and inappropriate other times.

 

[ClayJar]

I was doing my rinse dive at Vortex after spending last weekend in the Gulf, and when I got to my customary 30' hovering stop, I *nailed* it.

Okay, so I was having a fun time at the bottom, just playing around with back kicks (at which I'm getting better) and simple random meandering. Every so often, a few divers would come down and rototill the place, at which points I would make extra sure that I was performing the good form demonstration as perfectly and apparently effortlessly as possible (so that by seeing someone diving so well and so peacefully, they might aspire to more, or so I tell myself).

Anyway, one guy was not nearly so bad as most, but he still made a large silt cloud. I turned my head to look at him, then looked at the cloud, then looked back at him and continued along my merry dive. He saw the pantomime and, much to his credit, he seemed to attempt to silt less. (He was at least somewhat successful, even considering his inclined trim.)

Well, naturally, as I was ascending to my 30' stop, he was right around the same area (the spring is rather small at that depth). Obviously, having looked at him in disappointment at his silting, there was no way I could silt up the place by kicking the silt off the walls on my stop. I redoubled my efforts. I balanced my drysuit inflation against my wing inflation against my breathing, and I arched my back and set my feet.

*Bingo!*

I sat there at 30', not kicking, not even moving except to breathe, and I held my place, my depth, and my trim (but not my breath, of course). It made me quite happy to have nailed it so well. Usually, I can come close, but sometimes, I'm still not settled (and occasionally, I look positively terrible, at least in my estimation).

The safety stop was pretty good (but not perfect... this time), and in the end, I ended the rinse dive quite content with my progress. (Of course, the last five feet went all pear-shaped when a class swam right on top of me as I was beginning my terminal ascent. After being kicked numerous times, in the head and elsewhere, I managed to clutch a log on the bottom and ride it out. Nothing like a good beating to deflate any potential ego problems, eh?)

I actually got to talk to the guy I'd seen on the bottom. Apparently, he's been diving for quite a long time, and I got to hear some stories. He, meanwhile, seemed to like some of the tips I had for how I help people get into good trim, as some of them hadn't occurred to him. All in all, it was yet another good dive, and with practice, I ought to become even better on the stops.

(The back kick, on the other hand, continues to require work. I no longer back-and-up kick, and I don't end up going forward [much], but I don't have the consistency [or any appreciable velocity] yet. )

 

[TSandM]

The thing about being able to be utterly motionless is that then, any motion you make, you CHOSE.

And yes, balancing your equipment is an important part of the equation. As is positioning your body parts properly, and distributing the air in your buoyancy compensation effectively.