tips for DM stamina tests

[Glitch]

Hi guys,

thanks for all the input. Haven't done the tests yet but I might tonight. Went swimming yesterday just to try a bit and the water treading part was easy enough to get a 5 on so hopefully I'll manage to get enough on the rest. We'll see what to do about the tow. The lanes will pobably be 25m long so four turns will be necessary. Will see what tow technique to use and who the diver will be. Sucky part is that they only use BP/wing combos at the school so it till be extra heavy of course but somehow it'll work I guess

As for the 400m swim I don't think I can give any good advice not now and not after the test. Timed myself yesterday and if I really give it all I might make it fast enough for a 3 but a 2 is more likely. Have also had shoulder surgery last year so that of course makes it even trickier but we'll see what comes out of it.

Now if I only could figure out a good way to keep my darn volos in the water

I'll let you know if I do it tonight, I'm scheduled now but with that dive-school you never know so far I've only been disappointed. Passed my exams (all of them) after 3 days of study and since then nothing has happened. So far I was supposed to assist on 4 pool dives but everytime something has come up like "so sorry the cars are full we had to bump you off because we needed more room for our OW-students etc." It's like I'm not treated as a student just because I am advanced enough to have my own car??? I told the guy from the beginning I didn't have my own ride and he said no problems at all but so far everytime there were pooldives or outdoor dives I have been bumped off just an hour before or so. He's not even going to see me do my stamin tests tonight rather two other instructors that hold the pool class are going to be there an certify I did my tests.

Oh well I'll let you know what happens.

Wish me luck!

Cheers

/C

 

[Seuss]

I just finished the stamina parts of the PADI DM a few weeks ago. Take a look at all of the scored skills required and pick the ones that you know you can make a 5 on to do first. For example, the treading water test is pretty easy to make a 5 on, so do it first. Now you only need to worry about 7 points total. Save what you think you will have the hardest time with for last. By the time the last two skills came around, I only had to pass them as I had already scored the 12 points required on the first set of skills. Knowing that you only have to finish 800 yards, not that you have to do it in under XX minutes, takes all the pressure off.

 

[scubablue67]

The snorkel part is pretty easy to pass to get a 5 just push yourself as hard as you can. The staff waved their hands in the water to let me know I was on my last hundred yards. I let it all hang out for that last bit. Split fins are much slower than the old fullfoot snorkel fins. Whicj are designed to be used at the surface. I timed myself with both and it shaved a little over 30seconds off on average.
To improve swim time it's more of a technique issue. Practice counting your strokes for each lap. Try to lower your stroke count each lap by making your stroke more smooth and complete. I also counted breaths to try and reduce the amount of head turns to breath. The biggest time waster is a poor flip turn. Get that down and really push off from the wall and glide as long as possible. The glide is more efficent than at the surface. The tread I found if I held a deep breath and leaned back abit I could almost float without kicking.
Good luck,

 

[MechDiver]

It's not just him, I myself cannot visualize how the "tired" diver can "help" without helping, either.....

Geez, this isn't rocket science. Have you guys ever actually watched one of these tests?

Case in point. Husband and wife were taking DM class together. To do push, tired diver can HELP by how they maintain their body attitude, buoyancy and leg stiffness, especially in a turn. As someone else said, the diver is tired, not dead.
Anyhow, wife was pissed at hubby during test and did a number of things that were unobserved by instructor that made the task much harder, hence a longer time and lower score.

And Goddard, just because someone doesn't decide to bow to your opinions, doesn't mean they don't know what they're talking about. Some posters may also conclude that some threads are more trouble than they're worth. This being one...

 

[MechDiver]

I can't figure out how to type my way out of the hole I just dug.

Yes, we've come to expect that from some.
Present company excepted of course. Or was that expected

 

[northcoast_diver]

I would agree that this method is best if you are in open water, however if, like me, you have to do it in a pool you'll have no choice but to use the tank drag. It's just too inefficent to try to turn the diver this way.

What I found was that since I had to use the tank, that face down with my arm extended strait out from my side worked best. Any other position caused me to kick the victim. The tank drag was not meant to be performed at high speed.

James

Whats wrong with kicking the victim?

Swimming on your back is your strongest stroke, with fins.

 

[HammerNoMore]

To do push, tired diver can HELP by how they maintain their body attitude, buoyancy and leg stiffness, especially in a turn. As someone else said, the diver is tired, not dead.
Anyhow, wife was pissed at hubby during test and did a number of things that were unobserved by instructor that made the task much harder, hence a longer time and lower score.

Ahh, now Glitch has some excellent tips, which is, I believe, what he was asking for.

1. Ask the tired diver to remain stiff.
2. Ask the tired diver to fill their BC.
3. Ask the tired diver to rest in a position that offers little drag.
4. Make sure the tired diver is not your spose. (On this note, I would say to try to use another DM candidate who also needs the tow as your tired diver and make sure you go first. A little hint about revenge should do the trick.)

See how much easier it is to provide positive answers to the question? And you even got to get a couple more snipes in at the same time .

James

 

[nilsdiver]

Now if I only could figure out a good way to keep my darn volos in the water

You can try using a side stroke or UDT recovery stroke. That way your kick should be side to side instead of up and down. Much easier to keep the fins in the water.

 

[amyh]

Don't sweat it. Enjoy and it will go easily. Bio-fins are great.

 

[Glitch]

Hmmz okay did two of the skills anyway today. I was really tired after work and after the floating part I was so cold I had to jump into the sauna just to reheat again.

Treading was quite easy at first at least I thought so, I was just kind of leaned back half floating and then the instructor came up and wanted me to tread more and float less oh well it was okay anyway til there were about 5 minutes left and he said hans out of the water at this school we don't just do 2 minutes.....oh well managed to get that down so no problems there.

Then I did the tow which was pure agony to be honest. As all the gear they use there is more or less DIR so both me and the victim (an instructor quite a bit bigger than me) had steel backplates, huge wings, long hoses wrapped around our necks and everything you don't want in order to minimize drag. The fins I used, Mares Volo Power, sucked horribly. No matter how hard I kicked I got almost no propulsion as they are very soft and just kept breaking the surface when I did the tow with the feet on your shoulders. Tried the tank tow first and that was actually a lot faster as I could keep my fins down easier but as I got into the shallow part of the pool I just finned at the bottom almost hit my knees as well so I started all over again after half the distance with the tired diver tow. As the pool was only 16 meters long lots of turns were required as well which of course added to the time.

At the end the instructor said it's ok you passed it no problem considering the cirumstances but I never got an actual time so I don't know how particular they are about the point system? The thing is the instructor that was with me now is not the one I'm doing the course for either but I guess he'll know the time if I need it.

Either way I was really cold and tired afterwards so I didn't feel like doing the other tests especially since I have a bit of a cold right now as well. One thing is for sure for the snorkel test I'll use my stone age full foots as the Volo Power fins are just about the worst thing you can use for surface snorkeling. I mean I just kicked and kicked like crazy and nothing happened they just kind of bent and I stood still more or less. I so regret I didn't get Bio-fins

Anyways we'll see what happens with the other tests right now I'm more worried about the relationsship to my instructor. He really doesn't seem to give a **** about me making progress or not. He hasn't even suggested a schedule for the course rather I have been really pushy to actually get things done. I managed to find a buddy for example to go diving with this weekend and I asked if I could borrow a tank and he was like "We'll see if we have any left on friday because people might want to come and rent some plus I need them for my other students" This is what he is telling me all the time he has to look after his other students first like I'm not one of his students?? I don't know I always thought that especially at the DM-level you would kind of bond with your instructor and they should actually motivate you and see how you progress doing everything in order for you to get the course done but he rather breaks me down by more or less not talking to me and letting me be the pushy one trying arrange everything on my own.

I'm seriously thinking about quitting and going somewhere else if things don't change in the very near future.

/C