What is the best path for me to take

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

I want to continue to move toward a DIR direction, so with that in mind what path should I take to move forward?

New diver with about 50 dives, SDI certified June 06
Golem BP/W added bent D rings for the shoulders
Scuba Pro Fins both jet and twin jet (working out in the pool to overcome a hip injury so until that is over come I use the splits in OW and the jets in workouts and rehab)
Reg set is in the mail but is DIR configured with hose set up
Wrist computer/bottom timer

So I know the gear is only the first part. I have been in touch with a local group from Atlanta and might get to dive along with them some this summer.

So what can I do or do I need to be doing to move closer to my goal. I would like to take fundies, but that will be some time before I can do that--maybe next year or so.

Thanks

 

[rjack321]

What's your current buddy situation (team)?

Do you have an interested buddy to work together on the whole package?

 

[SparticleBrane]

"What is the best path for me to take?"

The path to the Dark Side.

 

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

I have one buddy that is my favorite and she has agreed to work on skills with me when we dive. We started doing a little of that at the end of the summer when I started learning about DIR. However, she can only dive a few times each summer because she lives several hours from here. The DIR Atlanta group says I can dive with them when they come up this way for training. And I have started a local yahoo group to try to find buddies who might be open to this direction. As the yahoo group grows, the DIR Atlanta group said they would do a presentation on DIR and hopefully that will yeild a better pool of local buddies. In the mean time, I still want to plod along as best I can until things are more ideal.

 

[TSandM]

Diving with DIR people is a big thing. Having a visual model, and a good, experienced diver to steady you, helps a ton. You can also get some feedback from them on how YOU are doing. Things like trim can be really confusing, because how you THINK you are oriented in the water often isn't really what's happening, and absent a video camera, feedback from your buddies is the next best thing.

You can even do a lot of useful work in the pool. Work on hovering. How long can you stay perfectly still, and by that, I mean not even moving a fin tip? And once you can stay still for a good thirty seconds or so (and that's a long time, actually, when you start) try doing your basic five that way -- mask flood & clear, remove & replace, reg remove & replace, reg exchange, and mod S (long hose deployment). You'll likely find out that you tend to swim forward when you get task loaded, and you can work on getting rid of that.

On your OW dives, really work on your team skills. Pay attention to where you are with respect to your buddy -- is it where you discussed that you should be? Are you visible, or is your light visible to your buddy? Do you know where your buddy is, and where his light is? Is your light being held steady, or moving in slow, leisurely sweeps?

Having a buddy who wants to work on this stuff is absolutely priceless.

Don't worry about the frog kick and the back kick and the helicopter turns . . . That's what a good instructor is for. But getting your weighting precisely right, getting your trim correct, and honing your buoyancy skills is work you can do without building the wrong habits.

If you don't have them already, I would HIGHLY recommend you invest in the Essentials and Intro to Tech DVDs from 5thd-x. They are very useful for putting the right kind of mental pictures into your brain.

You've got SO much fun in front of you . . . I spent this morning doing a skills dive with NWGratefulDiver. We did S-drills, ran line, did mask skills, passed a deco bottle, shot a bag and did ascent drills. I did none of it to my own standards, but it was still really, really fun.

 

[SparticleBrane]

Leah if you're ever in North Carolina, you're welcome to dive with NCDivers. There are several of us headed down the DIR path (most aren't); we have a multitude of divers from many diverse backgrounds and diving styles all over the state.

 

[headhunter]

Given that you will be struggling with rehabiliating the hip for a while before you can take DIR-F, you should just dive with DIR minded divers who can help you with all of the other things that there are to learn besides the propulsion techniques.

You may be able to use a modified flutter if you can do the flutter, so that may be the way to go for now.

If the modified flutter works for you you may be able to take a DIR-F class with the understanding that it's the only kick you can do for now. You should proabably talk to a GUE instructor about that.

Good luck and enjoy the journey!

Christian

 

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

Good suggestions Lynne. I will try to work on those skills and also check out the ED material from 5thd-x

Spartlic, where do you guys go diving?

 

[H2Andy]

leah, assuming you have not done so, i would read "Doing it Right: The Fundamentals of Better Diving"

and then take DIR-F as soon as humanly possible

in the meantime, find as many DIR divers as you can, express your interest, and learn from them as much as you can (i.e. dive with them often)

 

[SparticleBrane]

Spartlic, where do you guys go diving?

We dive everywhere.
Our normal 'gathering place' is at Fantasy Lake, especially for our "official" (if you could call them that! ) get-togethers. We have people diving literally every weekend of the year somewhere or another--Fantasy Lake, the coast, Blanch quarry, Lake Rawlings, the caves down in Florida...we're everywhere.