Peak Performance Bouyancy training....is one day enough?

[Robertcrockett]

Mt is a few hours away at most. Eleanor lies midway between Charleston and Huntington. The class sounds excellant and I'll have to see how I feel about my bouyancy after about 60-70 dives in Utila. I'll be there the month of august.

 

[Robertcrockett]

Your arms are not for swimming, only your legs and fins should do that work, your hands and arms are for cameras or gauges or manipulation, not propulsion. I have seen this over and over, people do not realize they are arm swimming and hand paddling--are you sure??? you are not?

I either keep my fingers lightly tucked into the shoulder harness portion of my BC or one on the harness and one lightly resting on my console which is clipped to my BC at the waist. Unless Im messing with something or looking at my computer or console my hands are in contact with my body at all times.

 

[Rich Wilkman]

The specialties tacked onto your AOW course are really 'intro to the specialty' versions. When my wife and I did AOW we did the PPB as well. It was good, we did well (relatively) but that was more because we had more dives under our belts already. The 'final' for that segment was swimming a hula-hoop course through different depths, all of them above 25' deep.

We just took the drysuit class and part of the skills for that are demonstrating buoyancy all over again using the new gear. Diving with 30# of lead makes the skills stand out (or not).

As others have pointed out, though, practicing the skills is what makes it all gel. Each dive is practice, too. The reward is more time underwater and feeling a little less tired.

We'll probably take the PPB full course eventually.

-Rich

 

[ScubaSteve]

One day is more than enough for the knowledge transfer (what you need to know that you probably don't) and some practice.

Once you have had your session with the instructor, you next need to find a good Mentor.....someone who will help you hone your skills. Someone who can tell you that your trim was bad on that dive and here is why....then you can work on it and they can provide feedback. Scuba is not unlike many other things in life. A good mentor is paramount to ongoing development.

 

[k ellis]

I took AOW over a year ago and we had the basic 1 day in class with 5 specialties. We did the peak performance Buoyancy and it was a great knowledge transfer but quiet honestly I got mine down with just having good old fashioned fun diving.

The most important part of the peaking is getting your weight down as close as you can to being perfect for the dive. Once you get your weight just right slow your decent to where once you reach your operating depth a tiny blast of air or maybe 2 will set you straight.

One of the most common problems I find with new divers is they obtain neutral buoyancy and never even know it. This is because when lungs are half full you will be neutral. by exhailing will cause you to start sinking and a slight intake will cause you to rise. So case in point once you obtain N/B just let your breathing do the rest!

 

[boulderjohn]

I would like to tell you what it will take for you to perfect your buoyancy, but I have no idea.

After 50 dives I thought I had it down.

After 100 dives I realized how incompetent I had been at 50 dives.

Every 50 dives or so after that I would realize how much better I was getting.

After about 400 or so dives I started with doubles, and I was back to being a beginner. Working with doubles did a whole lot for me, whether in singles or doubles.

I think I'm reasonably good now--can't wait to get better.

Edit: As to your question: the purpose of Peak Performance Buoyancy can be achieved in one day. What you do with what you learned is up to you and your subsequent experiences.

 

[leabre]

When im in Utila i plan on obtaining my AOW and a couple of specialty certs most notably peak performance bouyancy. My question is simply... is a one day class really going to allow me to dramatically alter my bouyancy control and trim? or should i research out some other training option...is there another training option even?.

I haven't read the other responses on this thread yet but I'll chime in. When I took PPB, about the only thing it really did for me when I did the fin pivot was show me what it feels like to be properly bouyant. I got weighted, also, but only to a full tank (HP ST 120). Not on 500 PSI. I've since properly weighted myself and always add 2 lbs becuase I like the way it feels that way.

In any cases, the quest for proper buoyancy doesn't stop with this one class. But you should learn at least what it "feels" like to be properly bouyant, and how to distribute weight to get certain trim characteristics, and at the very least, properly weighted.

Once I figure out the weighting of my primary configuration, I then have to add/subtract weight as I change other things like adding a 2.9 lb canister light, I'll take 2 lbs lead off the belt, etc.

It then took my about 35-50 dives after that to finally hone in on my bouyancy then I started diving with tec types. That is a completely different legue. Now, roughly 30 dives later, I finally nearly got decent control. But every dive is another oppurtunity to improve.

I'd say that after about 50'ish dives I was able to finally conduct dives at any arbitrary depth in horizontal trim and not silting (even in 4 ft. heavy surge) and not touching anything to stablize or anchor during heavy surge. Before that, I was a sorry excuse for a diver and would have destroyed 100 year of coral growth in a single dive.

So yes, even a bad PPB should at least get you started. But there are agencies out there (GUE and UTD) that within 4-6 dives will have to nearly perfected. So it isn't rocket science, you just need proper instruction. Not a lazy crash course. I took the long route. It should not have taken more more than 10 dives to find the right starting point.

 

[Nemrod]

More rebellion but I think the "fin pivot" is an exercise of no real value. If your chest/head is up and your fins are down (on the bottom) then you are out of trim right off. N

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Gotta agree with Nemrod here. This is why when I have students doing this exercise the only thing that's touching is their fin tips on the 4 or 7 ft ledge in the pool. the body and rest of the legs are out over the deeper level. THis way they get used what this position feels like and it seems to speed up the process of getting them to stay horizontal in midwater when doing skills by session 4 or so. The remaining 4 sessions are done without any part of the body touching bottom when performing mask removal and replace, reg retrieval, weight belt, no mask swims while air sharing, etc.

 

[diver 85]

My answer is simple:---'it should help, but to what degree no one can tell you over the internet'...........

..........Now, according to your bio, you have fewer than 25 dives, this isn't alot...BUT, I do remember back in Dec of '85, my wife & daughter were in about the same boat as you(~maybe 25 dives---lol---I was VERY experienced @~ 40) when we all headed to Belize....All dives were deep(90')---back then there they did 2 dives a day, 1 in the AM & 1 in the PM--- both to 90+'....'Lack' of experience did not hurt anyone then....

I don't know, guess take it?, but you will learn this on your own....The only way to improve is to practice---From looking @ what you're saying- ie " which usually gets me dumping air out of my BC", I would think you're over weighting yourself....

Good luck.....I would try to get wet as much as possible between now & then...