How to teach student that cannot breathe thru their mouth

[CrowyCrow]

i have students that are not able to breathe through their mouth while diving. Any exercise i can help them in their pool session?

 

[guruboy]

Tell them to imagine sucking through a straw?

Some people just don't get it no matter how you try to explain. Hopefully it just clicks for them eventually.

 

[boulderjohn]

First of all, I suggest you join the Instructor to Instructor forum, where questions like this are asked and answered routinely.

The way to do it is to have them put the face in the water with no mask and breathing through a snorkel. Have them do that for as long as it takes to be comfortable with it.

 

[jhnmdahl]

I wonder if pinching their nose shut for a while on land first would help the transition? Some people just don't adapt very fast.

 

[guruboy]

I wonder if pinching their nose shut for a while on land first would help the transition? Some people just don't adapt very fast.

maybe but probably not since it's an external force solving the problem and not their brain.

 

[Buliwyf]

How can a grown adult not know how to breath through their mouth? Do they not exercise at all? That's scary to me. Might want to get them snorkeling to see how comfortable they really are in the water before trying Scuba training?

Or is their mask not plugging their nose or something? I can't snorkel without dive googles. I'm an air hog when snorkeling and will pull water in my nose without the mask keeping water out of my nose.

 

[TMHeimer]

How can a grown adult not know how to breath through their mouth? Do they not exercise at all? That's scary to me. Might want to get them snorkeling to see how comfortable they really are in the water before trying Scuba training?

Or is their mask not plugging their nose or something? I can't snorkel without dive googles. I'm an air hog when snorkeling and will pull water in my nose without the mask keeping water out of my nose.

Couldn't agree more. Some things, though true, are still amazing to me.

 

[Altamira]

My grandson had a bit of trouble initially overcoming the issue of mouth breathing through a snorkel/reg. To overcome his apprehension, I had him sit in a chair watching some kid's program that he enjoyed, with the mask on and snorkel in his mouth. Once he got used to that, and realized it was no big deal, we progressed to snorkeling in the pool, then to snorkeling in the ocean, and finally OW certified. Obviously we could have skipped the ocean snorkeling, but it was good for him to see that he was not going to drown even with a bit of choppy sea. Breathing is instinctive, but not necessarily so if you have to think about breathing through your nose or mouth.

 

[DevonDiver]

Get them to snorkel using swimming goggles, not diving mask.

It works.

 

[The Chairman]

Gentle people, it's far, far easier than that. It's how I start every Scuba class. In the Kiddie pool (waist deep), I have them put on their mask full of water by putting their mask on in the water. Then they simply straighten up and we have a conversation. No regs. No snorkel. Just their mask full of water and tons of air to breath through their mouth. I'll ask them about what the pressure is at 33/66/99 feet, etc and if they don't snort, they've learned to breathe ONLY through their mouth. It's then I tell them the mermaid joke... why do mermaids wear sea shells? B shells are too small! They usually give a snort which clears their mask. We do that a couple of times and move to doing it in the water, just floating on the surface. It doesn't take long, but it prevents me wasting a lot of time on Scuba trying to teach them. Also, when they are clearing their mask out of water, I get to see how the mask fits and the water flows. I had a student with their mask on soooooo tight, that when they finally built up enough pressure, the water came out like out of a pressure washer. Easy to see out of the water. I can then tailor how they are going to clear their mask under the water. Push/pull/combo.