blacknet
Contributor
Hello,
This is what I was taugh in photography for bouyancy.
The #1 method for improving bouyancy is LEARN TO BREATH PROPERLY. So many divers doesn't know how to breath correctly as they breath from the sholders and NOT the mid section.
Aside from that the best solution is to goto the shallow end of a pool (about 4'+ deep) with no exposure suit, lay on the bottom and relax as much as possible (with absoultey NO air in the bc at all). Then work on breathing techniques, before to long you'll find you do NOT raise as you inhale. Start taking weight off little by little untill you DO start to raise up with your inhalation. This is the best way I found to handle it. The keys here is a) breathing, b) breathing, c) breathing and d) relaxing.
A panic/stressed diver tends to hold more air in the lungs than a relaxed diver does. In a panic/stress situation they will be gasping for air and tends to float more than those who relaxes and has normal breathing patterns.
It may take 30 mins to get the person to relax completely but it's well worth the time. Couple of other things to then try is goto the deep end of the pool and get in the habit of doing mental imagery, i.e. think DOWN and you go down, think UP and you go up, think FLOAT and you float. Once they know how it's suppose to be done the rest just falls into place, they are more relaxed, they improve the gas consumption, the stress/anxiety level is lower and visual awareness is improved greatly.
Once the diver is in a state of relaxation he/she can do all the nifty things like hover in any position (some are harder than others) and the like. A good key point to make here is tucking all the loose things around the body so they don't hang loose or flap around, this will upset the breathing patterns and cause the diver to loose concentration.
Other things to persue along this line is autogenics (in the dive community it's called 'predive visualization)
Some will have the attitude of 'skills will come with practice' but in truth all it takes is understanding the principals and how to apply it. Traditionaly that was a trial and error (mostly error) but it doesn't have to be taught that way as it's lengthy, tends to promote/provoke undue and unnecessary panic/stress on the diver(s), leads to poor performance, degrades visual awareness and alot of people hang up the fins because they can't get it right.
Ed
This is what I was taugh in photography for bouyancy.
The #1 method for improving bouyancy is LEARN TO BREATH PROPERLY. So many divers doesn't know how to breath correctly as they breath from the sholders and NOT the mid section.
Aside from that the best solution is to goto the shallow end of a pool (about 4'+ deep) with no exposure suit, lay on the bottom and relax as much as possible (with absoultey NO air in the bc at all). Then work on breathing techniques, before to long you'll find you do NOT raise as you inhale. Start taking weight off little by little untill you DO start to raise up with your inhalation. This is the best way I found to handle it. The keys here is a) breathing, b) breathing, c) breathing and d) relaxing.
A panic/stressed diver tends to hold more air in the lungs than a relaxed diver does. In a panic/stress situation they will be gasping for air and tends to float more than those who relaxes and has normal breathing patterns.
It may take 30 mins to get the person to relax completely but it's well worth the time. Couple of other things to then try is goto the deep end of the pool and get in the habit of doing mental imagery, i.e. think DOWN and you go down, think UP and you go up, think FLOAT and you float. Once they know how it's suppose to be done the rest just falls into place, they are more relaxed, they improve the gas consumption, the stress/anxiety level is lower and visual awareness is improved greatly.
Once the diver is in a state of relaxation he/she can do all the nifty things like hover in any position (some are harder than others) and the like. A good key point to make here is tucking all the loose things around the body so they don't hang loose or flap around, this will upset the breathing patterns and cause the diver to loose concentration.
Other things to persue along this line is autogenics (in the dive community it's called 'predive visualization)
Some will have the attitude of 'skills will come with practice' but in truth all it takes is understanding the principals and how to apply it. Traditionaly that was a trial and error (mostly error) but it doesn't have to be taught that way as it's lengthy, tends to promote/provoke undue and unnecessary panic/stress on the diver(s), leads to poor performance, degrades visual awareness and alot of people hang up the fins because they can't get it right.
Ed
