Extinguishing the impulse to bolt

[kevindwhite]

If we want people not to bolt we need to train them to handle the situation without bolting.

I had a similar conversation with a friend last night. We were talking about the content of the average OW course, the level of proficiency required to pass, and the impression students have after passing. I told my friend that after my OW I felt like I was junior varsity when I was really a pee wee. It took a long time for me to recognize how unskilled I really am and commit to more training.

The only solution is to raise the bar for certification and lower expectations on what can be accomplished with a basic OW certification.

 

[Lenaxia]

I can hold my breath until I pass out, not to mention I've been a swimmer my whole life, I lost my impulse to bolt long long ago.

Unfortunately I don't think it's possible to quell an impulse entirely. What one can only hope to do is to be able to control it within the extent of their experience. Just diving normally won't give you the experience at any appreciable rate, instead putting yourself into high stress situations will.

For those of you who watched the Surviving the Cut: Special Forces Divers, this is exactly what the purpose of the "drown proofing" segment was for, albeit to a greater extent than what most of us will ever need.

I think one of the best ways to get over your urge to bolt is to start free diving. I haven't seen this mentioned by anyone in this thread so far and yet freediving provides you with nearly all the skills required to avoid panicking underwater because you are the one who actively puts yourself into a low oxygen situation.

Panic and bolting, as have been mentioned before, are due to a lack of confidence and understanding of the availability of air time remaining or time until next breath. When free diving you not only learn to listen and understand your body more but also build the confidence to perform properly when your body normally starts screaming at you.

It's with any other sport, cross training is one of the most powerful and yet underutilized tools available to anyone.

 

[Aquabear]

This is a great thread, I love reading these. Thinkling how they have applied to me in the past, to a future brand new dive buddy or teaching a newbie how to scuba/freedive/swim.
The fight or flight is one of the strongest instincts we have as humans. Training ourselves to act a certain way for some can take more than a weekend OW. Hey I am no LDS but I am glad more people are certified to keep our sport going but the skills I learned in 1986 on how to cope with situations and the length on our training way back then and now are two different worlds. BUT I will say a lot more people today travel to the warmer areas and dive there instead of exploring the local waters- NO $100 fly to florida fares then that I recall.
Experience will help new divers get thru those hurdles. AFter training- they should practice underwater removing masks, fins, lost buddy, buddy breathing, etc.....
As they go diving more Murphys law WILL come into play; it will happen probably nothing major but a fin will get loose, loose mask etc... first thing- DONT PANIC- just like the cover in HHGTTG think plan react

Freediving, yoga and cardio training have helped me do very well in breath control, conserving energy in body movements while diving and help in not freaking out when murphys law decides to show up- well do my best to try not to.

Thank you all for your input.
Aquabear.

 

[jaybob217]

thanks boulderjohn for your suggestions and explanation. I know I concentrate on breathing long and slower in those situations but concentrating more on the Exhaling as you suggest is something I will definitely pay more attention to. Thanks