GUE Fundamentals w/Bob Sherwood Course Report

[TSandM]

We were talking about the buoyancy thing last night. The fellow who has done a lot of the video for our local classes said people always come to class saying they've got their buoyancy squared away. Then they come away from the first day of class rather shell-shocked!

 

[Griffo]

We were talking about the buoyancy thing last night. The fellow who has done a lot of the video for our local classes said people always come to class saying they've got their buoyancy squared away. Then they come away from the first day of class rather shell-shocked!

My ill informed opinion, is that quite simply, most people have never had to maintain buoyancy, in a fixed position, while being truly task loaded - either in real life, or in training. Throw in the desire to not stuff up, peoples stress levels rise, their respiratory cycle is affected, and then suddenly their worse case scenario is being seen( looking stupid) - so the stress level rises and so on and so forth. Next thing you know, the worst ascent you've done since your ow course and it's on the damned fundies course!

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[LiteHedded]

how much do these cost these days?

 

[BluewaterSail]

My ill informed opinion, is that quite simply, most people have never had to maintain buoyancy, in a fixed position, while being truly task loaded - either in real life, or in training. Throw in the desire to not stuff up, peoples stress levels rise, their respiratory cycle is affected, and then suddenly their worse case scenario is being seen( looking stupid) - so the stress level rises and so on and so forth. Next thing you know, the worst ascent you've done since your ow course and it's on the damned fundies course!

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Yup. Been there done that. Being told not to hold your breath doesn't help when you don't even realize you are doing it until its too late. And you just made a total mess out of an S drill, on video, that you swear that you have done a million times perfectly! Performance anxiety!

 

[chrpai]

I haven't done fundies yet but I did do a pool session with 50Fathom. I didn't expect to be the super star walking through the park and I wasn't. Here's my personal theory for me:

Before my 6 year break in diving, I had pretty good buoyancy and trim. I'm confident this is true because I had buddies who I trusted tell me as such. But back in those days I was rocking the split fins doing flutter style kicks. I wasn't concerned about anti-silting kicks and wasn't bending the knees and working on frog kick, helicopter turns, backwards kicks.

I feel that in making this change to the new kicking techniques and changing how I position my legs in the water sets me back aways. I'm not complaining, it needs to be done. It's just going to take me diving a lot to get it back to where it once was.

I wonder when the next Fundies in Texas will be.

 

[Cyprian]

I haven't done fundies yet but I did do a pool session with 50Fathom. I didn't expect to be the super star walking through the park and I wasn't. Here's my personal theory for me:

Before my 6 year break in diving, I had pretty good buoyancy and trim. I'm confident this is true because I had buddies who I trusted tell me as such. But back in those days I was rocking the split fins doing flutter style kicks. I wasn't concerned about anti-silting kicks and wasn't bending the knees and working on frog kick, helicopter turns, backwards kicks.

I feel that in making this change to the new kicking techniques and changing how I position my legs in the water sets me back aways. I'm not complaining, it needs to be done. It's just going to take me diving a lot to get it back to where it once was.

I wonder when the next Fundies in Texas will be.

There are a few of us kicking around the idea of bringing a Fundies class to DFW. However, that same few are also considering a road trip to High Springs. Something about taking the class in crystal clear spring water is appealing.

Side note: Based on scheduling, I know Doug Mudry is set to come to Oklahoma City, OK at the end of August. I was invited to that class, but I feel it's too early for me. I was also informed that this particular class, with the interested number could very easily be moved to Texas.

I still vote for the springs!

 

[50Fathom]

Our little dive group has built relationships with both Bob Sherwood and Doug Mudry, so getting either one to central TX shouldn't be too much hassle. If we can get interested parties to COMMIT to a date, then we can contact one of them, and depending on class size, (both Bob and Doug limit class size to three students in-water), one or both, (if the class has 4-6), could come out.

The vis in the lakes is nowhere NEAR N. FL Springs, but since we've run a few classes here already, we've got the logistics (IE: expenses and other hidden costs) pretty well sorted/minimized. I think, done right, at least on the logistics side, it might be cheaper than a trip to FL.

Of course, using a chance to go to Florida and check out the diving there is NEVER a bad thing.

(Thread hijack over)

 

[chrpai]

I think I'm kind of with Cyprian right now. I'm not sure how much diving I'm going to need to try to get my diving to where it needs to be to really get the benefit out of the class. When and where do you guys dive if I wanted to bump into you?

 

[Cyprian]

I think I'm kind of with Cyprian right now. I'm not sure how much diving I'm going to need to try to get my diving to where it needs to be to really get the benefit out of the class. When and where do you guys dive if I wanted to bump into you?

Chrpai, I'll send you a PM.

Scarborough Diver, I apologize for the hijack....and thanks for the class report. I try to read every one that is available.

Safe dives,

Cyp

 

[TSandM]

Where you need to be to take Fundies depends on what you want out of the class.

I try to talk people into taking it in a single tank for a rec pass. To do that, all you really need is the required equipment, and enough comfort with it to be able to hover and do the basic 5 without sculling or losing buoyancy. If you MUST pass, you also need to be able to control descents and ascents so that you can stop where you want, for as long as you want. Once you have a rec pass, if you decide in the future that you want to do technical training with the agency, you can upgrade to a tech pass at any time, although it may require bringing an instructor in or going to one, if there isn't one local to you.

If you are doing the class simply to get clearance to get into GUE technical training, it's a whole different kettle of fish, especially if you cannot easily manage a reevaluation. But I think people are a lot better off taking the class earlier, and starting to build good habits from the beginning.