Hovering

[CAPNVINNY]

If you have no problem with the fin pivot then it is just concentration.try sitting cross legged on the bottom and inhale from there instead or transitioning from the fin pivot and see if that helps.

 

[divingjd]

What do you mean when you say you can't "stay still" long enough? Is there some part of your body that you feel you have to move, or are you saying that you are sinking or floating? Are you talking about what I would think of as the "buddha" position, with legs crossed and holding each fin tip in the opposite hand? In the other buoyancy control exercises, you can "cheat" a little bit - that is, adjust for being not totally neutral without even thinking about it, by using small movements. But in the buddha position, you really can't do that. You have to be totally neutral and very still. Like just about everything else to do with buoyancy, it has a lot to do with controlling your breathing. Long, slow, deep breaths are the key and the way to start that is to make sure you exhale fully.

 

[Michael Schlink]

Read Jags post, PADI wants you to demo good nuetral buoyancy- You DO NOT have to do it "Indian style". In fact I don't teach it that way and won't allow it, as has been said by others, it serves no purpose in diving. If your Inst. is asking you to do it "Indian Style" tell him/her to read this post-You don't have to do it his/her way, in fact if you demo a proper hover he/she HAS to certify you, it's not up to him/her to dictate how you do the skill, and he/she shouldn't. As an instructor I show my students several ways to perform a skill and then I let them work it out on their own. You should be able to work this out with your instructor without it being a big deal, just tell them you do your hovering differently, demo a nice hover, and move on to the next skill - M

 

[Green_Manelishi]

I was doing my skills check out for DM class and I got through everything except for the hovering. I just cannot seem to stay still long enough to fold my legs and hover Indian style. But I have absolutely no problem doing fin pivots or hovering horizontally. Any advice?

Cripes I cannot sit crossed legged even on land. I'll stick with horror-zontal, thanks.

 

[divingjd]

Will they allow you to demonstrate buoyancy control without crossing your legs? I think it would be far more advantageous in the real world to be able to hover motionless in the horizontal position to simulate a deco stop for example...

You may try playing with your trim and adding weights to your back tank straps; this may help you get into the right position. Otherwise, it's practice, practice, practice

I agree - trim is another possible reason for the problem. When I took my buoyancy skills class (the instructor calls it "Tranquility Diving," which is a perfect name), I found that I could not do that buddha hover either when I could do everything else. I was using a steel 72 in the pool with no weight in my weight-integrated BC and kept rolling over backwards. The instructor wore the same size BC and he was using an AL 50. We swapped BCs and, bingo, there it was - I could do it perfectly. With the steel tank, I had too much weight in the back, which caused me to go turtle. With the AL 50, my trim was much better. Ever since, I have always used an AL 50 in the pool. If you are having a similar problem, in the horizontal hover and fin pivot, the extra weight is in line with your center of gravity, so you don't roll. When you get vertical, the extra weight is not in line with your center of gravity and causes you to roll.

 

[ffdiver]

Im not entirely sure what my issue is with the skill but when I do it I find myself falling foward, this might be in part to me wearing a wieghtbelt, I normally have integrated weights. while doing the fin pivot I am able to menipulate my breathing to be able to be completly still and I tried doing the same with the hover but am just not able to get it. it also hurts my legs to sit there like that...with my feet under my body...not folding in front.

 

[divingjd]

If you are falling forward, then I would suspect two things (but of course it could be something else): trim and tension. See what you can do to shift a little weight towards your back, maybe a little weight in trim pockets if you have them, on on the tank band if you don't. If you are physically uncomfortable doing this, you are probably in kind of a crouch position, which might cause you to roll forward. Your back should be straight and you really need to be relaxed. Maybe you should stretch a little and limber up before class to see if that will help you feel more comfortable and relax. The others are right that there is no practical use for this in diving, but there are lots of exercises for lots of sports that have no practical use. They focus on some particular element or aspect of the whole thing. This one is a very good test of all the things that go into buoyancy and breathing skills. Just take it easy and don't get all stressed out about this - that will just make you tense and that alone could make this harder. I know what you mean about the legs, I'm a lot older than you are and not as limber as I used to be. Just relax and keep trying.

 

[ChrisA]

..... I don't see a need to master it anyway.

If you want a wierd skill that has no practical use try this. I'm taking the Los Angeles Country "ADP" this summer. In the second pool session we did the "bail out" drill. Basically you hold all your gear, fins, mask, tank, BC and reg and a weight belt all in your arms (reg is on tank with hoses presurized but air off). then you jump into the deep end of the pool, sink to the bottom and put on the gear and get trimmed up. The drill is to first turn on the air then purge the reg and breath, next put on the mask and clear it then work weights and BC Points ararded for doing it quickly and smoothly in organized manner with little wasted effort. Another one we did was to put fins, mask and small weight belt in deep end then dive down with just a swim suit and put on the equipment and have the mask clear before reaching the surface.

So we all ask "Why?" Who is ever going to jump off a boat gear in arms and have to sort out the mess on the bottom? The point was simply to teach students to think and solve novel problems underwater. The skin dive gear recovery was to teach a non-triveal task while breath hold diving. We did some other things like using a lift bag without scuba, you swim up get air then back down to blow into the bag. A darm usless skill but fun to try.

Now back to the cross legged hover.. It is inteneded to be hard. the idea is that if you can do the harder drill when you are thinking then the easy stuff you can do with your brain switched off. If you took some other classes they'd have you do the mask replacement and budy breath in mid water in horizontal trim not just kneeling on the bottom.

For advanced students (DMs Tech, whatever) I think the drills should be hard enough that many students can't do them without some practice otherwise they don't learn. Try hovering with your eyes closed next.

 

[Walter]

Chris,

Bailout is a required skill for OW in YMCA. It's a confidence building skill - very useful.

ffdiver,

Your instructor doesn't understand the requirement. Ask him to show you the standard in the manual. Hovering is hovering, you are not required to do it "Indian style."

 

[TheRedHead]

What possible reason is there for doing something like that...ever? Is this 'skill' required to be a DM?

I saw a DM in Belize doing it while watching divers. I thought it rather strange. I tend to flip over when I do it and end up hovering upside down.