Simulated Task Loading

[Moerae]

With it getting cold in New England (cold buddies are tough to find! And solo feels sketchy with freezing air temps...) I've been trying to think about ways to mix up my usual practicing/goofing around in the pool.

Examples I've been considering:

• Heavy task loading while solely maintaining trim and buoyancy.
  • Things like, buying some of those small metal puzzles where you have to separate objects
    • Mental task load
    • Physical focus with hand dexterity
• Task load during a drill (in a way that won't create bad habits with that skill)
  • Hold a ping pong ball under my unoccupied hand, flat, while doing a valve drill.
  • Balance a ping pong ball under my chin while doing a gas switch without missing any verification/confirmation steps
• Record attempts to evaluate and improve

Anyone have any neat things they've ever done like that?

 

[Raphus]

Try this. While hovering in trim. I think thats a lit of task loading i always wanted to try that in peak bouyancy dive for aowd. But i didnt yet.

 

[happy-diver]

This is the advanced SCUBA forum
Go try dive some advanced SCUBA

 

[Vicko]

Task loading can only be solved by muscle memory, practice deploying a smb, switching regs, doing 0 vis drills.
Balancing a ping pong ball while looking good is not a useful scuba diving skill.

 

[Moerae]

This is the advanced SCUBA forum
Go try dive some advanced SCUBA

I'm not sure what your point is. Don't bother practicing, only do dives?

In terms of the forum, I'm asking about how to add some challenge to things like valve drills and an already reasonably solid buoyancy/trim control. This seemed like the more appropriate location for that kind of question.

Task loading can only be solved by muscle memory, practice deploying a smb, switching regs, doing 0 vis drills.
Balancing a ping pong ball while looking good is not a useful scuba diving skill.

Hard disagree. You can absolutely practice being task loaded and how to handle it well. Learning to slow down, overall action pacing, getting in the habit of periodically checking a depth reference, and trying to actively preserve situational awareness with deliberate "SA checks", for example, are things that get better with practice being task loaded irrespective of the specific skill.

Additionally, it's also a good "check" on how well practiced your skills are. I've seen and experienced a skill unexpectedly start to break down a bit with some task loading. Sometimes we aren't as good as we think we are at something and "tests" like this help ferret those things out.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

In the pool there are lots of task loading drills that can be beneficial and a bit of fun. I like getting together with a couple people I trust and while one person observes, the others do all drills in blacked out masks using touch contact only.
I also have some toys I've made like a flange with 8 5/8 bolt holes made out of 1/2 inch lexan. One of the holes is offset by 10 degrees so it will only go together one way. Try doing this with a blacked out mask and remaining neutral and in trim.
Don't ever write off practicing in the pool. My mentor and Tech Instructor Trainer Steve Lewis told me that 1/2 hour in the pool can be more productive than 2 hours in open water to work on a skill. The challenge of doing drills in 6-9 ft of water with no movement is something that some people poo poo because they themselves can't do it. So they make fun of others who can and try to.
It's why he showed me the value of doing student evaluations in 15 ft of water or less. A Course Director who wanted to do a crossover couldn't drop and pick up a bottle or do a valve drill without floating to the surface. As result he was sent home after a 20 minute dive and referred to another instructor to work with him on his skills. He never did call me.
I love doing task loading drills in the pool with multiple bottles in 6-8 ft of water. Makes doing them anywhere else a breeze.

 

[Wibble]

Try this. While hovering in trim. I think thats a lit of task loading i always wanted to try that in peak bouyancy dive for aowd. But i didnt yet.

Rubik's Cube -- what a brilliant idea for spending time at deco!

 

[Scott]

Get in a pool as mention by Jim, shallow water drills have a benefit. Any buoyancy course I teach has shallow water drills associated with it. Retrieve and prep a DSMB to the point of deployment, retrieve wet notes and play tick tack toe or do gas calculations, valve drills, mask drills.
Work towards narrower window, say 6ft without touch bottom or surface.
My Tech class drills are done in 5-6ft as a final.

 

[BlueTrin]

Rubik’s cube sounds fun

 

[Rayk]

Try this. While hovering in trim. I think thats a lit of task loading i always wanted to try that in peak bouyancy dive for aowd. But i didnt yet.

That’s quite cool and smart idea.