Skills to have polished before going to AOW

[The Chairman]

but the advice to nail down the skill before taking the course that teaches that skill seems a bit odd to me.

That skill should have been taught in OW. Practicing that skill to perfection, only makes sense to me. Odds are, the same emphasis on neutral buoyancy will be given in OW and AOW by the same instructor. If you're having issues with your trim and buoyancy coming out of OW, then you might want to change instructors.

 

[boulderjohn]

That skill should have been taught in OW. Practicing that skill to perfection, only makes sense to me. Odds are, the same emphasis on neutral buoyancy will be given in OW and AOW by the same instructor. If you're having issues with your trim and buoyancy coming out of OW, then you might want to change instructors.

When I was doing my IDC dives in Key Largo, I saw a woman nearly crawling in the sand. She was grossly overweighted and struggling to make progress. There was a pained look on her face that said, "I'm not having any fun at all."

Once after I had gotten on the boat after the first dive of a two tank dive, a young woman got on the boat with a 3mm suit and integrated weight pockets about to fall out with the unreal amount of weight stuffed into them. A woman sitting near me started talking to her about it. She said her boyfriend, who was still getting out of the water and out of sight, had suggested she use that much weight. We quickly cut her down to about half of what she had. She did not tell her boyfriend what we had done until after the second dive, when she told him how much better it had gone with so much less weight to drag around.

Yes, if you come out of your OW feeling pretty good and in control as you dive, there is no rush. If not, get help from someone else quickly.

 

[The Chairman]

Yes, if you come out of your OW feeling pretty good and in control as you dive, there is no rush. If not, get help from someone else quickly.

This is one of the posts that deserve a thousand likes. If you're having a devil of a time instead of the time of your life diving, there's a lot you can do to change that before you leave the sport. Check out this thread: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ad...sons-take-propulsion-trim-buoyancy-class.html AOW is simply not the best place to figure this out.

 

[Octopusprime]

As someone who plans on taking AOW once the water becomes a liquid again, I like the timing of this thread, it'll give me something to work on through the winter in the pool. I've noticed something too... every single reply mentions buoyancy control! There must be a reason for that










So my question is, is there a good way to practice this besides just swimming around? I'm thinking of bringing something to act as a reference, just not sure what yet.

I would say in addition to everyone's "boyancy" comments I would say you need to be comfortable in the water. What does that mean... You should not be constantly adding and subtracting air from BCD you should not have to think about every little thing. With this you will become better on air consumption. If your always the first out of air your not comfortable in the water.

as far as skills to work on try doing a safety stop at 15 min for 3min with out a line or visual Referance. It is harder than it sounds and a practical skill there will be a day you need to ascend with out getting to the line. Also do some multi legal dives. This will require you to become neutrally buoyant at multiple depths. Swim up a gradual incline. It is mentally different that ascending vertical. You will feel yourself start to accelerate and you will need to adjust buoyancy.

 

[KeithG]

Nope - I claim everyone has it totally wrong. The first skill to master after OW is "have fun!".

OW should have taught you enough to hopefully survive in benign conditions. (or at least conditions as nasty as you trained in).

On my last liveaboard trip we had a noob who was so wound up about "technique" that he had not yet started to enjoy diving. He trained in Alaska, had 1 prior trip to Coz and now jumped into a liveaboard. It took several days for him to relax and start to enjoy the diving.

His training gave him skills far superior to most of the experienced divers on the boat. But he was not having fun. His training did not teach him that diving was meant to be fun. He worried about fin technique instead of looking at the pretty fishes.

Seems like some of us need a more balanced approach to diving?

P.S. OP: Why do you think you need AOW?

 

[The Chairman]

Nope - I claim everyone has it totally wrong. The first skill to master after OW is "have fun!".

:gans:​

This is what happens when you don't read the entire thread! From post #9 in this thread:

The most important skill to take into your AOW is the ability to have fun. Really.

Yes, buoyancy, trim and propulsion are extremely important to you being in control of your diving. My OW students have that skill but not all do.

However, in the long run, keeping it light and having fun will keep you diving for years and years. Don't stress the small stuff and realize that most of what you'll run into is small stuff. You'll hopefully be getting some new skills as well as polishing your current skills. If you have fun, it will all be worth it.

But make no doubt about it: WE AGREE! You have to have fun. The best thing you can do is to identify any and everything that detracts from your fun and correct it. It's my opinion you can't have much fun if you're kicking up the reef and the silt. Your buddy behind you is having even less fun!

 

[Jim Lapenta]

One way to incorporate fun with skills is to add games to the skills. Concentrating on just holding a stop can be pain in the beginning. But do it while making a game of it with the instructor or dive buddies goes a long way.

Tossing a torpedo with the requirement that while you can reach up or down with your hands to catch it but your torso must remain neutral, in trim, and not change depth makes it fun.

Placing a few coins on the bottom with light plastic toys surrounding them a couple feet away. Goal? Swim by in trim and pick up a coin without you or turbulence from your fins disturbing the plastic pieces. It requires control over speed, fine corrections in position, and slow purposeful movement. Someone with poor trim and finning techniques will create a mess of the plastic pieces.

When I have students who can't seem to control their hand movements I give them something to occupy the hands. A small camera or camera housing with the requirement to keep both hands on it works wonders. I discovered this by accident with an 11 yr old on check outs. I was a DM and she just could not keep her hands together or from moving all over the place. The instructor didn't seem to care.

But I had found SB and was diving with some GUE trained divers at the time and it drove me crazy. On the next dive I handed her one of my lights and told her it was an expensive one and she had better not drop it in the silt. I did not expect the result. Her hand movements went from crazy to zero. Her trim improved because she was not flailing around. Her buoyancy got better because she was not constantly screwing with the inflator. I literally saw her instinctively use lung volume because she did not want to drop that light. There were times when she took one hand off of it and I stayed close to make sure she didn't do something dumb because of it. But for the most part she kept that light in proper position in front of her and used it to point out things. Which I quickly acknowledged to her great delight. She had fun. Without that task loading to help stay in trim, not mess with the inflator, and to communicate with the light I think it would not have been as much fun for her. There was a sense of accomplishment.

One that would not have been there if she'd been yo-yoing through the water at a 45 degree angle.

 

[Hawkwood]

...

When I have students who can't seem to control their hand movements I give them something to occupy the hands. A small camera or camera housing with the requirement to keep both hands on it works wonders. I discovered this by accident with an 11 yr old on check outs. I was a DM and she just could not keep her hands together or from moving all over the place. The instructor didn't seem to care.

...

Have them balance a golf ball in an open palm. It's just "neutral" enough that it is hard to keep it there. You will find they have really focus on it...you will be surprised at how they have to change tempo, body position, etc. in order to do that. Without even thinking about it they end up swimming nice and slow, controlled, no rapid movements, calm breathing, etc.

 

[The Chairman]

Have them balance a golf ball in an open palm. It's just "neutral" enough that it is hard to keep it there. You will find they have really focus on it...you will be surprised at how they have to change tempo, body position, etc. in order to do that. Without even thinking about it they end up swimming nice and slow, controlled, no rapid movements, calm breathing, etc.

Yowza! Consider that idea stolen.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Looking for golf balls now. I know I have a few around here somewhere.