Think back a little...what were you like as a new diver??

[AfterDark]

I was 15 in the best shape I’ve ever been in. I had been solo snorkeling for a few years and was just as much at home in the water as on land. I told the instructor I could swim circles around him and I did! The hardest part of learning to dive was all the classroom work back then. In the pool and later in the ocean I was in my element. The only time I got a little nervous was when we did the harassment phase where the instructors pulled off our gear while we were in the pool. This isn’t done anymore.
I so looked forward to learning to dive that I would have jumped into a school of sharks if that’s what it took!

 

[irishsquid]

I have always been comfortable in the water. I grew up swimming in lakes, streams, and rivers here in Tn. Surfed a lot in the 80's in So.Cal, Mexico, and Japan. Diving was something I always wanted to do ever since watching Sea Hunt when I was a kid. Certification wasn't a problem for me, the course materials and skills were fairly easy.
My biggest problem was not getting gear at first that I ended up with. I started out with gear that was eventually replaced with gear that I like and works better for me. There was nothing wrong with what I started with, just not configured efficiently as now. Some things I learned the hard way. I was lucky in improving my skills as I have had the opportunity to dive with quite a few members of this board and observe first hand what good divers are like. Thanks to ScubaBoard, I have been introduced to information, procedures, and evaluation/thought processes I may not have been exposed to otherwise.

 

[koyote1111]

Great thread!

What was I like as a new diver?.................whew, way too sure of myself!! (in spite of numerous reasons why I should not have been). I thought I would pick things up so quickly and easily...ha!!! I guess that I forgot that doing things in the water was very different than on land...and that I was no longer a "spring chicken"!

I'm fairly certain that our OW pool sessions were among the longest on record. Whew...my instructor really earned his pay on our class! With each and every skill, one of us had a problem...or several of us had lots of problems!!

I had absolutely no luck with neutral bouyancy. I could not even maintain a remotely stable position when trying to watch the instructor demonstrate a skill. I was perpetually frustrated with myself!!

The class was perfect for me...I tend to be confident (not cocky) when it comes to physical skills/challenges. I learned a lot ... perhaps especially about me .

 

[RTee]

Always been comfortable in the water considering I started diving with a vest I had to inflate orally (not BCD), a reg without octo (OOA meant buddy breathing), no SPG (J valve) and no diving computer (watch only).

 

[Quero]

Thanks for all the replies!

Noody was nervous? Just me?:shocked2:

I can remember snapshots of getting certified. I remember the instructor telling me that buoyancy was something that takes a lot of time and practice to get a handle on--so I must have sucked at it. I remember being really worried about getting lost in the low-viz dive site we had our OW Dive 4 "check out" dives on (at least it seemed low to me at the time--not sure what I'd think of it if I were to dive it today), and staying so close to the dive leader's bright yellow fins that it's a wonder my mask and reg weren't kicked off my face. My then college-student daughter and I were certified together, and we were dive buddies for our first big dive trip. I remember that we sucked air so much that we were always the first buddy team to surface, so over the next 10 dives or so, we taught each other how to breathe by practicing yoga breathing together underwater until we could stay down as long as any other buddy pair.

As far as being nervous, I can't say that I have been aware of any nervousness other than I do know that even today, as an instructor, when I splash in at an entirely new dive site that I expect to be a challenge, it takes me some concentration to get my breathing and heart rate under control in the first few moments in the water. I like to put that down to sheer excitement, but in its own way, I suppose it could also be termed anxiety or nervousness.

So my advice to you, in terms of viewing your "nervousness," why not turn it around and look at it from a positive perspective and call it "excitedness" instead?

 

[koyote1111]

So my advice to you, in terms of viewing your "nervousness," why not turn it around and look at it from a positive perspective and call it "excitedness" instead?

That's an excellent way to cope with what feels like nervousness! I'm also sure it makes for an excellent teaching tip .

 

[TSandM]

I remember, as a newly certified diver, that I was very nervous driving to the dive site each diving day. Sometimes it was quite uncomfortable. And when I descended, the first ten or fifteen minutes of each dive was very tense and not much fun . . . and then I would finally relax into being there, and the rest of the dive would be wonderful. Nowadays, I only feel that when I'm going to dive in a new place or under really unfamiliar conditions. But I recognize the feeling, acknowledge it, and move on.

BTW, I dove with "me" today -- we had an open water student who watched everything we did, and came up from her dives asking, "Okay, what do I need to work on?" I hope she keeps diving locally; I'd love to mentor her, because I understand her.

 

[TMHeimer]

After certified, things went smoothly. No fear, hangups, always was comfortable in water snorkelling, swimming, etc. Of course I was a bit nervous when faced with my first ("deep") boat dive, which was over 70'. My technique was decent, but we weren't properly weighted in OW class, so I had to sort that out. P.P Buoyancy dive during AOW (which I took after only 2 OW dives), and later the P.P. Buoyancy course itself really set me straight. Back during the OW class, I had several problems, mostly caused by one problem--life long lousy memory. Was difficult to remember how to put all the stuff together. Was difficult to remember what the 3rd skill of 3 WAS that we were to do without ascending (though I could do all but one well)."PLEASE, pick someone else to go first, demonstrate it and I'll do it!" The other problem was doffing & donning the unit, surface or bottom. This was, of course due to that memory thing (to me, this is obviously the most complicated skill, though many may not feel so). It was also due that I was just bad at it. It later was partly responsible for holding up my DM cert.

 

[ian@1904]

First open water dive put me swimming among the fishes. I loved it and knew that was the hobby/obsession for me.
Dive two saw me assisting the Dive Master as her cylinder slid out away from her bcd. That kind of set the scene. Since then.....

Lifted a narked diver from 45m
Assisted several bent divers into the helicopter, and had to fly in myself as a precaution. (I was fine)
Helped a diver, not my buddy, who was completely out of gas, out in the red sea at 25m
Assisted several divers with free flowing regs in the water
Had one dead body on the boat-heart attack
Assisted with other rescues; including a diver wedged among rocks (disabled diver), divers unable to maintain buoyancy at the surface.
Seen a lift trap a buddy's hand and make a mess of the fingers. She is the local A&E manager
Three weeks ago my experienced buddy lost his weight belt at 20m. Leaving him clinging to the wreck as I retrieved and re-attached the belt. At the surface I then had to free the boat propeller that had some rope tangled around it.

I will stop there, I could add a few others. I kind of assume that the worst will happen on every dive. Having said that I still love my diving.

 

[jscott099]

Making a lot of mistakes (learning); buying a dive computer as soon as possible; hanging out with people that dove a lot; diving as many times as possible in as many places as possible; taking AOW and Nitrox...in short preparing for a lifelong hobby and ultimately becoming an instructor.