Tips to doing that motionless hover

[chrpai]

It sounds like you are doing everything right. Why the need to hover motionless? Do you spend a lot of time motionless?

For me, other then it's cool, the reason is to be able to increase task load and not lose control in the water column.

Frequent diving, playing with weighting, changing things out and moving things around and plenty of time under water solo diving where I can just do whatever I want has helped a lot.

 

[Doppler]

I don't know about a dry suit, but doubles certainly helps. They're more balanced, and as such keep the diver from pitching from one side or the other.

Not as easy as sidemount, but that's whole different issue. And I would suggest that recommending doubles to someone who is still trying to master a basic skill is counter-productive.

I can hover motionless fine for say 5 to 6 seconds. Maybe 10 - 15 if I really work at it but are there any tricks or tips to being able to maintain it for as long as the diver likes?

Three things, mate.

Number one is balance between gravity and buoyancy. You are trying to get a perfect stand-off between ballast (your weights and your kit) and whatever is providing buoyancy. The "air" cell in a typical stab jacket BCD does not make this easy but you will find that the less ballast you have the easier it is to control the air moving around in your wing or BCD since there will be less of it.

Secondly, trim. A portion of your weight... the ballast.. is provided by your cylinder and the gas it contains. Every time you connect a tank to your BCD, the chances are that the position of that cylinder relative to the rest of you changes... even a couple of centis will make a difference to your trim... feet down or feet up. Try to position your tank in a consistent spot, and if you do add lead, make sure it goes in the same position each time you wear it.

Third, calmness... and this will come with time. Be patient and be aware. Work at getting "neutral" in the water. When you are balanced, stop moving and make a mental note of what happens... is your trim good? if you stay horizontal, you are part-way to getting squared away. If you are not, you will NOT achieve your goal.

On open-circuit, you will learn to fine-tune your buoyancy and balance with breath control, your attitude in the water, and with your gut.

Most of all, small steps... do a little at a time. A couple of hours doing nothing but working on this set of basic skills WILL help you master them.

Good luck

 

[Progen]

It sounds like you are doing everything right. Why the need to hover motionless? Do you spend a lot of time motionless?

Maybe I was wrong but I thought that this ability would signify another positive step in my diving. Also, I'm hoping to go for TEC courses early next year and it'd be good to not be sculling around to stay in position during deco stops.

 

[dfx]

What exactly is the issue you're having? Are you going up or down? Or start rolling forward/backward/sideways? Or something else?

 

[The Chairman]

To a large degree, we compensate for our lack of natural trim with our body position and breathing. However, if you really want to make this easy on yourself. close your eyes after you get fairly comfortable and relaxed. Go 20 seconds and see where you are at. I know you want to, but don't try to compensate your trim, etc. Now, adjust your weights accordingly to compensate for the movement you made with your eyes closed. Keep playing around with your weighting until you naturally and easily hold your trim with your eyes closed for a couple of minutes at least. Now's the time to develop the "struggle" portion of being neutral and trim. You should be able to maintain depth within a foot and no change in attitude for a full five minutes with your eyes closed. A GoPro in the pool makes this a lot easier.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Breath control, and self control. Resist the impulse to move body parts. I find it helpful at times to cross my ankles, fold my arms across my chest, and to make my body as "long" as I can, to resist what seems to be an impulse to bend the knees. Practice, practice, practice.
DivemasterDennis

 

[fdog]

For my grand experience level of 6 months I mean.

---------- Post added July 31st, 2013 at 06:00 PM ----------


I noticed that in the DIR 0 trim video floating around on YouTube that the guy would occasionally change the angle of his fins but that's all. Ok, this is definitely the sour grapes syndrome in action but does wearing a drysuit make it easier?

It does for me. When we go on a tropical dive trip, and I switch to a wetsuit, I feel crippled (about my buoyancy and trim, that is!).

As an example, placing little air bubbles in my feet not only keeps them warm, but gives my buoyancy a high, wide stance that is very stable. Plus the "feel" of these bubbles, as well as in the back, provides excellent depth feedback.



One of my favorite quotes from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is:

"...if you work really, really hard, every day of the week, at trying to be the best person you can be, in thought and deed - and then, on the weekend, take a day off from trying - you will find that you have, indeed, become a better person."

There's no magic bullet for trim and buoyancy. It takes work.

I work hard on buoyancy and trim every dive. To this day, I still do, I'm always striving to be better. Then, when you really need it - dealing with a bottle rotation, or an emergency, or something else that task loads you - those skills will be there, like an autopilot.


All the best, James

 

[corvettejoe]

Maybe I was wrong but I thought that this ability would signify another positive step in my diving. Also, I'm hoping to go for TEC courses early next year and it'd be good to not be sculling around to stay in position during deco stops.

It's a good step... as the video you posted showed, you will still need to make slight movements with your feet...you can't fight gravity, that guy in the video is pretty "motionless" to me. I've watched all my 1000+ dive mentor cave diving friends...and they all move their feet slightly as well while "motionless"

Your goal should be to look like that... while either "motionless" or swimming in any direction (forward or backward, helicopter turns, etc) while not silting anything up.
Feet up and hands slightly forward will help level you out. And calm calm calm, practice practice practice.

It sounds like you have a good grasp of it already, and that will go a LONG way into jumping into your tech courses.

 

[TSandM]

First off, the most fundamental requirement for the motionless hover is a stable body position -- flat from shoulders to knees, with arms and legs put where they need to be to finish off the balance of the diver/equipment system.

Then, you have to have the weights perfectly balanced, and the point about tank position is a good one. I know EXACTLY where the cambands go on my tanks -- but if I mess up a bit, I can move arms and legs to compensate.

If there is significant water movement, you can't be perfectly still. But in quiet water, it is very possible. Watch THIS video and watch for the diver in the background in the yellow fins. That's me, holding a camera. Doing photography is one of the times when being perfectly still is REALLY useful, especially if you are photographing very close to the bottom. Another is any time you are doing a task like screwing in an auger, or putting in a tie-off, or marking a line.

I suspect, since you have taken the time to balance your equipment, that all you need is to fine-tune your limb position, and practice. I spend time on just about every dive, sitting still and looking at something. I don't consciously PRACTICE stillness, but in a sense I do, because I need to be still!

(BTW, when I did my cavern tours with Danny Riordan years ago, my phrase for Danny was that he was "negative space in the water". He never, ever moved if he didn't want to. To this day, that awes me.)

 

[beanojones]

To TSandM: Oh you forgot to link the video!

To Progen: Link the video of your pool dive, so people can be impressed and reassure you that you really do not have to worry about your diving.