Tips to doing that motionless hover

[corvettejoe]

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.

Good examples...

Photographing is the #1 thing for me to remain still, especially macro photography in the reefs when you're inches from some delicate piece of coral.
There's many times in the caves we remain motionless too... either tieoffs, marking lines, writing stuff down, waiting on a buddy to do something and holding a light for them, etc.

 

[TSandM]

To TSandM: Oh you forgot to link the video!

Thanks. Fixed.

 

[Rich Keller]

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.

I am not saying that it is not important to have buoyancy control but timing how long you can stay completely motionless seems to me to be taking it to an unnecessary extreme. But that is just the point of view of someone who started diving before BCDs were invented. I also spent 10 years as a commercial diver so I tend to relate everything I am doing underwater to some kind of work and I cannot find a use for being that motionless. That being said if that is your goal then go for it. My only suggestion would be to get as close as possible by adjusting your lead alone without putting any air in your BCD. When you have got that done then all you would need to do is make minor adjustments for suit compression and the changing weight of your tank through out the dive.

PS: Based on what you said in your original post I would say you are done. All that is needed is the occasional tweak when you change out equipment.

 

[TSandM]

I think those of us who dive in very silty environments have a heightened appreciation for the utility of being still. If I'm trying to get a pygmy poacher who's sitting on the bottom, ANY movement of a fin is going to make a mess of the picture. It's the same in the caves -- you can blow the viz with a hand-swipe or an errant fin very easily.

 

[Doppler]

I am not saying that it is not important to have buoyancy control but timing how long you can stay completely motionless seems to me to be taking it to an unnecessary extreme...

And of course you are entitled to that opinion, but in many circumstances being able to hang comfortably with quiet hands and feet at will IS both necessary and normal... NOT extreme.

Just a contrary thought from someone who also learned to dive without a BC and SPG.

 

[Progen]

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

I'll try to sneak in some practice time later if my sore throat remains a sore throat and none of its other friends come for a visit. Who knows? Perhaps it's like the frog kick thing where I didn't realize that I'd been doing it for some time until I had myself recorded on video. Hopefully, this motionless hover thing will be something which I'd over-thought and all I needed to do was to RELAX instead of tensing up and causing little changes in angle which then required sculling to compensate.

 

[oreocookie]

Progen, what are you doing when you're not actively trying to hover motionless? I've found that sometimes I'll be hovering, and then as soon as I start thinking about it I start moving in some way.

 

[fnfalman]

Keep in mind that a "motionless" hover really isn't absolutely, perfectly motionless. There is generally a very slight depth change (centimetres) due to breathing, and most of us do make small adjustments with our fins. You can see both of these things going on in the video you embedded if you watch carefully.

What degree of movement are you getting in your practice dives?

What she said. Water movement will force you to use your fins slightly for station keeping. And yes, your lung will act like another BC.

As far as side-to-side roll, the diver can counter it by spread eagle the arms for balance. It may not look elegant but it will work until you know how to balance the gear on your body and then you don't have to spread eagle the arms any more.

---------- Post added July 31st, 2013 at 06:43 PM ----------

And of course you are entitled to that opinion, but in many circumstances being able to hang comfortably with quiet hands and feet at will IS both necessary and normal... NOT extreme.

Just a contrary thought from someone who also learned to dive without a BC and SPG.

Yep. When I hunt for nudies or just to check out a small area for some cool micro animals, I don't want to flop around but to hang for a minute or five until I see all I need to see before moving on.

 

[Progen]

Progen, what are you doing when you're not actively trying to hover motionless? I've found that sometimes I'll be hovering, and then as soon as I start thinking about it I start moving in some way.

That makes sense. Perhaps I should try UNconsciously hovering motionless. I just noticed last weekend that I could stay motionless for quite a while although I couldn't be sure how long because there was an obvious current which carried me away from whatever I wanted to look at after a short while whenever I stopped.

 

[Progen]

Went down to the pool again yesterday and managed to do a few motionless hovers in sidemount for far longer than I'd ever managed before. Problem was it got boring after a while just doing nothing there plus COLD! Also, the two near empty AL80s (I breathed one down to around 10 odd bar and the other to around 40 just to see whether it was still manageable in freshwater and to give me a better idea of what I can get away with in seawater) were trying to upset my trim every now and then. One of them had an empty tank weight which was 3odd kg more than the other which I attributed to why I always seemed to require conscious physical effort to prevent myself from rotating to the right (where it was) whenever I stopped finning.

Would the 3 odd kg difference have meant anything or was I being a loser?