Did mask removal feel like a punch for anyone else?

Reading a Near Miss report I remembered the first time my instructor took away my mask (in a 2m deep pool, during OW).

In kick-boxing there's a known effect. The first few times a new student gets a good hit in the head they (we) suddenly stop thinking, everything "turns red" and there's a sudden unleash of aggressivity that usually doesn't take the trainer by surprise because it's quite common.

After a while, one gets accustomed to the feeling and even while it's still there (I've been told that boxers eventually stop feeling that rage) one learns to keep controlled and even ready to block the hit that's probably coming next.


The first time my instructor took my mask underwater I got the same feeling. Not something like it, the exact same impulse to jump forward and kill the, in this case, cute young instructor girl. I was not ready for it and, like a rookie trainee, it took me a moment to recover and think again. I raised my hands to do an "ok" sign and stop the instructor, who was moving towards me, probably seeing me distressed. I took a few deep breaths and then signaled I wanted my mask back.


The exercise itself is the same as I imagine everybody else has done in their first classes. What has made the memory stay with me was having that feeling of rage that I had only felt after receiving a good punch to the face. It's can't just be the huge adrenaline hit, I've had one or two of those while driving and the feeling was completely different.

Have you felt what I'm describing? Am I alone in this?

I dont think ur alone. But this seems dangerous with a new student that wasnt expecting their mask 2 b removed.

Sounds like an anger management problem to me.

Mohammed Ali and Tess and Monica and hopefully Andrew love you

Instructor removed your mask?!?!?

If this was a PADI or SSI course, then the instructor shouldn't be removing your mask at all.

ben_wilson3301:

I dont think ur alone. But this seems dangerous with a new student that wasnt expecting their mask 2 b removed.

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iztok:

Instructor removed your mask?!?!?

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Hmm. Yes. It was one of the swimming pool exercises:
- Take off everything (but the wetsuit). Leave it on the bottom. Go back to surface and then go down and recover/put on equipment.
- Take of mask. Put it againg. Clear.
- Share air with buddy while swimming horizontally (there was no depth to do it vertically).
- Take belt off and on again.

And some more I don't remember, other than all the "out of the pool" equipment management and tests. Getting your mask removed was just one more.

There were also some basic swimming tests with no equipment too, iirc.

DevonDiver:

If this was a PADI or SSI course, then the instructor shouldn't be removing your mask at all.

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Didn't know that.

Why? It seemed (and still seems) like a perfectly reasonable training. How else can you prepare for getting fin-kicked maskless during a dive? (and in my tiny experience I've had that done to me more than twice).

Forced mask removal was definitely NO part of my certification... I'm PADI.

I understand that at a certain point in training an unexpected mask knock off might be an important exercise (in controlled conditions) but before that happens, the student should do several remove and replace exercises. I would imagine a sudden and unexpected mask theft underwater would be very disorienting, and depending on water temperature, have an impact similar to a punch. I was assisting in an open water certification class several years back at the Blue Hole in New Mexico, water temperature 60 degrees F. One 15 year old male student had his mask kicked off by another student, and the maskless boy reacted as if he had received a knock out punch. I retrieved his mask, slowly escorted him to the surface, and en route he resumed normal breathing. After a thorough evaluation, and at his request, his diving resumed, and he did fine. Based upon that experience, I am sure the student would totally agree with your characterization!
DivemasterDennis

Thanshin:

Hmm. Yes. It was one of the swimming pool exercises:
- Take off everything (but the wetsuit). Leave it on the bottom. Go back to surface and then go down and recover/put on equipment.
- Take of mask. Put it againg. Clear.
- Share air with buddy while swimming horizontally (there was no depth to do it vertically).
- Take belt off and on again.

And some more I don't remember, other than all the "out of the pool" equipment management and tests. Getting your mask removed was just one more.

There were also some basic swimming tests with no equipment too, iirc.


Didn't know that.

Why? It seemed (and still seems) like a perfectly reasonable training. How else can you prepare for getting fin-kicked maskless during a dive? (and in my tiny experience I've had that done to me more than twice).

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I believe the concern is that the instructor removed your mask rather than you removing your mask. There's a big difference. In my OW class we had the benefit of having all of our masks thrown into the pool then we retrieved them in buddy pairs. It wasn't an unexpected thing, which may or may not be good. In my actual OW dives our instructor didn't think it was absolutely necessary for us to prove we could do the swim (not necessarily a good choice on his part and I'm sure not according to "policy" for certification) because we'd done a lot of mask clearing and the water was approximately 40 degrees. I think he was concerned about one or more of us panicking with sudden exposure to the cold water. As it was, my mask got kicked off during one of the dives anyway.