A Recreational diver - looking for a "training list" to impruve my diving skills...?

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yaronad

Contributor
Messages
158
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Location
UN
# of dives
500 - 999
I'm a Recreational Two-star diver - looking for a "training / you should try" list, to improve my diving skills...


I know it sounds like a "start diving yesterday" diver....but I'm not.
148 dives on my belt, with Rescue and a Nitrox trainings.

Actually I don't have a perspective / clue what to exercise?....
or what to learn / change for the next level

Many THX!
 
We need to know where you're going to advise you on how to get there.

1.) Where have you dove in the past?

2.) What do you see as bothersome or inadequate in your current level of ability?

3.) What places do you want to go, and what kind of diving do you want to do, that you believe your current level of ability is dissatisfactory for?

Examples of goals that aren't obvious from your post. Do you want to do...

1.) Penetration dives - such as wreck?

2.) Cave diving - with the concerns of the above, and a need for great buoyancy and non-silting kicks?

3.) Deco. diving? Interested in Tri-mix?

4.) Get great buoyancy control and trim, drive down SAC and get lengthier bottom time on a tank?

5.) Dive more adverse conditions - such as ice diving?

GUE Fundamentals is often advised for people looking to improve generally. A forum Search for that might show you something you can gain from, if you can find a good instructor for it in your region (I have no idea about that).

Richard.
 
I have found that the most effective training for a relatively experienced recreational diver interested in improving their skills is a one-on-one workshop with an instructor who is sufficiently skilled and experienced to address your specific goals. You won't generally find that instructor working in a dive shop. Nor will you find it on any agency's training curriculum. It's too personalized ... and requires an instructor who will begin by discussing why you want the class (self-evaluation), taking you for a dive (instructor evaluation), and creating a curriculum designed to get you from where you are to where you want to be.

At the recreational level, this can be similar in format to a specialty class, but with exercises tailored to help you work on your specific weaknesses or goals.

I started offering such a class about two and a half years ago, and it's proven to be ... by a wide margin ... the most popular class I teach.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)
 
Wow! THX for your efforts and guiding questions - I see now that my question wasn't so clear
here are my answers( in blue) :


We need to know where you're going to advise you on how to get there.

1.) Where have you dove in the past?
Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. 70% of my dives are up to 30 feet

2.) What do you see as bothersome or inadequate in your current level of ability?
Mostly? my Air consumption. I use ~ 20L of air per minute. I really get along with my 12L steel tank on most of my dives and with most of my current buddies.....but there are some divers at my group? that uses 11 - 14L ....
and I don't have a clue how to get there
( I've been trying all the common advises like split fins or being calm etc. doesn't help....like another dimension of breathing :))

Also, most of my buddies say my movements, buoyancy control and trim are GR8. But I'm looking for the next level....?
for example, one very trained diver advise me to dive with my hands, beside my body ....like tied up. and to think buoyancy "without my hands"
to think buoyancy with my mind / breathing,and not to be afraid to "crash" ...until I will catch the principle.
It was hard doing that....but after 2-3 dives? I was there....
So when I put my hands back in front of me? it was like a big bonus.....
This is the kind of hard / next level trainings I'm looking for




3.) What places do you want to go, and what kind of diving do you want to do, that you believe your current level of ability is dissatisfactory for?
I want to start diving with a group of photography divers. 100 feet sites at the Red Sea.
They all have a much better air consumption....I will not fit there


Examples of goals that aren't obvious from your post. Do you want to do...

1.) Penetration dives - such as wreck? no :)

2.) Cave diving - with the concerns of the above, and a need for great buoyancy and non-silting kicks? no :)

3.) Deco. diving? Interested in Tri-mix? no :)

4.) Get great buoyancy control and trim, drive down SAC and get lengthier bottom time on a tank? yes yes : ) exactly my goal

5.) Dive more adverse conditions - such as ice diving? no :)

GUE Fundamentals is often advised for people looking to improve generally. A forum Search for that might show you something you can gain from, if you can find a good instructor for it in your region (I have no idea about that).

OK GR8 Idea I wasn't aware about GUE
A Personal Trainer, was one of my options....couldn't find the right one yet.
and the costs... are a bit heavy for me right now


Richard.
to summarize: I don't have a "problem" really enjoy my diving.....I simply feel that there is a "next level" improvements. from a good place.


looking for advice / guiding where to look / to do list ? etc
Many thx


Many thx
 
Since I am "one of those photography divers" I can very much recommend you do a GUE-Fundamentals. One of the advantages with the fundamentals course is that the instructors are skilled enough to give you challenges for the level you are at.
 
Work on your buoyancy control. Be able to hover motionlessly for a minute or two while horizontal with knees bent and fin tips up.

Practice running a reel. Keep tension on the line.
 
sac at 20l/minute in warm water is not good. I have a friend that used to have the same sac. By taking away a lot of weght and bringing along a big pony, his sac went down to 15l/min. Just the fact that he knew he had more air than anyone else made him less nervous about air consumption and more relaxed. I would suggest IANTD advanced Nitrox in order to train with a déco tank.
 
I really don't mean this mean, but maybe you're not as good of a diver as you think you are.

for example, one very trained diver advise me to dive with my hands, beside my body ....like tied up. and to think buoyancy "without my hands"
to think buoyancy with my mind / breathing,and not to be afraid to "crash" ...until I will catch the principle.


The most commonly shot-for goal is hands in front of you, actually, but COMPLETELY still. Your hands shouldn't ever move unless you're doing something with them (taking a picture, deploying a reel, shooting a DSMB, etc). If you were sculling, maybe you're not as good as you think. The only way of knowing is to compare to good divers. For me, that shock came when I went to take my Cave Diver training. I had been diving with a certified Trimix diver, Tech instructor, Full Cave diver, etc. This guy had all the certs to point to good. I was MUCH taller and in less good of shape, but my SAC was the same. My buoyancy control was similar. I thought I was the best diver ever! Then, I dove with a GOOD diver and I realized I was a mess. The picture below is what you want to look like. At all times. You need to be able to do reg switches, buddy breathing, mask remove/replace, and all of the other things you do while diving while sitting in this exact position and posture. Your legs shouldn't be moving, your arms shouldn't be moving, you get 1ft up and down for breathing.

The easiest way to figure out how bad or good you are is to dive with a phenomenal diver. Hook up with one of the GUE Instructors, maybe ask about a one-day crash course. What you want is someone to make you feel like you have room to improve. I found that a great diver need not even speak to make me know I need to improve. I dove with my Cave instructor a few weeks ago and guess what? I felt awesome. I still need to work and improve, but I wasn't the awful mess I used to be. I looked good! It's a great feeling.

View attachment 193428View attachment 193429
 

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