BoyaControlncy

[Maria25]

Hey all,
I am taking a PADI course and next weekend will be my first open water. I have been pool diving now 4 times and am still having a great deal of trouble with boyancy. It is a large class (14) and 2 of the girls (1 red bikini and 1 princess) are getting two of the instructors undivided attention and the 3rd instructor is left for the rest of us. Do I sound frustrated? Anyway my stuff:
1. I seem to not be able to get myself in a stream line postion. Last class they put more weights on me (2 7# belts) and I still can't get it. Now I sink like a rock and ascend to the surface too fast. Never had any trouble with my ears till they put all the extra weight on me.
2.I have been playing with my breathing and my inflate/deflate hose and just when I think I get it - I really don't ;(
3. When I do get down and can swim around I am way too close to the bottom. So I give a little tape to inflate so I can come up and then I roll to the left. It is like my tank is sliding to the left.
4. Everything else is going really well I love it but am a bit worried to go to the open swim. Yes I have tried talking to my instructor but since it is a large class and there are a few whou aren't getting it I begin to explain and zap she is gone helping someone who has lost their regulator.
5. When the instructor saw me verticle she grabbed the deflator on my vest and pulled it and brought me straight down and did the ok sign .No not ok ears didn't have time to equalize so she brings me back up does the ok sign and swims off to help the next person. Augh.....
6. So how can I mental til I get it right? My buddy is trying to help but he is new at this too.

Sorry this is so long. I probably should have just stated the facts.

Maybe a bikini might help
Thanks so,
Maria

 

[Sideband]

First, I'd post pics of the 2 girls
then I'd look for a different class. It doesn't sound like they are even trying to properly weight anyone and are not actually listening to your concerns. You might try talking to them before or after class and explaining your feelings first but if nothing changes I'd bring this to the shop owners attention. Maybe see if you can get into another, smaller, class. If nothing works tell them why then find another shop.
Joe

PS Welcome to the board and I hope things work out for you.

 

[anakin]

are you complaining cause the instructor left you to go help someone who lost there reg underwater?????

 

[Brandnew2Scuba]

14 people sounds like too big a group to me, especially if the instructors are more concerned with flirting than training. I agree with sideband, talk to the person in charge and ask if you can join another group with less people, either that or go take the course somewhere else. Welcome to scubaboard.
P.s. I think she made her case quite well underwater ninja, she is obviously not complaining about the fact that the instructor helped the other person replace the reg, but quite obviously that she feels she is not getting the instruction she deserves.

Some people on this board are just looking for an argument.

 

[Scotty g]

To me it sounds like a combination of 2 things;

1, Your rushing and losing patience very easily. Some take a little longer to adjust to the environment than others. If you are the type to not get it right the first time, then stop, think and pace yourself - theres no need to rush in this sport. If you are asking questions which are falling on deaf ears. Wait until they have sorted the other problem and then say "right, so as i was saying...i'm having trouble". It would be nice to say that any half decent instructor will feel rather embarassed in front of other students when there is an unfixed problem. After all, it would be nice to think that most Instructors are paid to make sure that you can perform these skills comfortably and correctly - your safety depends on it.

2, Like Sideband said, speak to the shop owner or MSDT for that facility and voice your concerns. Its your money and more importantly, its your life that you need to learn to protect underwater. Such valuable effects are much more important than wondering what people think of you when you complain.

I think your post sounds like your very frustrated. Sit back for a moment and think about how you can help yourself. Remember that many don't get it right the first time.

Hope things work out.

Scotty

 

[all4scuba05]

I'm not going to assume you can get your money back and I'm not going to assume that you have more than one dive shop available nearby.

However I will say that it seems that being overweighted to the point of descending quickly is not giving you enough time to avoid the air troubles you're having. With too much weight, you end up putting so much air in your BC to stay off the bottom that upon ascending, if you don't dump enough air before beginning your ascent, you will go up rapidly. Tell your instructor you want him to work with you on dropping weight. Many instructors don't do this but just insist on getting it down to your ideal weight for the waters you'll be doing the next dives.(what's ideal for fresh or seawater)

 

[Penguinboy]

Hi Maria

Firstly I have to agree with others, it does sound like far too big a class and if the instructors aren't giving you all a extra helping of attention then thats definately a problem. I got lucky in my OW that there were just 3 of us, and we always had 1 or 2 DMs and AIs hitching a ride so plenty of surveillance available.

I seem to not be able to get myself in a stream line postion.

It is like my tank is sliding to the left.

With the positioning thing, what i found useful was to lie on the bottom of the pool and just toy with the inflator. When I then rose i was in the position. I just found it useful to relax, take it easy and nice deep breaths. I used my hands a lot at the start (Bad) but now Im fine just gliding with hands tucked under my stomach. However, if you have to put an absurd amount of air into your BC then there is definately a problem with weighting - take some off.

Secondly releases do inevitably become a bit loose underwater. If its just a little loose, wiggle your shoulders and rearrange its location on your back, as you would a backpack. If its way too loose and sliding around then theres a problem, and you will need to tighten your shoulderstraps or get a smaller size BC which you can tighten on your back.
I am a novice diver myself so probably haven't said it all but this is just my take. I did my OW recently so its still fresh in my mind

The buddy of yours also sounds good though - its encouraging that even at the OW stage he tries to help you out. I'd stick with this guy - if he passes he sounds like he will make a great diving partner!

Best of luck! And good on you for continuing and sticking with diving - its all worth it

 

[rongoodman]

For my OW there were nine of us with one instructor in the pool sessions. Looking back on it, I should have asked for my money back and gone up the road to the SDI/TDI guy, but what did I know then?

 

[Luc Dupas]

1. Buy a red bikini... and make sure it's at least 1 size, preferably 2 sizes, smaller than the one of the other girl...
2. Post the pictures of the two other girls, this will help us to give you a more professional feedback/help... :14:
3. Forget about the BCD, tank, reg, and first try to get completely at easy/comfortably/relaxed underwater with only your mask, schnorkel, weight belt and fins and try do you some freediving down to -3m and play with your weights until you find yourself perfectly "neutral" underwater. Once you reach this state it's time to start bothering yourself with the scuba gear.
4. With the BCD/tank/reg lay flat on the bottom in about 1m deep water, with a completely empty BCD, make sure you have enough weight to stick to the bottom and be able to breath in a very relax way.
5. Once you feel at easy/relax lying on the bottom start playing with your weights and drop weights 0.5kg (1lbs) at the time till you feel that with completely full lungs you're starting to float... and that's a good start for the "right" weighting for your swimming pool sessions...

 

[TSandM]

Some of us find buoyancy hard to master. Overweighting you, however, is NOT making your job easier, but harder, especially in a pool where it is so shallow. If you have a ton of air in your BC just to get off the bottom, then a VERY small change in depth results in a big expansion. You end up chasing the "right" volume and porpoising up and down. If you don't think I know, read my journal of my open water class (link below) In fact, read it anyway -- you'll empathize and laugh, I think.

The suggestion to lie on the bottom of the pool and put tiny puffs of air into the bc until you lift off the bottom is an excellent one. It not only helps you get the idea of controlling your buoyancy with your breath, but it also helps you start to internalize the horizontal posture as the desired position underwater.

Should you find that you CANNOT lift off the bottom in a horizontal posture, you may need to redistribute some weight. Particularly in classes where you are badly overweighted, if all that weight is around your waist, you may have virtually no choice but to assume a vertical position as soon as you lose the support of the bottom of the pool. This will make your job of actually diving MUCH harder.

Finally, a properly fitting BC is really crucial to being able to relax and enjoy being underwater. If the BC you are using is too big and won't snug down around you, then the tank is wobbly and will contribute to making you feel very insecure and unstable, and in fact, can result in you turning turtle (disconcerting). I am a small woman, and the BCs we used in class were WAY too big. In fact, the first one I bought was way too big. Some of the things I thought were technique problems went completely away once I got the tank stable.