OW certification questions

[sll612]

Hello all!

I finished my classroom and pool sessions last week and am scheduled to do my open water dives this coming Saturday and Sunday. I'm a little nervous! During our last class I really struggled to find neutral buoyancy, as well as complete the controlled emergency ascent. Finding neutral buoyancy, I think it's a patience thing. The other students found it so fast, I was the last one and was struggling. Any suggestions on how to do this?

During the controlled emergency ascent I was starting further back than other students, which did me a huge disservice, and then I got nervous again, anxious that everyone else did it on the first try.

Long story short I'm looking for some support. The instructor said I'm set to do open water, but my anxiousness is getting the better or me. He's allowing me to use the practice pool on Wednesday - anyone have tips for either finding buoyancy or for completing the controlled emergency ascent?

Thanks in advance.

 

[ScubaDoo83]

Correct me if I am wrong but isn't the controlled emergency ascent just locating your weights and fin kicking at a slow pace to the surface? Describe how exactly you messed it up....

As for buoyancy, I found laying belly down on the bottom of the pool helped. It gave me an easy way to gauge my buoyancy. On the bottom, inflate your BC little by little until you can see your breathing bringing you up and down slightly to where you are hovering just above the floor. Go very easy on the inflator and wait a moment or two before inflating again.

 

[sll612]

Thank you!

For our controlled emergency ascent we swam from the pool depth of 12 feet laterally and slightly up toward the surface while kicking and slowly releasing our breath - we could not take another breath off our regulator. So I think I had two things going against me - starting further back than the others, as well as the anxiousness of NOT being able to take another breath whenever I wanted.

I think I started too far back, and I was anxious and couldn't keep one breath coming out continually while kicking to the "surface" to the shallow end of the pool.

 

[TMHeimer]

I'm sure you will get some more complicated replies, but I agree with ScoobaDo83. I am assuming you are fairly close to being properly weighted, assuming you did a weight check.
Buoyancy: Yes, give only short bursts of air when using the inflator. Use it as little as possible. Maybe do a fin pivot on the pool bottom then gradually ascend a bit into a hover. See if you then can remain at a constant depth with just breathing and usuing a visual reference, like a spot on the pool wall. If not quite there, work the LPI a little.

CESA: Take a big breath and while you say "Ah..." exhale very slowly. Some students exhale too much at first. Another problem I've seen (in the ocean) is people having trouble getting started up. Since you should be neutrally buoyant near the bottom, you will have to give a few strong kicks to get going. Then your BCD air will expand and you can kick less while you let air out gradually. This should be easy from the required depth of 20'. Note: I practise it with lungs only half full to simulate a real problem--something you may want to try a bit dowm the road after certification.

 

[tbone1004]

for neutral buoyancy the 100% best way to learn to do it properly is with the oral inflator. A lot of instructors advocate against fin pushups, but for students learning to find neutral for the first time I think it is as good a tool as any.
1. Dump all air out of BC
2. lay on bottom of pool feet out
3. Take a slightly larger than normal breath in and hold it for a second *yes I know this violates scuba rule #1, but you can hold your breath without closing your epiglottis which is the important bit*, if you don't slowly start to rise, exhale that breath into the bc.
4. Repeat step 3 until when you take a slightly larger than normal breath you begin to rise and then when you exhale normally you start to sink back to the bottom. You will need to add a little more air to the bc at this point since you will be between .5 and 1.5lbs negative depending on how much above a normal breath you took.

You can expedite this using the power inflator, but all of the students I work with don't get power inflators until the day before open water because it is a required skill for NAUI. Oral inflation is much more accurate, and learning to control buoyancy with your breath is important.

good luck

 

[Phil_C]

The best way to work on neutral buoyancy is to spend a little time concentrating on it when you have nothing else to do. In the early days task loading (doing more than one thing at a time) is a sure way to mess up your buoyancy.

The first thing to understand is this is normal ! - it takes time and practice, and familiarity in order to get it nailed.

So as scubadoo83 says spend a little time in the pool working on it. What he describes is called the fin pivot. Dump all the air in your BC and then lay on the bottom, the aim is to add little amounts of air until you just start to lift from the bottom. Then you should find that when you breath in, a second or so later you body starts to rise further, when you breath out, after a short pause you will start to sink. This is the crucial point - buoyancy changes are not noticed immediately, and this is where people can easily go wrong. You add some air, and nothing happens straight away, so you add some more, and then you find yourself going up to much, so you dump air, then you seesaw down again.

So the secret is to add little puffs to air, with reasonable pauses in between to give the buoyancy change enough time to take effect before you think of adding any more.

When you have the buoyancy just right you should find that swimming around you will be able to breath in and rise a bit, breath out and sink a bit, but otherwise keep at a constant depth.

Remember also that buoyancy changes are greatest into first 30 feet, so in a pool it is always harder than on open water because it is normally shallower.

For the CESA don't worry, it will come easily enough. The reason for breathing out is to make sure you keep the airway open, so you only need to breath out a little bit, and slowly. Just practice and don't sweat it, it will come with practice.

Enjoy your open water - best wishes - Phil.

 

[TMHeimer]

for neutral buoyancy the 100% best way to learn to do it properly is with the oral inflator. A lot of instructors advocate against fin pushups, but for students learning to find neutral for the first time I think it is as good a tool as any.
1. Dump all air out of BC
2. lay on bottom of pool feet out
3. Take a slightly larger than normal breath in and hold it for a second *yes I know this violates scuba rule #1, but you can hold your breath without closing your epiglottis which is the important bit*, if you don't slowly start to rise, exhale that breath into the bc.
4. Repeat step 3 until when you take a slightly larger than normal breath you begin to rise and then when you exhale normally you start to sink back to the bottom. You will need to add a little more air to the bc at this point since you will be between .5 and 1.5lbs negative depending on how much above a normal breath you took.

You can expedite this using the power inflator, but all of the students I work with don't get power inflators until the day before open water because it is a required skill for NAUI. Oral inflation is much more accurate, and learning to control buoyancy with your breath is important.

good luck

Yes, an interesting way of doing it. I haven't seen an instructor (recently...) have them empty the BC completely. Just enough to be able to lie on the bottom. Most here start with the inflator and next do the oral. The last class concentrated more on neutral buoyancy from the start, as per the new PADI OW course. Usually takes very little use of the LPI either way. I guess there are more ways to skin a cat.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

"Long story short I'm looking for some support. The instructor said I'm set to do open water, but my anxiousness is getting the better or me. He's allowing me to use the practice pool on Wednesday - anyone have tips for either finding buoyancy or for completing the controlled emergency ascent? "

This is troubling on so many levels for me. Could you please clarify if the instructor is going to be in the pool with you on Wednesday? If not what is wrong with him? He should be in the pool with you helping you through this. If not, you're not getting what you paid for. In no way, shape, or form.

Does he see your difficulty and still feel you are ready for your checkout dives? If so I'd be having one very serious talk with him. He is not the one to decide when you are ready. You are. If you are feeling anxious or unsure you need to set him straight on that.

I hope you don't think he in charge here. He's not. He a facilitator for you to get certified. You are the boss. You hired him to teach you to dive. That means passing on enough information and skills to make you comfortable with doing your checkouts. If you're not you should not be doing them.

Some nervousness and excited anxiety is normal. Fear is not. These dives are for one purpose. To verify that you now have the skills and knowledge to dive in open water. And after them you should be fine with doing that on your own with a buddy of equal training and experience. If not then something failed somewhere.

One of the biggest issues in training today is the abdication of responsibility to someone else. In many cases the instructor. He is not the one responsible for your safety, you are. You need to decide when you are ready in consultation with the instructor. Not rely solely on his/her judgment. Doing that sets you up for disappointment and maybe worse.

 

[DiversSupplyPDC]

Must agree with Jim's last paragraph that you and the instructor decide when you're ready for Open Water dives.

You should not be in the pool alone and really the instructor should know this.... and not with just the DM either.

Practice of this OOA skill is not just a one shot deal. Make as many passes as it takes to get it down. One young lady in my last class took 8 tries before she was happy and so was I.

The buoyancy skill is also a matter of understanding (some take longer) and relaxation (also some take longer). Practicing skills is a good thing for all levels.

You should enjoy your OW experience and not fear it.

 

[sll612]

"Long story short I'm looking for some support. The instructor said I'm set to do open water, but my anxiousness is getting the better or me. He's allowing me to use the practice pool on Wednesday - anyone have tips for either finding buoyancy or for completing the controlled emergency ascent? "

This is troubling on so many levels for me. Could you please clarify if the instructor is going to be in the pool with you on Wednesday? If not what is wrong with him? He should be in the pool with you helping you through this. If not, you're not getting what you paid for. In no way, shape, or form.

Does he see your difficulty and still feel you are ready for your checkout dives? If so I'd be having one very serious talk with him. He is not the one to decide when you are ready. You are. If you are feeling anxious or unsure you need to set him straight on that.

I hope you don't think he in charge here. He's not. He a facilitator for you to get certified. You are the boss. You hired him to teach you to dive. That means passing on enough information and skills to make you comfortable with doing your checkouts. If you're not you should not be doing them.

Some nervousness and excited anxiety is normal. Fear is not. These dives are for one purpose. To verify that you now have the skills and knowledge to dive in open water. And after them you should be fine with doing that on your own with a buddy of equal training and experience. If not then something failed somewhere.

One of the biggest issues in training today is the abdication of responsibility to someone else. In many cases the instructor. He is not the one responsible for your safety, you are. You need to decide when you are ready in consultation with the instructor. Not rely solely on his/her judgment. Doing that sets you up for disappointment and maybe worse.

I sincerely thank you for your concern. Truly. I was getting anxious and frustrated in the pool last week and he did notice that I was struggling with both the buoyancy and CESA, to the point he was clearly frustrated. At the end of the session he offered up the pool to me this week, while he'll be instructing a new class. I'll be working on my own thing and he'll be available for questions. He did say that I performed to the criteria required for open water and I hope that I feel better about the skills after Wednesday's pool session. If I don't I can reschedule the open water.