What would you like to be able to do better?

[TSandM]

I think my husband learned the back kick the best way possible. Go to a pool in a swimsuit, with a mask and snorkel. Lie on the surface and try back-kicking with the tops of your feet. It won't take long before you can move backwards (I've seen kids get this in less than five minutes). Swim laps backwards until it's absolutely reproducible.

Now do it with fins, still on the surface with mask and snorkel, until you can duplicate it with fins.

Then go diving, and do it in full gear.

One caveat -- back kick is very trim-dependent. If you are head-down, you'll do the backwards shrimp dance (back kick yourself upwards). If you are feet down, you'll kick up silt but not go anywhere. Horizontal, you'll go backwards.

 

[Amphiprion]

My two in water diving problems are a result of very low viz. First, I have trouble navigating by compass with no markers. In the Gulf where I have good viz, I can use the compass to mark a coral head and always find my way back. Second, I have buoyancy problems in very low vis shallow lakes. yes we all have some of these issues due to the water being shallow, but I have trouble because I use a combination of landmarks and my computers to stay neutral. When I can't see the bottom of a bad vis lake and end up dredging my pony first stage I feel like a failure. I have no problem with a 80' night dive in the gulf for buoyancy or navigation.... Well maybe with all the oil...

My other problem is how to hide large purchases from my wife. I should have told her that the CCR I was looking at was only 500 dollars.

 

[TSandM]

Amphiprion, I hear you about buoyancy control in very low viz! If the murk is thin enough that you can actually see the crud in the water, you can use your relative motion to it to help -- are the particles streaming downward? Then you're headed up . . . And I really like a wrist-mounted depth gauge, because I can reference it constantly, without having to move anything.

 

[David P]

I self-taught myself reverse frog kicking and it's working for me but I have the feeling that it could better. I'd like to have someone who can do it excellently take a look at mine and help me fine-tune that.

Come ot think of it, that's only a symptom of a broader wish. What I'd like to do is spend a few days one-on-one .... just 6 or so dives with someone on a much higher plateau than me and just get some tips that I can work on over the next couple of hundred dives. I'm satisfied with my skills as they are but I think if I were made "aware" of things that I'm not aware of right now that I could bootstrap myself to a higher plateau. At the level I'm at, I'd be needing an experienced instructor who is first and foremost one hell of diver. To focus on being beautiful you can't have a toad as a mentor.

Alas, there is nobody at all in Holland with anything remotely resembling the skill level I would be looking for and/or who I trust. In fact, I can't think of a single person I've ever dived with who fits this description.... I'm really stuck on that.

On another note, I feel that as an instructor I have a lot to learn, so I'd like to collect a few mentors around me in that area too. I have one who I trust completely and whose style is similar to mine but I'd like to broaden that. I've been waiting for a few years to get the spark when I'm watching someone else but I'm still waiting. I think I can learn something from everyone, that's not the point, but I'm having trouble finding another mentor who has the whole package.

R..

wow! You are the kind of guy I would have no problem diving with for a first time! I usually cringe at getting in the water with someone I dont know. But with an outlook like yours, lets go!

that said, I always want to improve my trim and buoyancy even though Im pretty happy with it. I wish I could stow the regs more fluidly during gas changes, would like to be even more at home during deco procedures, shooting a bag, gas changes, keeping an eye on the team, only pausing for 30 seconds moving for 30 seconds, winding the spool... can get to be a bit much...

 

[TyGuy]

as far as becoming better as a diver:

1. trim
2. bouyancy
3. taking steadier pictures

im the president of my school's dive club and go on every recreational dive we have. so i have the most bottom time and end up leading alot of the dives..pretty much all of them..so becoming better at:

1. leading dives
2. keeping an eye on straggling divers
3. safety stops and buddy checks

 

[eskimo50]

What I'd like to do better is know this site!!!
You asked me, Al, where I am and the answer is Portland. I'm just visiting but because my wife doesn't dive (yet) I need a buddy(s) and someone who knows where and what we'd be facing. I'm adventurous and OW certified. I've been to 130 feet but more often around 100. Depth is not my goal...sites and fun are.Returning is cool also!
Let me know if you or others can dive tomorrow (monday) or thru wednesday.
quinnal@hotmail.com or on this site...so many thanks!!!