Buoyancy question how do you maintain a sitting hover?

[jonhall]

Had to hover in the body position as shown in @BLACKCRUSADER 's video above for 60 seconds about 3-4 feet above the bottom for AOW but no hands. Did it with breathing as @tbone1004 described in his post.

 

[mmerriman]

I find the idea of a seated hover to be more more showmanship than practicality.

 

[mmerriman]

now headstand hover is what I enjoy

 

[Scott]

Trim Diving is what ever position you need to be in for what you want to do.

FIFY
I think it's safe to say most people when mentioning trim visualize being horizontal. I don't recall a discussion on SB about being in vertical trim. May be out there, who knows.

 

[scrane]

Trim is what ever position you need to be in for what you want to do.

Hear! Hear!

 

[scrane]

I find the idea of a seated hover to be more more showmanship than practicality.

I find the seated hover to be a comfortable position to achieve 390 degree vision of the surrounding area and close proximity to the bottom. Lots of fun on drift dives.

 

[The Chairman]

Hard to not descend and seems to want to put me all the way on my back.

First, re-read @tbone1004's post over and over until you 'get it'.
Second, if you sink when you stop kicking or have to kick downwards to maintain your current depth, then trim is your issue. People who swim with their legs lower than the rest of their body are creating thrust downwards as well as straight behind you. You have to counter that thrust by making yourself heavier than the water around you. Remove the thrust, ie stop kicking, and you'll find yourself to be too heavy, requiring you to scull with your hands or feet.

There are two options:

Correct your trim so that all your thrust goes vertically behind you.
Add air to your BC when you stop and remove it when you start to kick again.​

I prefer the former solution. People who correct their trim will find neutral buoyancy to be incredibly easy. You won't have to keep adjusting your BC to compensate for the upward thrust or when it stops.

 

[Blackcrusader]

now headstand hover is what I enjoy

I do that also. My friend took this photo. He had lost track of me and was looking around and also upwards but never directly above and could not find my bubble trail. I just stayed in that zone above where he was not looking. We had a good laugh about it after the dive and he now looks directly above as well.

 

[Blackcrusader]

FIFY
I think it's safe to say most people when mentioning trim visualize being horizontal. I don't recall a discussion on SB about being in vertical trim. May be out there, who knows.

Many recent discussions on when to use vertical trim on the boards.

THE "PERFECT ( being horizontal ) TRIM" HOAX

CESA Training

 

[Colliam7]

Now I have tried this position and find it incredibly hard to maintain. Hard to not descend and seems to want to put me all the way on my back.

Diagnosis from afar is ALWAYS fraught with danger. B-u-u-t, it does sound like you are a) a bit negative when you are swimming along, and b) swimming in a slightly head-up / foot-down attitude, rather than truly horizontal. When you are swimming in that attitude, part of the thrust vector of your propulsion is downward, thereby pushing you up to maintain depth in the face of neutral buoyancy. If there is anything that wastes gas, that is a primary culprit. You adust your buoyancy (air in your BCD) to maintain 'neutral buoyancy', with regard to depth, and you use less air in the BCD because you are essentially swimming upward (and using gas) very slightly. If you stop finning, you start to sink. If you shift into a seated position, where you are not finning, you start to sink.

Second buoyancy question. Is it just me or have others noted that it is easier to be a little positively buoyant so you maintain neutrality by a little longer exhale? It seems when I am neutral or negatively buoyant I am wasting gas by inhaling to maintain a certain position.

I don't notice that it is easier to maintain neutrality by being sluightly positive. And, I definitely don't think I am 'wasting' gas by inhaling. I use a longer inhale, AND a longer exhale - which also means my BPMM (breaths per minute) are probably lower, because I am inhaling and exhaling slowly and fully. OK, I may move 6 inches up on the inhale, but I return to previous depth on the exhale. I want to be truly neutral - i.e. if I stop finning I don't move up or dopwn, beyond what my breathing may do. And, that also means I DO NOT drop my legs when I stop finning - IOW I am both neutyrally buoyant AND I have good weight distribution.

I find the idea of a seated hover to be more more showmanship than practicality.

True to some extent. But, the seated hover - aka the Buddha position - is still a lot of fun. For us 'more mature' (we never say the 'o' word) divers, it was how we initially learned to hover. We get neutrally buoyant, rise to a mid-water position, cross our legs under us (the Buddha position) and stay there for an extended time, just to show how neutral we really were.