100+ Dives And I Still Suck

[ligersandtions]

Great post, sabbath999!

When I first got certified (drift diving in Cozumel), I thought I had buoyancy pretty well figured out and wondered why anyone ever struggled with it....then I did my first non-drift dive and realized that I really did suck and it wasn't as easy as I thought.

Put me in a familiar dive site with normal dive conditions and I'm a pretty okay diver. Add a little task loading onto that and I'm still pretty okay. Add a little more task loading and the sucky-ness increases.

Toss me into a totally new situation and it's like being a brand new OW diver again. After 100 dives, I did my first tropical dives (since my certification). It was the first time I dived an Al80 in probably 80+ dives and the first time I'd been in a wetsuit in probably 40+ dives. It wasn't pretty! But I adapted and it got better after a few dives....but I still sucked!

You want to see me look totally uncomfortable and really like a brand new OW diver? Hand me a scooter and tell me to go. I really suck!

So, while I might be okay in familiar situations....and I can probably adapt quicker to different situations than I could have when I first started....I still have a lot to learn and a long way to go. That's part of the beauty of diving. I'll never be done learning and working toward different goals.

 

[Blackwood]

You want to see me look totally uncomfortable and really like a brand new OW diver? Hand me a scooter and tell me to go. I really suck!

I may take you up on that this saturday (unless this weather screws things up).

 

[diver_doug]

I'm not mad at the OP, I agree with the majority of his post and think ihe has a great attitude. In fact, I didn't try to dispute his point that most cold water divers are good, because in my personal experience, they generally are. I've just had a couple of experiences with blow-hards.

I don't think I'm overdoing any worse than the statement (a numbered point) was that vacation divers generally suck a lot worse. The point of my post is that we all suck in our own way and one should be careful when making generalizations. I don't think I'm being sensitive... but maybe I am, if so I'm sorry.

***Edit*** - I'm not a warm water only diver, I do the majority of my dives there, when I've got the funds, but the local quarry or lake Erie are always options.

Fair enough.

 

[xeptra]

I wouldn't count your experience in the water by how many dives you've had or how long you have been diving, but by how prepared and comfertable you feel in the water. I know people that have been diving "longer" and have more dives than I do, but I believe that I am more comfertable in the water than they are. The great thing about diving to me is that there is always new experiences and new things to learn. Starting out as an Ow diver i just wanted to be able to go on adventures underwater, never mind that I was using my hands like crazy and standing straight up, but I quickly learned that for me to be comfertable and happy in the water I wanted to learn good techniques and bouyancy. So I started working on one skill at a time bettering myself. I know I'm not the best out there, far far from it. But i woulnd't say I suck in the water. And by your post, if you want to improve yourself I would say you don't suck either!

 

[CamG]

Greetings everyone and this thread has been awesome to follow.
TSandM, Bob Grateful Diver, Diver0001 and others thank you for your words. It is a great encouragement to hear that we all suck at the start and increase to a less sucking state but thus more aware of our short comings. It just goes to say that we really should always be learning, growing, evolving into better divers.
It really doesn't matter if we are vacation divers, cold or warm water, cave divers, tech divers, etc. we all start from the same place and pay our dues if you are going to be the best we can it takes time, commitment, determination, and a positive attitude.
I have found many a good laughs at myself a valuable commodity when you have sucked so bad in one of those training situations where you really wanted to impress.
That is why Humility is a virtue that one strives to attain, and Murphy has a way of providing those opportunities at the most opportune times.
I have flooded my mask many times while laughing uncontrollably and I am sure looking quite insane although many times no one is looking. I guess that is one reason I love to dive. It fits me, my personality, and my sense of humor. It is all good even the dives that really suck!
Dive safe all and keep the great stuff coming this is the best of the board!
CamG Keep diving....keep training....keep learning!

 

[vinegarbiscuit]

I think the "I suck" mentality grows for another reason: diving with folk who are not just more experienced than you, but who are also a completely different class of diver. That gives a person a VERY different yardstick with which to compare him/herself to.

I'll never forget the first time I set foot an a Northeast dive boat. In addition to being one of only two girls on board, I was also the only loon diving wet. I was also the only twit with a single tank (although boat rules mandated a pony bottle, too, which was my first exposure to a necklace octo. It showed, too, when I almost garotted myself with it). Everyone else was diving in dry suits with colossal (I thought) double tanks, sling bottles, reels, lights, kitchen sinks, and goody bags. Moreover, they were looking forward to falling off the boat into that choppy-ass green, cold water. I decidedly wasn't. Their comfort in the water and their ability to problem-solve and be creative under pressure impressed me so much - still does. Cut to my cave courses...well, crap, how can you watch your cave instructor gliding serenely through even the strongest flow while you're cursing the day your father met your mother, and not find yourself wanting?

I think once you've been diving for a certain amount of time and/or have logged a certain number of dives, it's inevitable that you'll come into regular contact with people that are in a class of their own. That, combined with stepping outside your comfort zone as a diver and experiencing new conditions/new gear configurations, will drive home the 'I suck' message pretty damn strongly.

 

[BabyDuck]

i started diving sidemount this month. god, i sucked. i sucked so bad & got so frustrated that i screamed & cried & cussed. (as an aside, you can cry into a reg & mask. rinse the mask afterwards because of snot buildup.)

actually, that's the main reason i didn't want to go sidemount - i like feeling competent. i don't like being a noob all over again. well, that and the new pink doubles wing. i just had that feeling last year with the drysuit & year before with the doubles & was looking forward to a competent-feeling season...nope.

maybe next year.

oh - larry & i are going on a cruise week after next. we'll be wet & in singles. yep, even though i've been there before, it's been years & i bet i'm gonna suck. that's ok, i bet i'm gonna have fun, too.

 

[TSandM]

Cut to my cave courses...well, crap, how can you watch your cave instructor gliding serenely through even the strongest flow while you're cursing the day your father met your mother, and not find yourself wanting?

Oh, this is so true. I started out diving with people like me, but they all had better buoyancy control (because almost anybody did). I didn't suck audibly.

Then I started diving with NW Grateful Diver. He was so quiet in the water, and so stable . . . I began to hear sucking sounds.

Then I took Fundies and looked at my Fundies instructor (and his video assistant). The sounds got louder.

Then I took cave, and watched my cave instructor, and I could hardly hear what he was saying.

Then I took another cave class from some really world class divers, and everything got even worse. Nowadays, my "bar" is so high I have find a stepstool to SEE the darned thing.

That's why it's really nice to go diving with a new diver once in a while, so I can focus on the territory behind me, instead of what's still in front

 

[msg]

"It is better to keep ones mouth shut and let everyone think that he is dumb, then to open it and prove it."

I think everyone should keep in mind that no matter how "good" we are, there is still someone much better.

 

[ligersandtions]

I may take you up on that this saturday (unless this weather screws things up).

Only if you tow us out there first! Didn't you see our Three Sisters video where I looked like I was spazzing out the whole time??