Advice on Descending Smoothly

[happi]

Hey thanks for all the suggestions! Well, not too clear about some things...

Lets improve our descent by following scubaseans recommendation of making a descent in a horizontal or prone body position. Again we are at the surface and now we start our descent. Essentially three things need to happens simultaneously.

1.) Dump air 2.) exhale 3.) flex the knees and slightly extend the feet. Dumping air and exhaling we know changes our volume thereby changing our density so we sink. What in heavens name does flexing the knees and slightly extending the feet have to do with descending

:06: 1. Don't really understand what is flex the knees & slightly extend the feet. Sorry, but over here, all/most use feet-down descent...
2. Do you have any effective method to exhaling to aid in my descent?? I read somewhere saying.. exhale compeletely & hold it there??

This will rotate you into a horizontal or prone body position in the water. From this position you can see where you are going. You can see the bottom or the wreck or waht ever it is you are looking for including divers that may be under you who would really appreciate it if you didn't land on them(really a fun experience I assure you )

Hee hee... there was once I NEARLY crashed into one of the divers.... Opppssss.....:11ztongue

 

[happi]

Presumably you're shore diving? We just returned from a Caribbean resort where all dives were from a boat, and they perferred that everyone use the anchor line to descend. They INSISTED that all new divers use it, going feet first but "hand under hand" down the rope. Perhaps they've found a way to avoid having divers bob up with the problems you described in the first few feet of descent.
(We've been diving for years, and didn't use that method. Then again, as others have already mentioned, we tend to wear our weights forward, and descend more horizontally.)

I'm doing mostly boat dives... but we don't use the anchor line to descend......
Did 2 shore dives when i did my open waters & that was when I used a descent line to go down...
Well, will def try adjusting my weights position in my next dive!

Cheers.

 

[Avalanche]

Me too, horizontal is way easier to control. They say to use the feet first descent to avoid vertigo, but i doubt you'd feel any symptoms of vertigo with a horizontal descent. I keep most of my weight towards my hip sides, and then usually a 2 pounder on each side of the tank for trim. I really can't help but be horizontal...but thats the idea. Also, another quick point, is that with a horizontal descent, you can establish neutral bouyancy within seconds of reaching the desired depth...with practice that is. For the initial part of the descent, the first 10 feet, I find that i naturally start feet down, and then with very controlled breathing get myself into the prone, horizontal position for the rest of the ride.

 

[jbd]

:06: 1. Don't really understand what is flex the knees & slightly extend the feet.

happi,
Flex the knees means to bend your legs at the knees. In this case close to a 90 degree angle between the upper leg and the lower leg. Extend the feet means to point your feet but not so much as a ballet dancer would do.

2. Do you have any effective method to exhaling to aid in my descent?? I read somewhere saying.. exhale compeletely & hold it there??

Thats pretty much it although you are not really holding the exhale as you are just pausing before inhaling.

Hee hee... there was once I NEARLY crashed into one of the divers.... Opppssss.....:11ztongue

This is one very real reason why the horizontal body position is a better method of descending. I have been plowed into the muck at the bottom of our local quarry on a couple of occasions by out of control divers doing a feet first descent. Not only is the mask flooded but it is full of mud also. Definitely chages the viz when your face is planted in 6 inches of mud while you wait for the offending diver to figure out how to get off of you

 

[Wristshot]

Happi,

You have two different issues here: 1) difficulty descending, and 2) falling backwards.

Both will improve with time and practice. Proper weight distribution and the other things recommended here will help with #2. (no WM jokes here!) Others have covered that.

So let's focus on #1. Why are you having difficulty getting down that first few meters? To state the obvious, it is because you are too bouyant or you are pushing yourself upwards with your fins. The part about the fins has been covered also, so I won't go there except to say that you need to learn to relax and try not to move your fins unless necessary.

So we focus on why you are too bouyant. It might be because you don't have enough weight, but most likely it is a combination of other things. There are a lot of other things that make you bouyant.

=> Air pockets in your wetsuit (or air in your drysuit) can make you bouyant. Typically this is more of an issue on the first dive when everything is dry. Some people fill their wetsuits with (warm) water before they get in the water. I sometimes dow a major "wiggle" as I am descending to help get the trapped air bubbles moving up and out of my suit. (has to be amusing to watch!)

=> Air trapped in your BC can make you bouyant. Make sure that you have emptied your BC completely. Some BC's require you to rotate a little and to hold your Low Pressure Inflator above you and off to the side. Find out what works best for YOUR BC to allow you to get all the air out. (Be careful using the dump valves - some people yank on the shoulder dump cord and slowly allow the BC to fill with water)

=> Air in your hood can make you bouyant. I know a gal that had trouble descending until I pressed down on her hood and pushed out a bunch of air! Really. A big 'ole bubble in her hood probably displaced a couple pounds of water.

=> Air in your lungs can make you bouyant. This is probably the most common issue with new divers. All of your natural instincts tell you to INHALE before you submerge. Instincts tell you BREATH IN NOW when you have air available. You have to learn to overcome many thousands of years of evolutionary knowledge to exhale completely before you descend. I had a big problem with this when I started. I would dump the BC, take a big 'ole breath and try like crazy to submerge. Once I learned to trust that there is air at the regulator then I was able to exhale and descend. As I got more comfortable I was able to exhale more completely and descend more easily. Also, as noted by JBD, when you do inhale, do so slowly in a controlled way. A big fat juicy gulp of air will pop you right back up to the surface from just a few meters down.

It takes a relaxed, concentrated effort (at first) to learn to exhale completely and to not breath in deeply at the beginning of a descent. That is my suggestion based on what I perceive to be your problem.

---
Back to the weight issue for a minute:
If you are truly unable to maintain a safety stop depth at the end of a dive, when you are sure that you don't have extra air trapped anywhere, and you are not subconsciously finning upwards, then you do need more weight. It may only be a tiny bit more that you need. As you get more comfortable over time, you will (most likely) be able to remove some weight, but make sure that you have enough to execute safe dives right now. The future will come later. (duh)

Read the signature line on JBD's post #14 above: Uncle Pug is absolutely right. The two go hand in hand.

----------------
I just re-read your original post. As alluded to by others, when you fight the "falling back" feeling, you are probably flailing and / finning a little bit, and with the air filled lungs that come with anxiety, that combination is what is pushing you back to the surface.

I hope this helps.

Wristshot

 

[happi]

Thanks a lot for all the advices given! I'll try them for my next dive next month.

You guys rock!!!