Anybody have trouble kneeling?

[Jafo123]

I also had problems at first kneeling during training in the pool. I found out that as I would decend I would bend my knees and cross my ankles. Once my knees touched the bottom spread them apart and lean your upper body back over your ankles like your sitting on them. Worked for me.

jafo123

 

[Diver0001]

Add a bit of air to your BCD and straighten up your back a bit.

R..

 

[HiCSailor]

Or the opposite, it could be that you're not getting all the air out of your BCD and the extra lift is making it hard to stay kneeling. I wouldn't worry too much about it if all the other skills are falling into place because, like many others have said, kneeling on the bottom becomes a nearly useless skill in about another couple of dives.

 

[jeffreyd]

I'll add my $0.005.

While doing my OW training I did fine Kneeling in the pool (no wetsuit) I didn't lean/fall anywhere. When we went to do our checkout dives we went to (weekie wachee) 72 degree water, so we were wearing wetsuits. I added 4lbs and figured I would be fine... Wrong. We decended to 15' to do checkout skills and I was "light", and by this I mean that I would move and it would take a second to touch the bottom again, it just constantly felt like I was trying to keep from acending.

Anyway since I felt light I kept trying to pick up my feet(kneeling and trying to touch my butt with my feet) so I would sink, this invariably caused me to tilt forward. As soon as I got a chance I grabbed 2lbs and it fixed the problem. I stopped leaning around on the bottom.(Kneeling)

Now of course I never touch the bottom.

Edit: Im just trying to say maybe add 1 - 2 lbs and see if it helps.

 

[Darin]

What difference does it make? Most of us spend very little time kneeling anyway. Just go to one knee. No one seems to care anyway. Even when waiting for everyone to get down the line, I usually hover a few feet away and wait there. No problems with rocks (overweighted divers) hitting the bottom and clouding things up if I'm a few feet away.

I can't kneel. My ankles/knees don't have that flexability, especially with a wetsuit on. I can go to one knee but kneeling is out.

Don't worry about it.

darin

 

[No Fish]

Relax.... let all of the air out if your BCD......lean back..... more.......concentrate on not moving....relax.... concentrate on leaning way back. Trust me, this will work.



One knee works too, but you should be able to kneel as well.

 

[Zoe83]

I had trouble kneeling at first too, i looked like a right fool bumbling around down there when the class was waiting for me. I got used to it though, it took practise, i had to really focus. I am opposite to 'no fish' above, i had to focus on leaning forward to stay kneeling. Just practise and find what suits you, Good Luck!

 

[DimSumDiver]

You guys are a great bunch! Thanks to everybody for the advice, tips and sharing of your experience.

I talked to the instructor and told him that if I was unable to get stable on both knees, I would try the one knee approach. He said it didn't matter because we were about to perform the BCD removal and replacement skill and that requires that I go to one knee anyway.

So, tried both knees again but still having the same problem, body tilts forward, blah, blah, blah... Went to one knee and everything worked out right. Performed the complete mask removal, BCD removal/replacement, weight belt removal without any problems.

Thanks again for the replies. I really appreciate it.

Anytime you're in Hong Kong, look me up and I'll take you out for Dim Sum.

 

[DimSumDiver]

Try moving your tank several inches lower on the BC and your center of balance will move back and down.

The instructor's instructions were to have the top of the K valve about 1-2 inches below the lowest point of the BCD collar. Will I get penalised during the practical tests if I don't do it his way?

 

[CD_in_Chitown]

Will I get penalised during the practical tests if I don't do it his way?

I would make sure and ask that of the instructor, his guidance seems low IMHO. The tank positioning will affect balance, some bcs have a strap at the top so that you can always have the tank at the same level. If your instructor grades on tank positioning then do as instructed, after the class experiment with the positioning and see how it affects your balance when you are attempting that nice horizontal positioning that is really a SCUBA skill, unlike you're kneeling, HA!

One important sidenote, while experimenting with position its best to keep the valve high enough that you can reach it should you need to.