Brand new looking for reassurance

[clint@uniquescuba.com]

The Swim test SHOULD be the hardest thing in your Open Water Training, as it's the only thing your TESTED on that your NOT actually TRAINED On!

I Train and Test my students surface swimming skills with a minimum of Mask, Fin, Snorkel.

I don't believe I am qualified to teach or test someone adequate swimming skills to tell them they are OK to then enter an Open Water environment without proper equipment.

My point of view is:
If you test it in the class and they pass, you have told them it's OK in the Open Water.


Good Luck with your class, the hardest part should be behind you.

 

[maged_mmh]

......... The Certification is easy, it's that thing about being left adrift overnight in Shark infested Australian waters dealie that will get you all goofed up......

:1poke:

 

[ronbeau]

I've been wanting to get certified for years now and I finally had my first open water class last night with NAUI. We did the swim test and it was rough I was barely able to do the underwater 60' swim. I'm not out of shape and I can swim, just not that great. Please tell me that that was the hardest physical part of the class. Also I've heard some things people had to do that get me nervous. I know I'll have to clear my mask and put gear on underwater. Can anyone tell me what else to expect?

The swim test will probably be the most physically demanding test. At least you passed the swim test on the first try which is more than I can say. When I got certified almost 4 years ago I was 50 pounds heavier than I am now.

You will do just fine. Just remember to stay relaxed and you will do fine.

 

[Saltwater Junky]

I know I'll have to clear my mask and put gear on underwater. Can anyone tell me what else to expect?

The most physically part of is over. Regarding the mask clearing....remember you have your head underwater, now you'll remove and replace your mask getting your face wet then blowing air into your mask. Remember to blow a little air out of your nose when removing mask to keep water from going up it. Good luck and have fun!

 

[Air On]

The swim part is the bugger of it. As long as you don't have an old school NAUI instructors who make you breat off the tanks without an regulators or anything...lol Kidding.

You will be exposed to a little bit of rescue and navigation work that might stress you a little.
You also learn snorkling.

The dive tables and what not is probably the most mentaly demanding...
If your using a dive computer though it superceids your manual tables but you'll need you manual tables as your backup.

Normally the paper tests are open book so take your time and work it thought... You don't have to ace the test.

Above all else stay relaxed and use your head. Under NAUI, even if you ace all the tests and swimming requirments but you look prone to panic or be a hazard to your self and others in the water, they don't have to and might not pass you.

When you do your mask flood and removals... point your nose DOWN not UP. Keep a little positive pressure on your nose (not blowing out though) and open the TOP of the mask to slowly flood the mask (you can partial flood like this to clear a mask of fog too). If you look up and lift the bottom you'll get a nice shot of water up your nose as water rushes UP to fill the mask.

Keep looking down a little, Then when you put the mask back on (and clear your hair from the skirt seal) , look up, apply a light finger push against the top glass rim on the mask, and and SLOWLY exhale out your nose. The water will exit the bottom of the mask as the air pushes it out.

If you feel you need to pactice ANY of the the skills they show you more, ask the instructor to repeat them with you until your happy with it. Don't just slop through and not learn it correctly.

The more relaxed you are the less air you'll burn though. A little stress in the water will have you sucking your tank down at an alarming rate and wondering why everyone else has so much air and your calling the dive over early for your buddies.

DO NOT pop to the surface in a panic if something doesn't go right, get your air in your mouth, take a breath or two, calm yourself, and figure out what to do at the bottom of the pool. It goes a long way later. You might even impress you instructor by being a calm cool and collected diver.

If you have more air you might get to practice more skills while your classmates are busy breaking down their equipment after the dive... more fun pool time for you.

Oh... PS: The BC inflator valve isn't an elevator button... Swim up not waste your air to start upward motion. Once you start up the air in the BC expands and you'll be venting it anyhow... don't waste more breathable air just to start floating up. The less air you use in your BC the more you have to spare.

Keep looking around here, there are a lot of good tips on the scuba board that will go a long way in making you a better diver that a class doesn't have time to teach you.

 

[ronbeau]

... Normally the paper tests are open book so take your time and work it thought... You don't have to ace the test..

I have taken all of the NAUI non-leadership tests up through and including NAUI Master Diver and none of these test were open book. What is the point of an open book exam?

Remember the NAUI instructor determines the passing grade. NAUI states that the minimum passing grade is 75. The NAUI instructor can pick any grade above that level to be passing. Every NAUI exam I took at my LDS required a minimum grade of 90% to pass.

 

[ryanpublic]

I'm a Padi instructor and I've seen a few people get nervous on their mask skills. For some people it's feels natural and they don't have any issues at all but for others I guess the problem is how it feels - Water against the face etc...

To be honest when I have a student with issues it can slow the class a bit and sometimes it can be difficult to overcome. Generally the student feels the pressure and that makes it much worse. It's real easy to get to a point where you are just re-inforcing failure. It's never the intention but if the issue is a "feeling" you could understand how difficult this is to sort out in a pool session.

This is what I do if we're in the pool trying to get through. Have the student stand in the shallow with no mask and reg in the mouth. Then have student dip face in water while breathing through the reg. Progress to taking a knee in the shallow while breathing once comfortable resume the skills.

The next method works better but it doesn't work real good if we have to do it in the pool (short on time). Usually if I notice a problem or someone tells me they anticipate a problem with Mask removing skills this can really help. Go home. In the bath or shower fill you mask with water and put it on flooded. Then sit for a while while breathing normally through your mouth. Keep practicing in the privacy of you own home until you feel comfortable.

I used to use the first all the time because it was the only one I knew. It was successful only once in a while and usually took a long time. But the first time I used the second method it worked like a charm. I don't think I've ever seen some adjust more quickly than they did with this method.


Anyway I hop this helps. Good luck!

 

[ScubaDonald]

I just got my naui about 7 months ago... I wouldn't sweat it, its easy... Unless you have a crazy instructor lol. The hardest thing that we did during class was remove ALL(most) gear including mask,fins,snorkle, boots, bc, and regulator ( for like 5 seconds showing we can still keep calm) kept weight belt on, because you would begin to float if your lungs are filled... But GOOD luck, you shouldn't have any problems...:14:

 

[ronbeau]

I just got my NAUI about 7 months ago... I wouldn't sweat it, its easy... Unless you have a crazy instructor lol. The hardest thing that we did during class was remove ALL(most) gear including mask,fins,snorkel, boots, BC, and regulator ( for like 5 seconds showing we can still keep calm) kept weight belt on, because you would begin to float if your lungs are filled... But GOOD luck, you shouldn't have any problems...:14:

Toward the end of the pool training for my NAUI Open Water training we were working in the deep end of the pool. The instructor has climbed out of the pool. He asked me to take off my fins and climb the ladder to get out of the pool.

He asked the following;

• Remove you BC
• Remove your mask
• Which arm do you want you mask and fins on?
• I said left.
• He handed me the regulator second stage and asked me to put it in my mouth.
• He then had me hold out my arms.
• He put the BC (with tank) in my arms and said I would need to put all the gear back on at the bottom
• He then said "You are going to hate me, jump in"
• He had a DM and an AI at the bottom of the pool.
• I found out later that he did this to check out my confidence.
• Later when we were showering off the AI mentioned that what I had just done was one of the hardest things to do within the Open Water training since I had to put all the skills together and did reasonably well
• I had some mask clearing issues earlier in the course
• This instructor told me that as long as I put int the effort he would stay with me until I met the requirements for certification. I had no problems with the written exam other people had problems with the written exam but no problems with in the water skills

This instructor was one of the owners of the LDS. He spent way more time than the amount of money I spent for the course. The instructor told me much later that after that exercise he new I just needed a little more self-confidence and finishing the swim test.

That was 4 years ago and I still remember it today. I thank him for his persistence, teaching skills and patience. Without them I probably would not be diving today.

 

[Bob Vincent]

Practice you'll get it ... it seems a long way but after you do it once it becomes easier.