Critique my diving

[phoenix31tt]

Hi all,

Those of you that have read my threads/posts before know that I do not have access to a mentor or instructor that can help me master the scuba diving concepts that I'm interested in (HOG setups, horizontal trim, efficient propulsion techniques etc etc)...

That being said I have quickly stitched together some videos my wife shot of me diving in Tobago last month... its not the best video in the world but i'd appreciate it if you guys could take a look and point out what you think i should focus on/do better and any general advice as it relates to my diving..

Please not that all dives were in 1.5kt of current or more (even the wreck), and dont bash me for the hanging light lol i already began correcting that situation on the subsequent dives (i just wasnt taking the time to properly re-stow it after use).. also on these dives i was diving heavy as i didnt want to adjust weights and introduce new gear (long hoses etc) at the same time

Watch in HD:
Tobago diving - YouTube

and please be brutally honest.. i will take nothing personally.. i'm just trying to improve my diving

 

[PfcAJ]

You look pretty good bud. The 1 thing that caught my eye more than anything else is that SPG. Its hanngin low! Slide that d-ring back and tie the bolt snap lower. Also, if you slide that trim weight pouch closer to your backplate it might help with your rotational stability.

Keep it up!

 

[Imla]

You need to tighten those a$$-muscles, and pay special attention to your right leg, which is sagging.
You also tend to have a bit of what my fundy-instructor would call a "lazy-frog". Get the frog less lazy, and enjoy the gliding faze more.

 

[00wabbit]

I took intro to tech and something I liked after each dive was when the instructor asked us "how do you think you did?" before he told us his thoughts.
I don't have the skill level to comment on your diving but I would like to hear "How do you think you are doing?" "What do you think you need to work on after watching the video yourself?"

 

[phoenix31tt]

"How do you think you are doing?" "What do you think you need to work on after watching the video yourself?"

hmm good question... after watching the video i noticed the following:

1. low right leg (i don't feel that atall in the water).. but i didn't really know how to fix it.. imla provided a suggestion which i will certainly do next dive..

2. I look like i'm rotated slightly to the right from those vids.. PfcAJ provided a suggestion to help with that to...

other than that honestly i feel good... but you know how it goes... everybody thinks they have it down until somebody else points stuff out to them.. for instance i thought my frog kick was great... imla pointed out that i have a lazy frog.. which i will attempt to address moving forward...

thanks for the suggestions keep them coming

 

[Imla]

You might want to try to control the bubble in your wing as well. If you lean over to your left, you can move some of that air over to the right side. this may help with the overall balancebit.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Matthias, I agree with everyone above and their suggestions. One thing I would also look at is working on your frog kick in the pool. Without scuba gear on. Try to get as close to the bottom as you can and relax. Pay attention to how your legs feel and if the right one makes contact with the bottom. relax and tighten your glutes. I know you were in current but you might also try using smaller strokes.

Get the technique down and you'll be able to easily translate that into larger motions for power and speed with little effort. This is what I have my snorkeling and skin diving students do. These are ages 7 and up and they start out needing ten to twelve kicks to get across the pool. It doesn't take long for the kick and glide to translate into half that many to cover the same distance in the same amount of time.

You do look like you have spent some serious time and effort and it shows. Keep it up and hopefully if I make it down that way you can take me to see that wreck.

 

[phoenix31tt]

You might want to try to control the bubble in your wing as well. If you lean over to your left, you can move some of that air over to the right side. this may help with the overall balancebit.

is this something i would need to be checking on during the dive? is there someway while diving to know, or maybe it is something i should just feel?

I know you were in current but you might also try using smaller strokes.

hey Jim, when you say smaller strokes.. do you mean on the power stroke i should straighten my knees less? Or dont open my legs as wide.. or both?

Sadly i dont have ready access to a pool anymore but the next time I'm in one i will definitely try it out (worse case i will do it in a relatively calm bay...

thanks i definitely spend lots of time practicing (even on fun dives)..

and most definitely @ the wreck

 

[DivemasterDennis]

My focus was on your excellen buoyancy and trim control and a positive. As a negative, both your frog kick and flutter kicks are impaired by a pronounced knee bend. Each uses a slight knee bend as part of the motion, but not nearly the 90 degrees you maintain nearly all the time. Knees. Extend them, make your self longer, and all will fall into place.
DivemasterDennis

 

[TSandM]

The "lazy" left foot is a common problem, and that will come with practice and consciousness of the issue. The other thing I would comment on, because I just got it corrected on ME, is that you are separating the legs a lot during the loading phase of the frog kick. You can separate the fins in two ways -- by spreading the legs, or by externally rotating the thigh. If you use the latter, you will not tend to catch water as much with your fins during the loading phase, so you won't tend to break yourself. You'll also find that, as you bring the fins together and add a bit of knee extension, you'll have significantly more power. It ends up being almost a circular feeling -- and I laugh as I say that, because when I finally mastered the back kick, it was by realizing that it really had a circular feel to it. Although everybody says the back kick is a reverse frog kick, it never occurred to me that the frog kick ought to have the same feeling, but it does!

I really enjoyed seeing you roll over on your back and look up -- one of the things I deplore about people who get focused on skills is that they become so focused on "perfect" that they forget to enjoy the three-dimensional environment they're in. They lose the joy. I do somersaults in the pool with our OW students -- and roll over on my back and look at the ripples on the surface -- because the weightlessness is part of the fun of being a diver!