How do you hover?

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alex_can_dive

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Location
Massachusetts
# of dives
25 - 49
How exactly do you stay in the same position (same depth) without going up/down or forward/back?
It seems if I inhale, I'll go up, then when I exhale I'll sink back down.
So how exactly is it possible for one to stay at the same depth? :idk:

Eg., in this position:
Screen Shot 2021-07-18 at 11.02.57 PM.png
 
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It depends on your depth. If you are super shallow where the pressure gradient is much larger than deeper, you will go up and down. The deeper you go, the less vertical movement.

For going "forward/back", that would be no sculling. If you are trying to compensate for your head or feet dropping, then it is a matter of weight compensation.

You might be interested in the link in my signature to "Teaching Neutrally buoyant and trimmed"
 
This sounds bad but it is the truth. Pratice, pratice, pratice and did I mention pratice.

As you get more comfortable in the water you will learn bouyancy control with lungs. It takes time and pratice.

For now dive, get more comfortable work on the skills.
 
If you are properly weighted so that your breathing is the primary influence on your buoyancy, then, yes, you will go up a little when you inhale and down a little when you exhale. Note the phrase "a little." Gentle breathing will make that little barely noticeable.

Do that as a brand new diver and you are off to a great start.
 
If you have got your buoyancy to where it is second nature and your diving weights are in the correct position so that you can easily go horizontal to vertical and back without effort then you find hovering easy. As others wrote you can control your depth using your lungs.

For the horizontal think of yourself as being the plank on a seesaw. You need to find your own center of gravity with your kit on. Do that by changing the position of your weights and tank and other gear like camera rig etc. Get to that horizontal position. Then exhale and wait so you slowly descend. Then breath in normally and you should stop descending and may even ascend. IT takes time it's not like a video game where everything is in an instant.

I like to hover both horizontally if I want to look down below. If I am in a fast drift dive I may swim 15m away from a reef wall and be in a vertical position as I can easily see more that way. Or as in this video at the end of a dive I am in my sitting position so I can easily see all the other divers in my group.

 
Mostly confirming what everyone else said:

  • Proper weighting helps a lot.
  • Practice helps a lot. Specifically: Practice being able to go up, down, or stay-neutral with breath alone. It helps to have a reference-point nearby. Try to avoid any finning.
  • Wait slightly before adding or subtracting air to your BC. Try to be neutral with just your breath, and then depending on whether your lung is mostly full or empty, then add or subtract a little.
  • There are "neutral buoyancy" or "perfect buoyancy" classes you can take.
  • Proper horizontal trim, including weights being in the right place can help. Try not finning, and see how your trim changes. Then depending on that, you might want to move your weights.
  • Changes in ascent/descent rate aren't that instant. Slow-ish inhale and exhale. Observe your ascent and descent rates at 20% lung capacity, 50% capacity, and 80% capacity. Practice breathing, while at each capacity. In other words, you might go slightly above or below 80% capacity, but mostly maintain about 80%.
 
This sounds bad but it is the truth. Pratice, pratice, pratice and did I mention pratice.

As you get more comfortable in the water you will learn bouyancy control with lungs. It takes time and pratice.

For now dive, get more comfortable work on the skills.
Did you mention practice?

The more you practice, the easier it gets.

The really important thing is to make sure that you find someone who really cares about buoyancy, finning and trim. This is more common in the technical diving community than your typical open water divers/instructors.

Practice. Once perfected it impresses all the girl beings (maybe not) but it really makes your diving so so so so much easier.
 
The practice thing can be tough if you're in a 'non dive location' - I live in Central Europe, so no sea and very few diving locations (closest is 2h) - but in order to build this ability you're looking at like... 50+ 'working on skills' dives. As an example of how much practice is good, despite having dived for like 15 years, a few years ago I entered the tech world, and quickly saw a huge difference between how I dived, and how my instructor does. In the last 2 years I have travelled to that particular lake maybe 50 times, or approximately once every two weeks on average. Sometimes for 3 dives in a day, sometimes camping for a week and diving each day. Dive-wise? V boring location. Some fish, some platforms, a car or two, 13m max depth. Training location wise? Excellent. 4e tank fills, free camping, great company. I'm now absolutely confident in buoyancy and skills for the 'real' dive trips I go on, whether ocean or Cave, because I know how well ingrained they are. The best recommendation if you don't have access to somewhere all the time is to plan a week somewhere with very cheap air fills/shore access, ignore the idea of 'fun diving' during that week, find a DM or instructor to coach you, and practice specifically over and over again the things that you want to get right. You'll be muuuuch happier for it, and will then be able to out dive most 'holiday only' divers on boats in tourist places, while looking sleek in the water
 
IMO, it’s all about timing. You’ll need to begin your exhale before you actually start to rise in the water - and begin your inhale before you begin to sink. It may seem counterintuitive. And practice is the only way to get a feel for the timing. Good luck!
 
Given right weighting, It's about breath control. Less change of volume in your lungs means less movement. It takes a lot of underwater comfort to do this right, but with enough practice even in really shallow water possible. I learned right breathing during running practice and use it during diving too. It almost like breathing as taught in Yoga. Controlled but not (too) deep.
 
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