How long should you practice buoyancy per dive without burning out

[Tigerpaw]

i am sure someone has said this already but.....you are naturally already "practicing" your buoyancy on every dive you do. same goes for your basic kicks as well. the only kick you may want to set aside specific time for might be if you are trying to learn how to move backwards. this can def take some time.

I'll be practicing frog kicks and back kicks

 

[Tigerpaw]

I am a little crazy so when I was really trying to practices id do 6 45min dives in a day to around 30 feet and I spend 2 of them just holding position. Now that I am tec diving I will do 1 solid 2-3h dive holding position. You should also be practicing all skills as you do it tell you master them. IE send up smb or remove replace mask with only 1f in depth change that sort of stuff.

Thank you for your input!

 

[Tigerpaw]

Coming to the surface between short dives, gives you practice on managing ascent and descents. I see no reason why you should hesitate to perform multiple dives on one tank if you are shallow and it is a reasonable number. It can be an issue with ear equalization for some people, so be cautious.

Practicing managing your buoyancy while doing an ascent/descent with no physical reference can be challenging and will be more beneficial than just hanging at one fixed depth. Don't be discouraged by negative comments, if your goal is to practice your skills.

Thank you so much for the advice!

 

[MichaelMc]

Commonly grouped with buoyancy and propulsion is also trim, or, more specifically, weight distribution. You might get several one pound weights and some weight pockets for your tank cam bands. Then shift weights between hip pockets and tank pockets until the mass of you+gear+weights is balanced up and down your body around your center of volume/buoyancy in the water. Like a playground seesaw. When a seesaw has equal weight an each side of the fulcrum it can rest at any angle. Having a balanced weight distribution should simplify your buoyancy work by making it much easier for your legs and kicks to be level with your body and thus not move you up or down in the water, just forward.

With some BCs you can also add pockets to the top or back of the shoulder straps.

 

[Tigerpaw]

• 
  
• With Scuba specifically, I separate my fun-dives from my practice-dives. With my practice dives, I usually pick a gentle-sloping shore, little current or waves, nobody's waiting for me, I have hours at my disposal, and I take my time.

Thanks, yes I'm setting aside time for this to be practice dives. When I'm in the ocean I'll be using the techniques but I'd rather that time be for fun. I'm not burned out with diving, probably used the wrong words, I was asking what's the best way to do these practice dives so I can get the most out of it. Thanks again.

 

[Wibble]

When learning new skills, frustration can kick in. That’s counterproductive and doesn’t help achieve the goal. The good news is you’ve quite a few skills to master, all need lots of practice.

The hard skills are buoyancy and backfinning. Buoyancy is hard as you need to learn how it feels and predict when to dump or when to exhale. Add to that a drysuit (if applicable) and you’ve double trouble as it were. The frustration is learning the subtle cues and learning how much to dump or inflate.

Learning to be relatively stable in the water needs time with some form of datum, a wall or platform edge is good. Face that marker and try to be still without holding on. 10 minutes is about it before frustration sets in. Then swim off and practice something else — or maybe just dive for a bit.

The toughest buoyancy issue is changing depth. You’re going from stable, descending/ascending then back to stable. If you’re shallow, then move up/down 3 feet and hold that stable position for 1min, then ascend/descend 3ft and repeat.

At some point you’ll be doing a full ascent from the bottom which needs to be under control. That’s a more difficult skill as you need time to learn but you can only do a limited number of ascents before your ears start to block. Deeper ascents should be limited to a very few a day.

Everyone struggles to master backfinning. It’s just time and patience.

Frog kick, flutter kick (from the bent knees) and helicopter turns as all relatively straightforward. Just practice these on every dive.

Some places have a buoyancy assault course — hoops, bars, hurdles, turns, etc. they’re great fun to play on.

Have fun and don’t get upset when it doesn’t work. You’ll find it’ll be easier when you’ve slept on it.

 

[lermontov]

make up some laminated cards with tasks on one side an solutions on the other -use them randomly, if you do a non practice dive you can just spend 5- 10 mim at the end of the dive to do more practice. This is what you will get thrown at you later by an instructor when/if you go down the tech route

 

[admikar]

Only one post mentioned having a buddy to observe and comment on your progress. Even with video, if it's only you, you don't know what you don't know. What looks fine to you or a progress, might not be when someone with more experience examines it. So, if you record videos, try to find some to look over them, or post them here and we'll judge you(and we WILL judge you).
There is nothing wrong with striving to be the best diver that you can be, just don't overdo it and drop out.

 

[Tigerpaw]

When learning new skills, frustration can kick in. That’s counterproductive and doesn’t help achieve the goal. The good news is you’ve quite a few skills to master, all need lots of practice.

The hard skills are buoyancy and backfinning. Buoyancy is hard as you need to learn how it feels and predict when to dump or when to exhale. Add to that a drysuit (if applicable) and you’ve double trouble as it were. The frustration is learning the subtle cues and learning how much to dump or inflate.

Learning to be relatively stable in the water needs time with some form of datum, a wall or platform edge is good. Face that marker and try to be still without holding on. 10 minutes is about it before frustration sets in. Then swim off and practice something else — or maybe just dive for a bit.

The toughest buoyancy issue is changing depth. You’re going from stable, descending/ascending then back to stable. If you’re shallow, then move up/down 3 feet and hold that stable position for 1min, then ascend/descend 3ft and repeat.

At some point you’ll be doing a full ascent from the bottom which needs to be under control. That’s a more difficult skill as you need time to learn but you can only do a limited number of ascents before your ears start to block. Deeper ascents should be limited to a very few a day.

Everyone struggles to master backfinning. It’s just time and patience.

Frog kick, flutter kick (from the bent knees) and helicopter turns as all relatively straightforward. Just practice these on every dive.

Some places have a buoyancy assault course — hoops, bars, hurdles, turns, etc. they’re great fun to play on.

Have fun and don’t get upset when it doesn’t work. You’ll find it’ll be easier when you’ve slept on it.

Thank you for the advice, it is very helpful.

 

[Tigerpaw]

Only one post mentioned having a buddy to observe and comment on your progress. Even with video, if it's only you, you don't know what you don't know. What looks fine to you or a progress, might not be when someone with more experience examines it. So, if you record videos, try to find some to look over them, or post them here and we'll judge you(and we WILL judge you).
There is nothing wrong with striving to be the best diver that you can be, just don't overdo it and drop out.

Thank you