How long to master buoyancy?

[TexasKaren68]

For those of you who've been diving for a while now, how many dives did you do before you felt 100% in control of your buoyancy?

I finished my pool dives today. At one point during the class, we (three students) were kneeling on the bottom of the pool getting ready to perform a skill. Our instructor came swooping down from above, went in between two of us without touching either of us (and we were only about three feet apart) and came to a halt about four inches from the bottom of the pool, turning himself to face us without touching the bottom or sides and then just hovered in front of us. I was completely awestruck

I want to be able to do that

I know I'm probably overweighted. I was wearing 16 pounds in freshwater (I weigh about 160 and was wearing a 3mm shorty) and if I let all the air out of my BC I sank like a stone. However, with less weight I couldn't stay on the bottom. I was awful at doing the fin pivot and trying to hover. My normal above water breathing is taking very deep slow breaths and then long slow exhales. Maybe I should breathe a little shallower under water but it feels very unnatural. When I was trying to hover, I would put a little air in my BC to get me off the bottom but then when I took my usual deep breath I'd go hurtling towards the surface and letting air back out of the BC was the only way to stop the ascent. I know I'm new but I'm worried that I'll just never "get it". :depressed:

 

[Country Diver]

You were over-weighted for sure...

Up here I dive drysuit and doubles...but when I get a chance to go south and dive a single tank, I bring my 6 lb steel back plate and single wing, and I might only add a one pound weight with a 3/2 mm full wetsuit with an aluminum 80. I weigh about the same as you. I get some strange looks from some of the DM's when I say...I don't need any weight, or I say...oh half pound or one pound....then I have to explain that I have 6 lbs built into the set up.

When many open water classes are taught, some instructors like to slightly overweight their students in the pool so that they can stay and learn the skill. Gradually they drop the weight or fine tune it to match the suit you will wear. My niece took her open waters when she was 14 and they did put a little extra to get the skills down, but then they focused on proper finning techniques and dropping that weight. I had extra gear and had her in a back plate and wing that made her more comfortable and took 6 lbs off the weight belt, which she hated around her waist. Some people will now pipe up and argue that you need to be able to ditch weight....fair enough, but diving a balanced rig is a starting point...and when done correctly, you will be able to swim it up without any gas in your BCD.

As for breathing...don't add any gas to your BCD and just breathe...see what your range is with just breathing...you might be surprised...you will find that you will have to add more gas when you are overweighted and it is very hard to negotiate this with your breathing at the same time... if you drop some weight and just do the breathing....find your range, then add accordingly. You will find it gets easier with time.

 

[g1138]

Definitely overweighted, getting rid of some now will make you feel uneasy and out of control. Being neutral in the water is an uncomfortable/unnatural feeling for those just starting. With more dives you'll get more comfortable being under the water, and then getting rid of those extra pounds won't make you feel like you can't stay down.

As for mastering buoyancy, it'll come with time. I was certified in Feb 2010 and have been diving constantly, sometimes doing repetitive dives daily for school. I have 73 dives now and finally feel in control of my buoyancy.

My friend had 108 dives within a year and passed GUE Fundies. The requirements to pass that class means you have to do basic and adv skills while hovering horizontal in a 3 foot window (ie. you can go to 31ft, 29ft, and 30 ft; beyond that and you fail the skill. :shocked2

Another friend is in the process of taking Fundies and he only has around 30-40 dives (certified December 2010), I would say he's on track to pass. He dove mainly with the above friend, who also mentored him.


On the other side of the spectrum I have a friend who was certified December 2009 and has under 60 dives......he tends to smack you in the face when he's "hovering" stationary.



In truth, how long it takes you to master buoyancy depends on how often you dive and how often you practice to learn something during your dive.

 

[g1138]

Forgot to mention
Learning buoyancy is an exponential learning process if you're constantly diving. Once you start to get it, it becomes easier and easier drastically.
Take a few weeks off and you kinda have to warm up again, put more effort and concentration into it to get back into the groove of things.

 

[Country Diver]

On the other side of the spectrum I have a friend who was certified December 2009 and has under 60 dives......he tends to smack you in the face when he's "hovering" stationary.

Lol! That made me laugh....ty .

I have a friend who comes off all knowing...and has to satellite around b/c he can't stop and stay in one spot "hovering". He did this during a dive with my niece and I and she was hovering in 15 ft of water, first dive in a dry-suit, and was horizontal writing back and forth in my wet-notes discussing where she wanted to go. After the dive he asked her how long she had been diving...and she said..."oh I just finished my open waters a couple weekends ago". They taught her how to frog kick, use a back-plate and wing and keep proper trim. I would fine tune her with regards to her knees, and teaching her how to use the dry-suit.

I wasn't going to mention taking the Fundies course right away (thought about it), but it is true...taking that course has changed a lot of people. Taking it early has it's advantages...you don't have to work as hard to break bad habits. You will become more comfortable in the water though.

 

[g1138]

Lol! That made me laugh....ty .

I have a friend who comes off all knowing...and has to satellite around b/c he can't stop and stay in one spot "hovering". He did this during a dive with my niece and I and she was hovering in 15 ft of water, first dive in a dry-suit, and was horizontal writing back and forth in my wet-notes discussing where she wanted to go. After the dive he asked her how long she had been diving...and she said..."oh I just finished my open waters a couple weekends ago". They taught her how to frog kick, use a back-plate and wing and keep proper trim. I would fine tune her with regards to her knees, and teaching her how to use the dry-suit.

I wasn't going to mention taking the Fundies course right away (thought about it), but it is true...taking that course has changed a lot of people. Taking it early has it's advantages...you don't have to work as hard to break bad habits. You will become more comfortable in the water though.

JEALOUS!
I wish my basic class was like that
I've definitely have experienced some orbiting buddies. Thankfully, I've become more humble and am less inclined to mess with them by hovering while I "take 5mins to synch my wet belt"

 

[TSandM]

TexasKaren, read the link to the journal of my open water class that's in my sig line -- I was JUST like you. No, I was almost certainly worse. My early dive career involved uncontrolled ascents or bumping off the bottom. I didn't hold a safety stop until my 50th dive. Buoyancy control was one of those things other people had . . .

Today, I could swoop down just as you describe your instructor doing, and stop, and even back up. I can work my way through a cave with only a few inches of clearance above and below me. But you know what? I still wouldn't say I have "mastered" buoyancy. It's something every good diver continues to work on through his whole career, because it can always be more stable and more effortless.

And it is SO totally worth it . . . Keep struggling! You WILL get it. If I could, anybody can.

 

[Country Diver]

He joined in on another dive with us...just to get in the water, which was fine. We were practicing skills for Tech 1 a few years ago, and there was our team of 3 and a couple other friends that were just out for a tour dive as one was getting use to diving doubles. The same diver as mentioned earlier was with us...we didn't move, but he saw the other team swim by and joined up with them. When he wasn't there with us anymore, we figured that he forgot that we weren't moving around, and we were still there, but he thought that we were swimming. He figured out that he wasn't with us anymore then after the dive said to us...why did you leave me.

~ Hijack over ~

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Buoyancy is one of those things that some will get faster than others but as TS&M said "mastering" it would indicate that you never lose control of it and that is just not reality. Even the best divers have their days when some little niggle will throw a wrench into things. Starting to achieve "some" control and comfort should begin the first night on scuba. It begins with a proper weight check and continuing those shecks throughout the class. By the time my students hit OW they have done at least 6. They have also adjusted the amount they use at least once and maybe more depending on their comfort level.

By the end of the first session they are doing basic skills horizontal and in midwater with perhaps just fin tips on the pool slope. Most are experimenting with breath control by session three and actively using it for the remaining 3-4 sessions. We do 8 pool sessions with 7 on scuba. But other instructors here (on Scubaboard) have their students doing it without so many sessions. Our class contains many skills not included in other programs which requires the increased amount of sessions. This gives them more chance to practice at the end of each one. This results in much better control when we hit open water. As a result no skills are done kneeling on checkouts but during swims or hovering. There is no reason that this cannot be done with nearly every new diver if the instructor will take the time and use the methods to achieve it.

End result is that feeling of being in control, neutral, able to move at will with a flick of a fin, or change in breathing pattern comes much quicker.

 

[Saudi-Diver]

Mastering Buoyancy. I don't think you ever do. I have hundreds and hundreds of dives under my belt and pride myself on being able to swoop around effortlessly and position myself within an inch of where I want to be. Yesterday I was diving in Loch Long (in a Dry Suit) fining along just above the silty bottom at 25m watching the squat Lobsters in there burrows. I got a touch of Cramp in my calf (I haven't been diving for about 4 weeks). During the subsequent Cramp relieving maneuvers I managed to loose control of my buoyancy and crash in to the very silty bottom. Its a skill your constantly working on. I like to think your constantly learning in your diving career.