I walked away.

[Tessunderwater]

I'm still in my first year of diving and I've found that calming yourself down and relaxing underwater definitely helps. If your having issues with not staying level it could be some uneven weighting . A bc and a wetsuit that doesn't fit properly will also affect buoyancy and trim. I have had two moments where I got frustrated because I was going in one direction and wanted to go in the other. The more you dive and fine adjust your movements and breathing the better it does get. I would definitely encourage you to keep diving. That's one of the most valuable pieces of advice that a good friend gave me was when you have one of those dives that doesn't go right: get back in the water as soon as possible. I'm glad to hear that your determined to better your skills. The right dive instructor will help you get more comfortable and how to improve for that next ow. Hope this helps, keep diving!! :icecream:

 

[on_two_wheels]

All of these are great comments but let's get some additional information. For all I know you could be in a 3mm shorty and a bp/w diving in 75-80 degree water with 100 ft of viz.

What suit have you been using (brand, thickness, etc)?

What bcd are you using? How much lift? Weight integrated or weight belt?

What size tank are you using? AL or Steel?

You mention weight loss. What is your height/weight? Not a huge deal in and of itself but combined with the wrong gear set up, it matters.

Are you diving in salt or fresh water, cold or warm?

Other than "relax" were there any other direction given by the instructor when this FIRST was identified as an issue?

 

[knowone]

What they, all of them said. Take a few breaths and get back in.

The most difficult skill you will ever have to learn is shallow water, stability, buoyancy.

Break a leg.

 

[merxlin]

All of these are great comments but let's get some additional information. For all I know you could be in a 3mm shorty and a bp/w diving in 75-80 degree water with 100 ft of viz.

What suit have you been using (brand, thickness, etc)?

What bcd are you using? How much lift? Weight integrated or weight belt?

What size tank are you using? AL or Steel?

You mention weight loss. What is your height/weight? Not a huge deal in and of itself but combined with the wrong gear set up, it matters.

Are you diving in salt or fresh water, cold or warm?

Other than "relax" were there any other direction given by the instructor when this FIRST was identified as an issue?

To the OP: I have to agree with all of this, but especially the last question. What did your instructor say? You should not be expected to figure out how to "fix" a buoyancy issue on your own at this point.

 

[String]

Rolling to the left. You didnt have a weight in that pocket or a weight belt that had slipped slightly sideways?

The only to roll is by having the centre of mass shifted to one side (ie by a weight).

If rolling to the left then move weight to the right (pocket, tank strap or via belt) until balanced.

 

[nm7sp]

OK - thanks everyone for all the very usefull replies, I really appreciate it.

First the facts - just the facts -

I'm abour 5'7 1/2" and weigh just under 100kg (on my way down to 80kg).

I have my own mask, snorkel, wetsuit, fins, booties and gloves. The fins are Oceanic Vortex V16 split fins. These fins (associated with my tendancy to over kick in a keeness to do everyting well), may have caused a few little issues early on but I'm pretty sure that's a thing of the past. Still if people think I should use a differemt type of fin, please let me know.

The dive shop owner really wanted to get me into a size 5 wetsuit but all I could squeeze into was a size 6 (5mm), This means that the legs are slightly too long which results in an amount of "bunching" at the waist.

I'm not sure of the BCD type or model or the tank specifications (the tank seemed large, single band, and had about 210 bar in it.) The BCD was of size XL but didn't feel too large.

I ended up with 24lb of weight which started on a weigth belt but I ended up having 3lb moved into each BC pocket. This weighty belt plus my lack of a proper waist caused an annoyng problem on one shore dive where the belt slipped down during the surface swim out. This was a major annoyance but no show stopper.

The two shore dives on Saturday were in salt water about 15C but I also had identical stability issues in the indoor swimming pool. Visibility on the shore dives was about 3 metres, but less than that after we'd all been messing up the sand.

I was wearing gloves but had decided not to wear a hood or vest and I certainly didn't get cold at all.

At the deeper depths I felt that I was almost thinking myself up and down over rocks but we didn't do any skills at this depth so I'm not sure if my stability was ok there or not. All I know was that in shallow water, it sucked.

During both the confined water and open water dives the instructors/divemasters did tinker with my gear setup and weights, but I'm not sure whether this has much effect or not. They also talked to me about what I was doing wrong but were convinced (and I still believe them) that all I had to do was relax a little and I would have achieved adequite stability.

However it's bit like the ckicken and the egg and I failed to work out how to relax enough. I don't mind hitting my head against a brick wall for a time, but eventually you have to decide when the smart move is to stop. Only I can make that call and I made it early Sunday morning. Unfortunately I missed out on the boat dive which probavly would have been a great dive and at a reasonable depth, but oh well, it'll still be there next time.

It would be easy to blame gear setup/trim etc for all my problems but I am keen to learn how to compensate for bad gear/setup rather than just avoid it. I'd hate to miss a good dive opportunity due to not feeling comfortable diving some less than wonderful rental gear.

Still, having to use an XL BCD and carriying 24 lbs of weight is just asking for gear issues and that's why I'm going to loose 20kg, fit into the next smaller size BCD, carry less weight and fit better into a nice wetsuit. I'm also quite determined that I want to get super comfortable with handling my gear (both on the surface and at depth) and show that I can remain somewhat stable in the shallows before redoing the course.

This way I'll get to do the dives that I have planned and they'll be safe and enjoyable.

 

[Mike Boswell]

Hi Nick,

I think your decision to miss the last dive was probably a good one. You are pretty frustrated and just need a little break to re-group so you can focus on what you are supposed to be learning. You will also benefit a great deal by losing weight, because off-the-shelf wetsuits and BCD's are designed for more slender body shapes.

But having said all that, there is really no reason why you can't get back in now and continue your training. All you need is some help with your trim, and your instructor should be easily able to fix this.

 

[String]

Losing body weight won't make a massive difference to lead requirement.

 

[Damselfish]

I'm also quite determined that I want to get super comfortable with handling my gear (both on the surface and at depth) and show that I can remain somewhat stable in the shallows before redoing the course.

Sounds like you needed to take a break. But how are you going to get more comfortable, if you aren't in class learning, or certified so you can go dive? While losing weight and swimming etc. aren't bad things, none of that is going to solve your issues, which are some of the same issues lots of new divers have. The only thing that will is practice.

Remember that you take the class to learn to dive, the idea isn't to know how to dive before you take class. And really the class just gets you a learners permit. Just like most people aren't really very good at driving until they've had lots more practice, most people get certified but are still figuring things out for awhile.

As far as wanting to be able to deal with bad gear setup, that's a nice thought but I think you're putting the cart before the horse there. Your goal should be to learn how to set things up properly and what works for you, and basically learn in better conditions. Once you have your skills down, and perhaps you find yourself someplace where you have to rent a BC that's not quite right or they don't have weight in your preferred increments, you'll find it a nuisance but you'll be able to deal with it. You might think of diving well in crappy gear as a more advanced skill. Granted it's one many people wind up dealing with all too soon but I wouldn't make it a short term goal.

 

[DaleC]

If your weighting was equal, and your BC was centered, and your wetsuit was ok, I would say that you just overcompensate with your stronger side when trying to maintain bouyancy.

To understand this, imagine trying to stand and balance on a ball. You will have a series of contractions and relaxations in multiple muscle groups as you try to achieve equilibrium. Underwater you don't have the resistance of the ground pushing back so you will initially tend to roll away from your stronger side (which reacts faster and stronger).

I experienced this the first few times I dove with a pony bottle. Initially, I couldn't understand why I kept turning circles on the surface (my stronger right leg was spinning me to the left). Rather than redistibuting weights to compensate I just dove a bit more till my body internalized the difference and compensated on its own.

As Devon diver suggested diving itself is the best cure for diving issues of this sort.

Good luck with your future diving plans.