I wonder if anyone can give me some advice!

[ruready7]

I was doing my open water check out dives couple days ago. It came to the part where I had to flood mask and clear. Did the partial no problem. Then had to flood completely. After flooding when I tried to clear...for some reason I was blowing out mouth instead of nose. I was wondering if it was because of cold water on face (water temp 56). It took me several tries to clear. I was starting to panic and wanted to ascend to the surface. I reminding myself that I had reg in and could breathe. So I took several breaths calmed down and cleared. Received and gave OK sign and we continued on our exploration. My mask kept flooding and while we diving was cleared it without a problem. After surfacing my instructor said proud that I didnt bolt to the surface when having probs and he noticed me clearing mask on own while swimming and said looks like you are having no prob. The next day went back for the 3rd and 4th dives. On 3rd dive had to flood and clear and I had probs again. Same thing kept wanting to blow out thru mouth not nose. I even did the remove replaced and clear mask couple of times in shallower water. First attempt wasnt that good...did it but took long time. Second time went great. Instructor watching me and clapped his hands. We surfaced and he said whatever you were doing worked. Prob is I dont remember what I did. Any help on this would be grateful. How can I get myself to blow out thru nose and not mouth when clearing?

BTW only had the underwater nav and completely remove and clear mask to get my cert. On the last dive I couldnt get my ears to clear so I had to abort it but hey there is always next week.

Thanks in advance to anyone with helpful info!!!

 

[ToddK]

I think just keep calm when you are doing it. Having cold water surrounding your face with the mask off is definitely a foreign feeling, and it take a little time to adapt. It might help to review a mental checklist prior to pulling the mask off, when you aren't stressed, and part of the checklist can be "exhale through the nose". It sounds like you are doing the right things, it probably will just take a little while to get it down. Keep at it! -Todd.

 

[stisinai]

The cold water against your face can definitely cause a stressful situation. One thing that I have found to help is before you descend, remove your mask and get your face used to the water temp at the surface. It helps take the shock away when you go to clear it underwater.

Don't give up! You'll get it!
Steve

 

[lowery399]

I agree with ToddK. Sounds like it is just a mental thing you will have to concentrate on. You did better than me cause I bolted when i did my check off. I'm still around though so just keep at it and you'll get used to it.

 

[Melicertes]

When you are stressed, and submerging your face in cold water is a stress, your instinct kicks in and it is to breathe through your mouth. Think about it, when you get a fright or you run a short distance, your brain tells your body to breathe through your mouth because that's where it is going to get the most amount of air in order to supply the body with oxygen so you can generate energy and deal with the perceived threat you are facing. It's a second nature kind of thing. Some would call it a habit, and habits can be created.

So all you need to do is practice breathing through your nose when clearing your mask until it becomes so habitual that you don't have to think about it anymore. Take your mask and snorkel, get into the shallow end of the pool and practice mask remove and replace over and over and over and...you get the idea...until you can virtually do it asleep.

You are not the first student that's run into this believe me. It just takes practice to get the hang of it. I would have expected your instructor to drill this into you though instead of just saying well, whatever you did it worked, just keep doing that. :11:

Also before you dive, as was mentioned before, put your mask on, put your mug in the water and practice a couple of times breathing in through the snorkel and out through the nose. Don't worry about the mask fogging up yet, you're just getting the feeling going so your brain knows what it should feel like. When you're confident you got it just defog your mask as per usual and go dive.

[edit: Oh and well done for staying calm and not bolting - that's a good start!)

 

[don Francisco]

I concur with Melicertes. Normally you never think about breathing. Air is routed through the nose or mouth according to non-conscious programming, which is wired for mouth breathing under stress. When running ir cycling in the winter I need to focus on nose breathing to the extent possible to pre-warm the air before it hits the lungs. If I don't focus it'll all be mouth breathing which quickly becomes irritating.

With repetition over time you'll essentially re-program your brain & be able to clear your mask by exhaling through the nose without any conscious effort.

You already demonstrated the mind-over-reflex control by thinking it through the first time, from now on it just gets easier.

 

[imasinker]

I had the same problem at first, as said earlier your programmed when stressed to breath out your mouth. I mentally prepared myself when I had to do it by just taking a deep breath and then pulling the mask off. Water went in my nose wich Is what I think freaks people as well as the cold water on the face,because the sensation and that tickel. When It came to putting the mask on I again took a deep breath and put the mask on, exhaled, still filled with water I signaled my instructor 1 sec hand motion and took another deep breath. I then put my tongue to the roof of my mouth and tilted my head back and blew air out my nose. The masked cleared. One thing my instructor said in the pool, this isin't a race, theres no time limit, do these excercises at your own pace at your own comfort. I agree once you do it a few times you'll get the hang of It. may sound silly, but there is that factor of being watched too. Under pressure to do the right thing when being tested can make it a little tense. I say maybe thats why you were clearing your mask ok the day prior at your own pace with out the added I am being watched.

You'll be fine

Happy diving

 

[ruready7]

I had the same problem at first, as said earlier your programmed when stressed to breath out your mouth. I mentally prepared myself when I had to do it by just taking a deep breath and then pulling the mask off. Water went in my nose wich Is what I think freaks people as well as the cold water on the face,because the sensation and that tickel. When It came to putting the mask on I again took a deep breath and put the mask on, exhaled, still filled with water I signaled my instructor 1 sec hand motion and took another deep breath. I then put my tongue to the roof of my mouth and tilted my head back and blew air out my nose. The masked cleared. One thing my instructor said in the pool, this isin't a race, theres no time limit, do these excercises at your own pace at your own comfort. I agree once you do it a few times you'll get the hang of It. may sound silly, but there is that factor of being watched too. Under pressure to do the right thing when being tested can make it a little tense. I say maybe thats why you were clearing your mask ok the day prior at your own pace with out the added I am being watched.

You'll be fine

Happy diving

Now that you mention it, it seems like I did put my tongue on the roof of my mouth when I got it to clear. My instructor said that at one point but trying to remember everything said is hard (my brain dont work so well....lol).

 

[Melicertes]

That's why these skills should be practiced until you do not need to actively think about them anymore. When you have an emergency situation underwater you should be able to rely on your brain's autopilot to deal with these skills so you can consciously focus more on dealing with whatever might be causing the problem - so you can solve it.

I think this is often grossly under emphasized in many open water training courses these days because it means you have to spend more time in the pool and work at things until it sticks - then you gotta work it some more (at least that's what mastering a skill means to me IMHO). When courses are run simply to push as many students through the c-card mill as possible you run the risk of never really solidifying these skills. It seems that just because the student was lucky enough to get it right one or two times under controlled conditions many instructors are only too happy to check off that skill from their tick sheets.

Practice. Practice. Practice.

 

[gypsyjim]

That's why these skills should be practiced until you do not need to actively think about them anymore. When you have an emergency situation underwater you should be able to rely on your brain's autopilot to deal with these skills so you can consciously focus more on dealing with whatever might be causing the problem - so you can solve it.

Practice. Practice. Practice.

Amen. Had my kids practice removing and clearing their masks in the pool while snorkeling, so it became second nature before they ever started scuba training. I found that having them practice such a skill all by itself, instead of during the stress of learning many other skills made it second nature very quickly.