Is it normal to be scared before your first pool session?

[empress_maliah]

Hello,

I feel nervous about getting the bends or blowing out my eardrums on my first pool dive.
Anyone experienced this before?

 

[DevonDiver]

Absolutely.

You're entering a new and unfamiliar environment and having to suppress your natural instincts as a land-dwelling mammal. Eventually, those instincts will be replaced the developing confidence that you, your skills and your equipment will keep you absolutely safe underwater.

That confidence can take a little time to develop and is faster in some people than others. From my experience, those who feel a little more trepidation at first tend to become the strong divers in the long-run... because they are less likely to get complacent.

Stick with. Acknowledge that a little nervousness is normal. Listen carefully to your instructor and follow their guidance closely. You'll be fine and soon having a fantastic time underwater.

The only real warning I can give you is this.... scuba is an addictive experience!

 

[CamG]

Greetings Maliah and you are perfectly normal in your reaction.
We all breathed while in liquid for 9 months in the womb but since that time we have been taught to breath in a air environment non-liquid so our brains will remember but it takes some time and repetition to reteach them.
In a sense we retrain our brains that as long as we have our reg in we have air.
The remarkable thing is for some people it takes hardly no time to feel comfortable then you have those like myself who took about twice the amount of time.
Once you turn the corner it becomes magical!

As Devon advised use the heightened awareness to focus on the training and skills.
What you will see is that the jitters will inspire you to be a very acute learner which will reinforce the learning curve thus reducing your stress levels.
RELAX, RELAX, RELAX, it all goes better when you can be comfortable and focused on training.

CamG Keep Diving....Keep Training....Keep Learning!

 

[Insta-Gator]

Fear is a normal survival instinct. Not to worry, knowledge and skill will lead to confidence. You're fine. Remember what you were taught and enjoy.

 

[vladimir]

Hello,

I feel nervous about getting the bends or blowing out my eardrums on my first pool dive.
Anyone experienced this before?

Yes, sadly, it happened to me. I blew out my eardrums because of poor clearing technique and a recklessly fast descent from the surface to 3 meters. The resulting pain panicked me, I had a similarly fast ascent back to the surface, and took a type II hit. Three table-sixes later I regained feeling in my limbs and rudimentary motor skills. I still can't eat with chopsticks.

:joke:

Sorry, sometimes I can't resist a bad joke. I guess it seems like a lot can go wrong when you're first introduced to the theory and all the dire warnings. But the pool is a pretty safe place, especially for supervised swimmers. The classes should be a lot of fun; I really enjoyed mine.

You've been to the bottom of the pool before, haven't you? If not, why not try it before your class.

 

[Bubblewell]

Definitely not alone. I had my first pool session last week. I am not the most confident person generally but I managed to get myself fairly confident for the first pool session. Until I kept getting a nose full of water practicing partial mask clearing. After that I was just split off for the rest of the session with a separate trainer to get used to breathing and moving around underwater. Before practicing mask clearing some more. So next week I'll be doing my first pool session again, with a whole load of mask clearing practice in the bath at home first!

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I think that "fear" is not the usual thought before a first scuba session in the pool, but some level of anxiety is always present. This is in large part because it is a new experience, but even more, because the training must stress safety, we spend a lot of time explaining the hazards of scuba, including the effects of the substantial changes in pressure that are experienced in diving. As you have learned, those changes can cause discomfort, even injury, to our ears if we do not equalize the pressure, and those changes can cause more serious problems if we ascend to quickly, remain at a depth beyond no decompression limits, or violate other basis rules for safe diving. But take heart: As you are taught by a competent instructor, you will learn how to prevent all of those nasty things through safe diving practices. The thing about scuba is that it is serious fun- and by that I mean both really really fun AND an activity in which we need to follow the rules of safe diving. Focus on the instruction, follow safe diving practices, but don't lose the fun part of scuba. Rather than focusing on what could go wrong, focus on what you know to do to prevent those bad things you are worried about from occurring, and enjoying what is the absolutely best recreational experience of your life!
DivemasterDennis scubasnobs.com

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Hello,

I feel nervous about getting the bends or blowing out my eardrums on my first pool dive.
Anyone experienced this before?

Yes ... all it means is that you have a healthy sense of self-preservation.

Don't worry about getting the bends in a swimming pool ... you don't go deep enough or stay long enough to absorb enough excess nitrogen to let that happen.

Ears can be an issue if you forget to clear them in a timely manner ... particularly because you tend to do a lot of ups and downs during pool sessions. But it's easily prevented ... anytime you need to put yoru head below the surface, start first by pinching your nose and blowing until you feel a bit of pressure in your ears. As you descend, do it again anytime you feel pressure starting to build up ... don't wait till they begin to hurt. What I tell my students is that on the descent, keep your right hand on your nose and your left hand on your BCD inflator hose. That way you're ready to put a little bit of air in whichever one you decide needs it.

Biggest thing to remember is to have fun ... and just keep breathing, just keep breathing ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[daniel1948]

I have not had that particular experience. What I was scared of was getting water in my nose when the time came to take my mask off under water. My advice:

Tell the instructor that you are nervous. Gauge the instructor's response. If s/he seems sympathetic and understanding of your nervousness, proceed. If s/he blows you off, saying "You'll be fine," without sympathy, find another instructor.

In the water, do everything slowly. DO NOT CONTINUE YOUR DESCENT IF YOU HAVE ANY EAR PAIN AT ALL!!! Stop, or ascend (slowly) if your ears start to hurt. Then try again or get your instructor's help. Don't try to descend as fast as anyone else unless your ears are free of discomfort, and never ascend faster than your smallest bubbles. In a pool you will not absorb enough nitrogen to risk the bends AS LONG AS YOU ASCEND SLOWLY.

Do everything slowly, don't try to force your ears, pay attention to your instructor, and you should be okay.

One final word: If diving is something YOU want to do, for yourself, and you can remain relaxed, you should be able to learn. If you really don't like the idea of going under water but you are doing it to please someone else, that may be the wrong reason. Not everybody enjoys it and if you are still scared at the end of the class, it might be better to quit. But if the idea of diving thrills you, chances are you'll be fine.

Good luck.

 

[TMHeimer]

I was worried I would have trouble with my ears-- Because I snorkelled a lot for decades and had pain below about 8 feet due to wearing regular earplugs and probably never even thinking about equalizing. Found that without the plugs, equalizing ears was a breeze. I was also concerned about remembering how to put the whole unit together and remembering which skills we were going to do (3 skills for every descent to avoid surfacing between each one). With my memory, I was correct in worrying about these last two things.....But I wouldn't say I was scared before the first pool session. Other than holding your breath and bolting to the surface, there really isn't much else that could be of danger in a pool. I was a bit apprehensive about the ocean checkout dives. Although I had been around water my whole life, I didn't know exactly what to expect at 20-30 feet in the North Atlantic. This turned out to be no biggee either. So don't worry about stuff too much and just concentrate on the skills.