As a new diver, I have been working to improve trim and bouyancy control. I feel fairly confident in my ability to hold trim and depth, although with any task loading I can break trim and that is currently what I am working. For instance, staying fixed during a mask removal and replacement. The other issue is that if I become completely motionless I will slowly roll or break trim. Most recently I was slowly rolling to the left and back.
However, when I came back from my trip I started watching videos closely, and I notice that in almost all cases the diver is not completely motionless, but is slowly moving his/her fins back and forth. Often its small and just using the ankles, but there is a this more or less constant back and forth motion that helps maintain balance. I have watched GUE videos, ISE videos, random videos, etc.
So I have a few questions:
1. What is a realistic goal for holding trim/position with minimal movement? I assume no use of hands/arms, and very minor fin movements.
2. Is there a specific pattern or style for this small fin movement I see. In other words, is it specifically taught, or do divers just learn to do it unconsciously to maintain trim.
3. If one completely stops all movement, how long is a normal time before rolling/tilting occurs and trim breaks down.
I can tell you that I took GUE Primer and then Fundamentals almost a year later, not even earning a Rec pass until I returned a few months later after spending 10 hours on the bottom of a pool with my buddy (wife) trying to get that hover down. Only then was I able to meet (probably just barely) GUE Recreational standards (and that's not even the more stringent Tech standard). The first time I tried hovering, in the Primer class, I had exactly the experience you describe: rolling, pitching, etc. I remember that roll very well: It would start out slow, and before I could correct it, I would be out of control, and I would be on my side or even upside down. I remember the forward pitch, too, which was seemingly precipitated by me getting into good horizontal trim: Started out slow, then ... face plant!
But it was simply a matter of practice. "Like learning to ride a bicycle," as my GUE instructor reassured me. There is an element of balance when one is trying to hover in shallow water, i.e., with no air in the wing. There's a big inverted "keel" on your back in the form of a tank, trying to roll you over!
Most people find just remaining motionless one of the most difficult skills. My buddy and I spent most of those 10 hours just facing each other, in trim, on the bottom of the pool--punctuated by S-drills and a few frog kicks, but really, the majority of time we spent just hovering there doing almost nothing. I kept a log of how the practice sessions progressed. "Today, we finally managed not to roll to one side when not task loaded, but when we tried adding an S-drill, it all went to pieces." That's how the log went.
So, to address your specific questions, after a while, the "realistic goal" becomes, well, hovering--just as you see in those videos! Eventually, with practice, you will look just like those people. You will make small fin movements (micro-finning, I call it) to stabilize yourself, but it will become innate--you won't have to think about it. As to your third question, once you figure out how to stabilize yourself continuously, through balance and micro-finning, you will NOT start rolling and pitching at all.
Don't sweat it. Again, it is simply a matter of practice. If you tell me you have spent 10 hours on the bottom of a pool, lake, spring run, etc., trying to hover and still can't get it, then I might raise an eyebrow. But from what you describe, your experience is completely normal.
I'm currently trying to learn to do the same things in double tanks and drysuit, and sure enough, there was the same sort of learning curve--a little less steep, but there I was, trying not to pitch forward or backward. But this time, I kept in mind that I had conquered this stuff in single-tank configuration, and I knew I could do it in doubles and drysuit.
