why is this instructor teaching regulator recovery in the deep end??Doing this before you can repeatedly recover and clear a regulator effortlessly in the shallow end is foolish and I think may border on dangerous.
removing regulator skill
- Thread starter me_diver
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Agree with Oly here. I am curious as to just how much time you are actually spending in the pool. And if it is sufficient to allow you a real degree of comfort with the skills. You need to remember that this instructor IS working for you. You are paying for a class. You employ him/her regardless of what the shop or the instructor may say. As such you have a responsibility to say to them that you do not feel you are getting the level of instruction you require. Without getting into standards and practices of different agencies it is partly the students responsibility to see that they are getting enough time and attention. Did you sign a learning agreement that spells out the responsibilities of the instructor as well as the student. I have all my students sign one.
It states that basically I am responsible for providing the training necessary to see that the student is fully capable at the end of the process to plan, execute, and safely return from a dive with a buddy of equal skill or experience. In conditions equal to or better than what the training was carried out in. The student is responsible for letting me know at any time if they are having issues, are unsure of the lesson, or feel they need more time. I may decide that they need more time with a skill or classroom subject before I will allow them to continue. If either of these is the case then I do that at no extra charge. As long as the student is trying I will not give up on them. There are some people who are not cut out to be divers. But this is their decision most times. Unless it is really obvious like not being able to swim at all, have medical issues, real fear of the water, etc. If this is the case then they need to resolve these before going on.
You sound like you really want to do this. But that there are some areas where a little more patience and time will be required of everyone. Insist that you get it.
It states that basically I am responsible for providing the training necessary to see that the student is fully capable at the end of the process to plan, execute, and safely return from a dive with a buddy of equal skill or experience. In conditions equal to or better than what the training was carried out in. The student is responsible for letting me know at any time if they are having issues, are unsure of the lesson, or feel they need more time. I may decide that they need more time with a skill or classroom subject before I will allow them to continue. If either of these is the case then I do that at no extra charge. As long as the student is trying I will not give up on them. There are some people who are not cut out to be divers. But this is their decision most times. Unless it is really obvious like not being able to swim at all, have medical issues, real fear of the water, etc. If this is the case then they need to resolve these before going on.
You sound like you really want to do this. But that there are some areas where a little more patience and time will be required of everyone. Insist that you get it.
CamG
Contributor
Greeting me_diver and do not give up! Just get determined to conquer this skill!
It will get easier with practice and comfort.
TSandM's advice is golden, start out with regulator removal and blowing bubbles and add the next step only after you can comfortably complete the skill. Do this slowly and methodical to train your brain to relax and gain muscle memory, "reflex". This is like auto pilot when you react automatically. Trust me you will be fine and you can achieve this with training, practice makes perfect.
The key elements are to relax and visualize yourself completing each step of the skill.
I have been doing this from my open water training and I find it to be helpful. I love to visualize gearing up, performing skills, and just diving. I also like to practice with gear in and out of the water. If you need extra pool time by all means do it! I was recommended for a extra pool session and it was what got me over the hump. It is not a big deal, not everyone is a natural. Humble starts are not bad but they just help us to identify skills we need to focus on. Determine to conquer it and train, practice makes perfect! You are going to be fine. Feel free to PM me anytime for a shot of encouragement.
Good luck and stick to it, you will be diving in no time!
CamG Keep diving....keep training....keep learning!
It will get easier with practice and comfort.
TSandM's advice is golden, start out with regulator removal and blowing bubbles and add the next step only after you can comfortably complete the skill. Do this slowly and methodical to train your brain to relax and gain muscle memory, "reflex". This is like auto pilot when you react automatically. Trust me you will be fine and you can achieve this with training, practice makes perfect.
The key elements are to relax and visualize yourself completing each step of the skill.
I have been doing this from my open water training and I find it to be helpful. I love to visualize gearing up, performing skills, and just diving. I also like to practice with gear in and out of the water. If you need extra pool time by all means do it! I was recommended for a extra pool session and it was what got me over the hump. It is not a big deal, not everyone is a natural. Humble starts are not bad but they just help us to identify skills we need to focus on. Determine to conquer it and train, practice makes perfect! You are going to be fine. Feel free to PM me anytime for a shot of encouragement.
Good luck and stick to it, you will be diving in no time!
CamG Keep diving....keep training....keep learning!
When ever I have a student(s) doing any type of skill with the regulator, i.e. remove/replace, recover, freeflowing, etc. I have my alternate in hand and prominently displayed for them.
Another thing that I have found useful to students with problems is to tell them to go slow. There is no rush to get through the skill. Take a couple of breaths to get ready, think the steps through and then proceed when they are ready. It is their skill, they should control it, not let it control them.
Just my 2 centavos.
One more thing regarding this skill -- IF you have been placed on your knees to do the skill, lean forward as far as you can prior to beginning the skill.
Why?
When you drop the regulator, it pretty much falls straight down, either from the point of contact on your shoulder or directly from the first stage (especially if you are leaning back which many people do when on their knees). In either case, this puts the regulator in an awkward position to locate and recover.
IF you are leaning forward when you drop it, it still falls straight down but now it is away from your body (and all that stuff on your BC) and is typically more easily located (captured) during the hand sweep. (In fact if you look down it is right there.)
The other advice you've received should be quite helpful.
Why?
When you drop the regulator, it pretty much falls straight down, either from the point of contact on your shoulder or directly from the first stage (especially if you are leaning back which many people do when on their knees). In either case, this puts the regulator in an awkward position to locate and recover.
IF you are leaning forward when you drop it, it still falls straight down but now it is away from your body (and all that stuff on your BC) and is typically more easily located (captured) during the hand sweep. (In fact if you look down it is right there.)
The other advice you've received should be quite helpful.
Thank you all. After having a day to think about it, and hashing it over and over with my husband (it IS valentine's day so this was his gift to me 
) my real problem is that I freaked, not that I couldn't do the skill. I actually remember finding the regulator and sticking it back in my mouth, (my husband concurs) but I couldn't clear it, forgot about the purge button, all I was getting was water, I couldn't blow out (no air), so I bolted to the surface. {though it was a slow "bolt" as there was no air in the bcd or in my lungs}, and the instructor had grabbed me as well. Then we went to the shallow end and I did it okay, and damn sure I pushed the heck out of the purge button. So, maybe I'll never forget about that again, if I can't clear it with my lungs.
Clearly I need more practice and I do agree with the statements that I should have pushed the instructor for more time - he was definitely rushing us (just the two of us in the class) and we had done everything perfectly until then, so he didn't make us "practice" anything extra times. I think since we had done things right until then he let himself get too confident in our skills and took us to the deep end. we had done the share air exercise, switch regulator for snorkel, breathe from freeflowing regulator, OOA, etc, in the shallow end, so this wasn't the first time I'd had the regulator out of my mouth underwater. I'm going to insist on more patience though, and more practice, and I told my husband if he doesn't do it, I 'm going to go elsewhere.
Because I paniced, i'm going to do a lot of the positive visualization that was suggested on this thread.
) my real problem is that I freaked, not that I couldn't do the skill. I actually remember finding the regulator and sticking it back in my mouth, (my husband concurs) but I couldn't clear it, forgot about the purge button, all I was getting was water, I couldn't blow out (no air), so I bolted to the surface. {though it was a slow "bolt" as there was no air in the bcd or in my lungs}, and the instructor had grabbed me as well. Then we went to the shallow end and I did it okay, and damn sure I pushed the heck out of the purge button. So, maybe I'll never forget about that again, if I can't clear it with my lungs.Clearly I need more practice and I do agree with the statements that I should have pushed the instructor for more time - he was definitely rushing us (just the two of us in the class) and we had done everything perfectly until then, so he didn't make us "practice" anything extra times. I think since we had done things right until then he let himself get too confident in our skills and took us to the deep end. we had done the share air exercise, switch regulator for snorkel, breathe from freeflowing regulator, OOA, etc, in the shallow end, so this wasn't the first time I'd had the regulator out of my mouth underwater. I'm going to insist on more patience though, and more practice, and I told my husband if he doesn't do it, I 'm going to go elsewhere.
Because I paniced, i'm going to do a lot of the positive visualization that was suggested on this thread.
Good for you! I give my students at least 20 minutes at the end of every pool session( of which there are 6-8 of those totaling 16 hours in the pool) just to practice what we did or what they want to work on. And while you may have done things perfectly kneeling on the bottom (which by the way I never put students on their knees) doing the skill as you would in a real life situation is a different matter if you've not trained for it. Tell the instructor you want to be able to do do at least mask remove and replace, reg retrieval, and weightbelt off and on in midwater while horizontal and ask him to demo it that way for you. That's how I demo skills. If he says that is not the way they do it or it is not necessary to do at the OW level go somewhere else. Because you are not getting your money's worth.
a22shady
Contributor
Definetly do not give up. We all make mistakes thats part of learning. The exact reason we take class's to make ourselves more aware and better divers. I did a similiar situation On my attempt instead of throwing it I dropped it in front of me then had to do it again. Then my instructor signaled to throw it so I did. I am sitting there blowing bubbles searching for my reg all over as i am running short of breath, know out of air I grasped my Octo and started breathing from that. My primary some how landed behind my tank then as i sat got caught. But i did it again and presto. So only thing I can say is dont rush take your time. There is no time limit and the one who does it quickest does not win anything.
Me just an idea here but one thats simple. Take your snorkle to the pool in the shallow end and place your head under the water. After a breathing remove the snorkle and breathe out slowly after a few seconds put the snorkle back in your mouth and purge the snorkle clear of water(exhale with a little force). Continue to do this a few times to get the feel of breathing out and replacing the snorkle.
Just remember if you still have enough breathe left when you replace a regulator a good exhale will usually clear the water if any out of the regulator.
Just remember if you still have enough breathe left when you replace a regulator a good exhale will usually clear the water if any out of the regulator.
I apologize for the bluntness of this post, but gosh, don't you have an actual instructor that you have enough faith in to ask these very simple questions, rather than posting them to the internet?
When I see posts like this it really makes wonder what sort of disconnect there is between student and instructor.
When I see posts like this it really makes wonder what sort of disconnect there is between student and instructor.
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