Situational Awareness An Overlooked Skill
For those of you that know me you know that I like to visit the different forums and stir up some conversations, usually by asking a question or adding to a thread. \Like many most of my comments are geared around diving skills and techniques of which I can say some generate more discussions than others. As a diving instructor one of the most common questions asked of me is "What is the hardest diving technique to master?" Many think it is the mask removal issue as can be read most commonly here on SB or referred to as a example, secondly I would say questions on buoyancy and trim follow in a close race. Many questions relate to issues of fining (that awful backwards kick), BCD control and breathing rates. Something that is often missed is the skill and development of situational awareness. Divers talk about the need to monitor dive information, ascent and descent rates, gas pressure, time status, buddy proximity, environmental conditions and being ready for that inevitable scenario that may just ruin a diver's day.
Situational Awareness (SA) is what helps us verify our status, to see the marine life around us to notice the reef or cave wall structure and of course the ability to react correctly should the scenario require it. You know those times when you realize the cave line is not where it was 5 minutes ago or a school of White Tip Reef Sharks swims by....
Having good SA means that you'll be prepared for what might come your way expected or otherwise, and how you react to a situation can be the difference between life and talking to St. Pete at the pearly gates.
I find it interesting that most divers do not think of developing their SA skills and techniques. Some take a almost lackadaisical approach to learning or bettering this skill. Some divers believe that SA simply comes via experience through making more dives and in time it shall come to be so, Sure OK. There is a parallel belief that you either have it or you don't and it cannot be learnt. I agree that making dives should help in improving SA but only if you started with a good foundation and a aptitude to learning from the lessons learned along the way ( your log book is a good tool to keep). Definitely in time you will learn things but I support a more proactive path to improving SA. Looking at buoyancy as an example; If you have good body position, your trim is level, and your fin control is at worst a light sculling; you tend to be relaxed and better able to focus on those other elements of the dive. However what can often be traced to diving error is some level of deficiency in a diver's overall visual and mental sustainment skills, that is keeping focused and fully aware of the situation in which a diver can find themselves.. In short you are only as good as your eyes and mind allow.
If you are struggling with basic dive skills and /or retain apprehensions from your confined water training sessions because of poorly practiced and learned skills (mask removal is an example) then you will not have full SA during a real dive. This may be because you have become target-fixated.
Are looking far enough down the reef, wreck or cave passage to anticipant what could be? If you freak out is it really just an emotional state at the time or a series of things culminating to bring you to a state of panic? Maybe it is a perceived pre-existing condition that you brought into the water with you? Asking that one of the hardest diving skills to master is visual skill. Visual skill is what dictates how good your SA will be..
SA before, during and after a dive stems from how well a diver aggregates all the information and environmental factors going on around them. A diver who is target-fixated on a skill does not have good SA and may not be aware of the conditions or elements of the dive yet ahead of them.
While vision is perhaps the best means of obtaining SA , a diver who listens during the dive can enhance their SA skills. Like a blind person this skill can be brought to the forefront . The aquatic world is by no means a quiet environment and by developing the sense of hearing, a diver can increase their SA skill. How many times has your dive buddy banged their tank only having to swim up to you and grab you to get your attention? A diver breathing hard through the regulator can assist you in low visibility in locating each other. Physics has proven sound to be faster but directional locating to be more difficult. None the less hearing can be a sixth sense.
Sounds, a gut feeling of something being wrong all help build SA but it is sight that provides the most information and diving is very much a visual activity. How you process that information is what determines your level of SA.
Can SA be taught to a diver? Police. military and firefighters all have been provided methodologies to develop SA. Some do this better than others. As a military product I have to say "yes" SA can be taught but like any other skill can also fade if not continuously practiced.
In diving we learn to establish reference points. Our bottom time NDL limits, air time and breathing gas limits to even learning the use of navigational references such as a unique feature on a reef, wreck or cave wall. We learn to always have a exit plan and how to communicate through the use of hand signals. The problem is often we do not learn how to widen our SA by including our physical diving skills into the equation. It is all just theory until put into practice.
The next time you are out diving take a moment to work on improving one area of your vision and see how it affects your overall SA. Challenge yourself, challenge your buddy to see more of the dive immediately around and ahead of you, to know the status of your position and your dive status information (air, depth, time and direction) Try to look at yourself in the dive and prevent target-fixation and anticipate the next moments and phases of the dive plan. Hal Watts has a saying A diver need DATA (Depth Air Time and Awareness) and I agree. I have expanded his thin king (debatable I guess) to a diver needs Awareness of Depth and Dependency, Equipment and Environment, Air and Attitude, Time and Training, Health and Habit (DEATH)
Be specific when you practice and train your eyes to see differently - It can be achieved. A picture is worth a thousand words. Like any skill just to say I am going to improve at it is only the start. You need to break it down to measurable success points and build upon them.
For those of you that know me you know that I like to visit the different forums and stir up some conversations, usually by asking a question or adding to a thread. \Like many most of my comments are geared around diving skills and techniques of which I can say some generate more discussions than others. As a diving instructor one of the most common questions asked of me is "What is the hardest diving technique to master?" Many think it is the mask removal issue as can be read most commonly here on SB or referred to as a example, secondly I would say questions on buoyancy and trim follow in a close race. Many questions relate to issues of fining (that awful backwards kick), BCD control and breathing rates. Something that is often missed is the skill and development of situational awareness. Divers talk about the need to monitor dive information, ascent and descent rates, gas pressure, time status, buddy proximity, environmental conditions and being ready for that inevitable scenario that may just ruin a diver's day.
Situational Awareness (SA) is what helps us verify our status, to see the marine life around us to notice the reef or cave wall structure and of course the ability to react correctly should the scenario require it. You know those times when you realize the cave line is not where it was 5 minutes ago or a school of White Tip Reef Sharks swims by....
Having good SA means that you'll be prepared for what might come your way expected or otherwise, and how you react to a situation can be the difference between life and talking to St. Pete at the pearly gates.
I find it interesting that most divers do not think of developing their SA skills and techniques. Some take a almost lackadaisical approach to learning or bettering this skill. Some divers believe that SA simply comes via experience through making more dives and in time it shall come to be so, Sure OK. There is a parallel belief that you either have it or you don't and it cannot be learnt. I agree that making dives should help in improving SA but only if you started with a good foundation and a aptitude to learning from the lessons learned along the way ( your log book is a good tool to keep). Definitely in time you will learn things but I support a more proactive path to improving SA. Looking at buoyancy as an example; If you have good body position, your trim is level, and your fin control is at worst a light sculling; you tend to be relaxed and better able to focus on those other elements of the dive. However what can often be traced to diving error is some level of deficiency in a diver's overall visual and mental sustainment skills, that is keeping focused and fully aware of the situation in which a diver can find themselves.. In short you are only as good as your eyes and mind allow.
If you are struggling with basic dive skills and /or retain apprehensions from your confined water training sessions because of poorly practiced and learned skills (mask removal is an example) then you will not have full SA during a real dive. This may be because you have become target-fixated.
Are looking far enough down the reef, wreck or cave passage to anticipant what could be? If you freak out is it really just an emotional state at the time or a series of things culminating to bring you to a state of panic? Maybe it is a perceived pre-existing condition that you brought into the water with you? Asking that one of the hardest diving skills to master is visual skill. Visual skill is what dictates how good your SA will be..
SA before, during and after a dive stems from how well a diver aggregates all the information and environmental factors going on around them. A diver who is target-fixated on a skill does not have good SA and may not be aware of the conditions or elements of the dive yet ahead of them.
While vision is perhaps the best means of obtaining SA , a diver who listens during the dive can enhance their SA skills. Like a blind person this skill can be brought to the forefront . The aquatic world is by no means a quiet environment and by developing the sense of hearing, a diver can increase their SA skill. How many times has your dive buddy banged their tank only having to swim up to you and grab you to get your attention? A diver breathing hard through the regulator can assist you in low visibility in locating each other. Physics has proven sound to be faster but directional locating to be more difficult. None the less hearing can be a sixth sense.
Sounds, a gut feeling of something being wrong all help build SA but it is sight that provides the most information and diving is very much a visual activity. How you process that information is what determines your level of SA.
Can SA be taught to a diver? Police. military and firefighters all have been provided methodologies to develop SA. Some do this better than others. As a military product I have to say "yes" SA can be taught but like any other skill can also fade if not continuously practiced.
In diving we learn to establish reference points. Our bottom time NDL limits, air time and breathing gas limits to even learning the use of navigational references such as a unique feature on a reef, wreck or cave wall. We learn to always have a exit plan and how to communicate through the use of hand signals. The problem is often we do not learn how to widen our SA by including our physical diving skills into the equation. It is all just theory until put into practice.
The next time you are out diving take a moment to work on improving one area of your vision and see how it affects your overall SA. Challenge yourself, challenge your buddy to see more of the dive immediately around and ahead of you, to know the status of your position and your dive status information (air, depth, time and direction) Try to look at yourself in the dive and prevent target-fixation and anticipate the next moments and phases of the dive plan. Hal Watts has a saying A diver need DATA (Depth Air Time and Awareness) and I agree. I have expanded his thin king (debatable I guess) to a diver needs Awareness of Depth and Dependency, Equipment and Environment, Air and Attitude, Time and Training, Health and Habit (DEATH)
Be specific when you practice and train your eyes to see differently - It can be achieved. A picture is worth a thousand words. Like any skill just to say I am going to improve at it is only the start. You need to break it down to measurable success points and build upon them.
