The Other State of Diving

[*dave*]

I'm disappointed as well, I wish my own instructors had taken the time to *really* show us how to control ourselves in the water column.
Good job!

I'm afraid many instructors don't fully understand the concept. Many of those who can display such control don't really understand it. Most learned it over the course of many dives and perfected over hundreds. I've heard more than one instructor say it takes 30-70 dives to start getting BC dialed in.

It's not really that complex if broken down into its basic elements. There are only three things affecting your position in the column: Buoyancy, ballast and thrust.

The interaction between buoyancy and ballast can affect your trim, but that can be compensated for using body positioning and thrust. Dialing in trim without need for compensating so much with the body is a matter of balancing buoyancy and ballast.

Think of a teeter totter: Ballast on the left side and buoyancy on the right causes the left side to drop and the right side to lift. Balancing our teeter totter is accomplished by moving ballast closer to our center of gravity, reducing the amount of ballast to only that which is needed and changing the lengths of the left and right side of the teeter totter.

 

[kaerius]

Beautiful, those divers are the best newly certified divers I've seen, ever. Heck their trim and kicks were better than some DMTs I've seen. I sure wasn't as good when I got certified(seen worse though, including some that still bicycle kicked on their final AOW dive!) When I got cerified I barely had buoyancy in check(I remember I had trouble not hitting the bottom when neutral, so I made myself slightly positive and stayed down by adjusting trim, poor lung control ), and I was skulling and flutterkicking...

It probably took me 20+ dives to get to the point these guys are at, I basically had to learn a lot of this by trial and error.

Kudos to the instructor and to the students.

 

[Thalassamania]

They look pretty good, except for those y'aller splits!

 

[*dave*]

They look pretty good, except for those y'aller splits!

I'd love to fit them for all their gear, but the LDS gets first crack at them, so I have to deal with it. Splits don't provide any real leverage and don't frog kick worth a damn, but I don't get to make that call.

Here's a clip from yesterday's final checkout dive:

Still way too much hand sculling, but I know they'll improve in short order. I'm confident in that because they know about the problem, how to fix it and they have the desire to do so.

This is a 14 yo girl and her mother. They were in a hurry to cert, so I set up a three day course for them, with the provision that there would be additional session if I thought them necessary.

This was the shortest course I've taught to date in terms of hours. It was so short, I'd be embarrassed to post the hours, but it worked out.

The reason it worked in this case is entirely related to the student's motivation. They did the home study together, discussed the material and developed a pretty good understanding of most concepts prior to class. This allowed us to focus on application and left time to focus on the things in the book that directly relate to diving. They were also very comfortable in the water and had done a lot of snorkeling.

Time in class does not seem to be the biggest shortfall in training. Perhaps the issue is more related to the quality of time?

 

[Thalassamania]

Quality of time, size or course, motivation of students, quantity of time ... they can all be traded off against each other, at least sometimes. I've had students that at the end of 100 hrs just made it across the line, I've seen others that gave me a real fun for my money to just stay a millimeter ahead of them from the opening gun.

This pair looks very good. Their trim is still a hair toward feet down, they may be ever-so-slightly over-weighted. I hate the gear they use, consoles with what look like retractors and loose inflator hoses. They look really good and it is a shame to have those sorts of dangles detract. I'd push them both toward Fundies or Essentials sooner rather than later.

 

[*dave*]

This pair looks very good. Their trim is still a hair toward feet down, they may be ever-so-slightly over-weighted. I hate the gear they use, consoles with what look like retractors and loose inflator hoses. They look really good and it is a shame to have those sorts of dangles detract. I'd push them both toward Fundies or Essentials sooner rather than later.

Totally agree....

In fairness to the students in the vids I've posted, that's how the rental gear is configured. I've caught hell for reconfiguring in the past, as this is how thee shop wants them configured. Since I walk a very thin line between the company line and heresy, I've got to choose my battles carefully. The students are aware of the issues and how to resolve them, but there is definite room for improvement.

The console would be much better with the clip located on the end of the console and clipped across the chest. The logic (not mine)in the current configuration is that the student can check the console without unclipping.

The 14yo was actually 4lbs over weighted, which we corrected at the end of the dive.

 

[*dave*]

I had meant to update this thread with video of current classes, but flooded the camera sometime in early July. It took a while, but I got a replacement.

The January class has been a blast. We'll be doing checkouts next weekend as long as the snow doesn't close the roads.

This vid was shot on the last pool session, which will be their 6th pool session. It's their first time in rubber and second time in hood and gloves. One student is re-certifying after a 30 year SI and there is also a DiveCon(Yellow Splits) and an instructor(Yellow fin tips) in some of the shots. For the others, this was their 5th time on SCUBA. The class ran 24 hours to this point: six sessions, four hours per session split between academics/theory and pool.

 

[eponym]

Today I was in the other state of diving both figuratively and literally. I drove from Oregon down into California to conduct the first day of open water for three OWD students who live in Brookings, OR. Good viz and temps, sun overhead, lots of assistance topside and in the water. I felt blessed to have good conditions and many helping hands.

The best part of the day was the students' attitude. Eager, enthusiastic, happy, grateful. I know they'll do well on their upcoming warm-water cruise.

And I know that they did this themselves. As I told them at some point in our course, I'm just a diver who shares information and gives feedback.* The students are the ones doing the real work, especially when it involves choosing to go in for the first time with full suits, hoods, and gloves.

-Bryan

* Yes, there's a lot more to it, but then the analogy to what Gag Halfrunt says about Zaphod Beeblebrox starts to break down.

 

[Pauly854]

Can we get a link to the first video thread that keeps getting mentioned?

 

[*dave*]

Can we get a link to the first video thread that keeps getting mentioned?

No.

This is a vid from August 2010 and features a young student qualifying for Jr. Open Water Diver cert and a 27 yo, healthy and motivated guy. Fitting the kid was a challenge, as he was quite small. Kinda like trying to trim out a neutrally buoyant bowling ball.