What do Open water divers struggle with the most?

[Ana]

I was diving for a while before getting certified but I do remember freaking out about having to do the confined portion in a public pool. I've don't care for the concept of a bunch of people using communal dead water (never have, doubt I ever will). Sure enough within the first 5 minutes at the bottom a Band-Aid floated in front of me. I was so close to toss my breakfast, honestly is the last thing I remember of my pool sessions.

I know fish poop in the water but is different with people. Does everyone going in those pools keep their body fluids and solids to themselves? I doubt it.

 

[Graeme Fraser]

Mask clearing seems to be the hardest for a few. I've had instructors refer peeps with mask issues to me. I teach this skill in waist-deep water with no tanks or snorkels involved. They put their face in the water, fill their mask and wear it full while standing in the shallows. The trick is learning how to isolate the nasal passages from your mouth. With only the mask on and full of water, they can concentrate on the one skill. We keep at it until we can have a simple conversation. Then we move on to how to clear.

It's sad to see "trim and buoyancy" being mentioned so often as it's so, so simple. It's the second skill I introduce after mask clearing. We cover the simple physics involved before we get in the pool and usually after a half hour or so, they "get it" and then we start with the more traditional skills which are done while trim and neutral. If you're an instructor and don't know how to do either of these, come on down to Cave Country and let's go dive. It will make things easier for you and your student.

Yes I've found mask skills to be one of the more common issues in the past. A system I find quite useful is to be a bit sneaky and introduce it to the students without them realising. Basically, at the beginning of CW1, standing in the shallow end, kitted up but before even donning their mask for the first time, I get them to breathe from the regulator, then slowly ask them to bend over and gently put their face in the water. When we then come to do partial, full and removal, I just remind the nervous students that they had already done it once. Seems to work.

 

[pepperbelly]

Mask clearing seems to be the hardest for a few. I've had instructors refer peeps with mask issues to me. I teach this skill in waist-deep water with no tanks or snorkels involved. They put their face in the water, fill their mask and wear it full while standing in the shallows. The trick is learning how to isolate the nasal passages from your mouth. With only the mask on and full of water, they can concentrate on the one skill. We keep at it until we can have a simple conversation. Then we move on to how to clear.

It's sad to see "trim and buoyancy" being mentioned so often as it's so, so simple. It's the second skill I introduce after mask clearing. We cover the simple physics involved before we get in the pool and usually after a half hour or so, they "get it" and then we start with the more traditional skills which are done while trim and neutral. If you're an instructor and don't know how to do either of these, come on down to Cave Country and let's go dive. It will make things easier for you and your student.

I listed buoyancy and trim based on what I have seen-I am not an instructor.
I see divers plowing instead of being horizontal, divers finning a reef, landing on the bottom, etc.

 

[caydiver]

My personal issue was floaty feet. But most people seem to talk about mask removal. Buoyancy is an issue but I think many new divers don’t realize they have an issue even when they think they have it nailed. It is something that awareness and experience automatically fix. Fifty dives seems like a good average number for it becoming natural.

 

[maj2]

It has been mentioned, but the one I see most locally is contending with donning and doffing a 7mm wetsuit when learning in cold water. And the biggest thing within that general donning process is the hood. Getting used to the confinement of a hood seems to be hard for many. Once they are in the water things improved, but there is always a look in their eyes the moment that hood is on...
I do not recall having much issue with anything myself. For my daughter though, the mask removal and replacement took a lot of extra work.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

Anxiety or panic are the toughest for me as a DM. Sometimes its obvious early and I can help overcome it. Sometimes you find out the seemingly comfortable student in a rescue class will panic in open water, at depth...

Mask clearing and removal are next. As others pointed out, the mask strap being too tight is a common issue.

Buoyancy issues seem tied to the instructor more than the student. The more emphasis on it, the better they are. A little reminder immediately before the first OW dive goes a long way to them actually thinking about it.

After that, it tends to be simple things students forget. Know where your buddy is at all times, elevate inflator hose on ascent, dump air as you're headed to the safety stop, etc. It's stuff they know, but with everything new they get overloaded.

 

[Fastmarc]

Based on my observation, it has to be understanding and executing neutral buoyancy. Every almost new diver or low experience diver I have come across, do not understand how to do it. Constantly fining and dumping air. They have cert cards, so I have to assume that either the instructor gave up or just didn't try helping them get there.

As for trim? On the dives that I have been on in recent history in Jamaica, I'm the only diver that is horizontal if not moving (except for maybe one visiting diver from Japan I buddied with that was tech trained). Not even the instructors I've dived with are (both local and foreign). They don't practice, so it's just not taught. They're emphasis on being properly trim is while moving. That was basically how I was taught as well. My exposure to always being in trim came from right here on SB. Those of you who have instructors exposed to this philosophy and teach it are very fortunate.

I've often pondered going down the instructor route myself because of the inadequate teaching I see, but...

 

[The Chairman]

Anxiety or panic are the toughest for me as a DM.

Buoyancy issues seem tied to the instructor more than the student. The more emphasis on it, the better they are.

Panic is directly related to a diver's lack of control. I hope I'm not harping or pulling this discussion off topic, but there's simply no need or excuse to produce a diver with subpar trim and neutral buoyancy. Traditionally a diver is taught on their knees. At the very end of each pool session, they might get a chance to actually swim, but for the most part they spend most of their class on their knees. Once their skills are "mastered" (quotes on purpose), they might spend a few minutes on being neutral but all the skill boxes have been ticked so they are going to OW, whether they have this neutral buoyancy thing down or not. Worse, they are usually told that it's going to take a 100 dives to learn this skill. This is utter BS. Once in OW, the traditional class will kneel in a semi-circle around their instructor and go through all the skills they learned in the pool in a serial fashion. They might have to do a "Buddha Hover" for 60 seconds, but that's all they have to do in regards to buoyancy. The little boxes have been ticked, so they get a cert. Ask any agency wonk and they'll tell you that this is not how it's supposed to work. It's not. But reading these comments tell us that it's pretty nigh universal.

If I could give one piece of advice to potential divers: find an instructor who won't let you kneel, sit or stand on the bottom at any time. There shouldn't be a need for you to have to take a "buoyancy class". It should all be covered in your OW class. Of all the skills you need to be a diver, trim and buoyancy are at the very center of them all. Master (without quotes) those two and all the others become incredibly simple.

If I could give one piece of advice to instructors: be the guy I send OW students to. Learn to require trim and neutral buoyancy from the start. Set the example and expect the best from them. Learn the physics behind trim and being neutral and pass it along. I can't remember the last bolter I've had to deal with. No more panic or fear and lots of fun as your students make you look good. The bonus? It takes no more time than teaching them on their knees. The elimination of fear and panic saves loads of time in the long run.

 

[BlueTrin]

Actually I remember now that I struggled to do a proper giant stride: I have vertigo and I always did that weird little jump rather than stepping in as far as you can.

Got over it by doing it from the pool ladder without equipment until I was ok, as someone here suggested.

 

[stretchthepenn]

I was diving for a while before getting certified but I do remember freaking out about having to do the confined portion in a public pool. I've don't care for the concept of a bunch of people using communal dead water (never have, doubt I ever will). Sure enough within the first 5 minutes at the bottom a Band-Aid floated in front of me. I was so close to toss my breakfast, honestly is the last thing I remember of my pool sessions.

I know fish poop in the water but is different with people. Does everyone going in those pools keep their body fluids and solids to themselves? I doubt it.

Former pool guy--a certified Los Angeles County Commercial Pool Operator, in fact--speaking here... The short answer is "no," the longer answer is "no, but" (no puns intended). The band-aid wasn't a good thing, for sure, but even though the water in a pool can get kinda funky during peak loads, if the pool is properly maintained and as long as nobody has a bowel-related emergency (i.e., has the Hershey Squirts, launches a Baby Ruth), the water quality should still be be safe and sanitary.

Speaking of "properly maintained," avoid hotel swimming pools, and especially hot tubs. They're absolute cesspools. (My trainer for the LA County certification has an awesome story about the hot tubs in a Hollywood, CA health club.) Public pools, though, are probably OK.