What's the trick to the giant stride?

[TSandM]

I think the only advantage to the giant stride is that you are actually looking at the water through the whole process. If you are falling off backward and someone swims underneath you, you won't know it until you hit them.

I have to disagree with Dan. If the diving conditions do not mandate a hot drop, it's much safer to get in the water and double-check that everything is working properly before going underwater. Especially for newer divers, the time to discover one's BC inflator has popped off, or that one's gas isn't on, is on the surface, not 20 feet down.

 

[danvolker]

I think the only advantage to the giant stride is that you are actually looking at the water through the whole process. If you are falling off backward and someone swims underneath you, you won't know it until you hit them.

I have to disagree with Dan. If the diving conditions do not mandate a hot drop, it's much safer to get in the water and double-check that everything is working properly before going underwater. Especially for newer divers, the time to discover one's BC inflator has popped off, or that one's gas isn't on, is on the surface, not 20 feet down.

Hi Lynne,
I am well aware I am not going to win this position , but if the new people were my responsibility, they would have been breathing from the reg for the minute or 2 prior to jumping in, and would have learned to completely have checked air and bc prior to jumping in.....And, any I was responsible for, would be capable or orally inflating their bc at depth, or they would not have progressed beyond the swimming pool

The floating duck thing is a hard habit for many to break...kind of a "comfort quirk" that is OK in some still water sites, but it leaves these people "hosed" when they go to a place like Fiji, or Palm Beach, or the Mona Passage


In fairness to Lynne's position....I am pretty sure there is no training agency that would agree with me on this.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I have found that if someone is looking down at the water during the whole giant stride process that there's a good chance they're going to do a faceplant. Look down. Make sure coast is clear, then look up and step into that little point way out on the horizon. Btw I've done a backwards roll from 12 feet up. Off a wall at one pool we were using. What a rush! And you land perfectly on the tank. I would not gs off of that. But a backward roll? Anytime.

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[danvolker]

I have found that if someone is looking down at the water during the whole giant stride process that there's a good chance they're going to do a faceplant. Look down. Make sure coast is clear, then look up and step into that little point way out on the horizon. Btw I've done a backwards roll from 12 feet up. Off a wall at one pool we were using. What a rush! And you land perfectly on the tank. I would not gs off of that. But a backward roll? Anytime.

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Good advice!
In mountain biking you quickly learn that if there is a big rock ahead of you, this is NOT the place you want to be looking as you approach at a high rate of speed.....you want to be looking at the place you want the bike to actually go to.....

 

[Kitty_Kat]

I am picturing a plane with a bunch of student sky divers, and a crewmember of the plane, putting his foot on the backs of the students and shoving the terrified jumpers out of the door, with a smirk on his face

All of the crew members on our boat do give a little push to help divers clear the swim step, but not until that diver has already made the decision to step forward on their own! Our captain seems to think that forcibly pushing people off of the boat might be bad for business...

It really is very helpful in heavier surf/swells though! Plus it cuts down on our number of head injuries

 

[fnfalman]

Remember, it's a stride, not a bunny-hop.

Right on. This simple technique is often overlooked and not corrected by the instructors. Most students "think" that they have done a giant stride but in actuality they didn't. They'd stick out one leg and then instead of pushing off strongly with the other leg to truly make a Giant Stride, they'd bunny hop.

When you do a giant stride, it should be like you're trying to do a split with your legs.

---------- Post Merged at 04:24 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 04:20 PM ----------

My wife's first OW dive was in Belize on a boat where we did the backroll. As I was waiting in the water with the instructor my wife was hesitant of falling over backward from the boat. She later told me the DM put his hand on her shoulder, told her there was nothing to worry about and told her to take her time, all the while slowly pushing her shoulder till she fell in. Seven years later it turns out my wife now much prefers doing the backroll to the giant stride.

You should post the video of my idea of water entry.

 

[RJP]

Hi all! Back from my travels...

So, the last time I did a giant stride into the ocean, my tank hit the side of the boat, hard. Fortunately it didn't hit me, and the tank stayed in the bands, so I was able to continue my dive after a quick check to make sure everything was OK. It was scary, though. It was an AL100, so it was awfully long, and I'm only 5' 6". There were also swells (maybe 2-4 feet), and I have a feeling I probably timed the step poorly. What are the tricks to getting far enough from the boat with the giant stride?

EDIT - just realized many others offered similar advice, but I'll keep it here anyway:

It's called the "GIANT STRIDE"

GIANT - It's not the "little step" or "quick step" --- It should be GIANT!
STRIDE - Most divers pick one leg up, hesitate, and then hop with the foot that's still on the boat. That's not how you "stride" on land... why do people "stride" that way into the water? When you're ready... STRIDE off the boat. Pick one foot up, step forward, and keep going!

The other key thing is to look WAY OUT IN THE DISTANCE when striding. Look down before entering the water, but look OUT when striding. If you LOOK down... you will STEP down.

Also, you can use the "Nestea Plunge" entry as I'm demonstrating below on the Truk Odyssey. I can guarantee your tank will NEVER hit the boat on the way in...

 

[DukeAMO]

I have done the back roll a few times, and found that quite nice. The tank takes the impact, and you just bob down a couple of feet and back up slowly. If that's usually an option, maybe I'll ask if I can just do that in the future. I thought maybe I couldn't do it on that boat because the deck was too high. (It was about 3' off of the water at the lowest, 7' at the highest.)

Normally, I have had the DM give me a little extra push after starting the stride. That one particular time, I was re-entering the water after adding more weight, and nobody gave me a push. So it may be that I wasn't stepping far enough on the other tries too. Or it may be that I was trying to time the step when the back of the boat was at its lowest point, because 7' seemed like a scary step, and the deck caught my tank on the way back up. It was probably both.

Thanks all!

 

[ScubaSteve]

I have done the back roll a few times, and found that quite nice. The tank takes the impact, and you just bob down a couple of feet and back up slowly. If that's usually an option, maybe I'll ask if I can just do that in the future. I thought maybe I couldn't do it on that boat because the deck was too high. (It was about 3' off of the water at the lowest, 7' at the highest.)

Normally, I have had the DM give me a little extra push after starting the stride. That one particular time, I was re-entering the water after adding more weight, and nobody gave me a push. So it may be that I wasn't stepping far enough on the other tries too. Or it may be that I was trying to time the step when the back of the boat was at its lowest point, because 7' seemed like a scary step, and the deck caught my tank on the way back up. It was probably both.

Thanks all!

3 feet is nothing for a backroll

 

[Crowley]

The trick to the giant stride - in order to prevent unwarranted deck/tank interaction is to do exactly what RJP said - take a giant stride... if your tank hit the boat, it wasn't giant....

I know there are circumstances where a particular type of entry is preferred, but beyond the positive and negative entry thing, I am - as a working dive professional - quite happy to know that my divers got into the water without losing anything, forgetting to turn on their tanks, strapping on their weightbelt (hello buddy check!) and I'm not really too bothered about how correct their technique was, nor how elegant, just that they did it safely.

Hold onto your mask and your dangly bits, look up at the horizon, not the fat Russian snorkeler underneath you, and take one giant leap for humankind. I know I sound facetious and sarcastic when I say this but in the environment in which I work, I don't really care if a diver makes a giant stride, backward roll, back-flip, front-flip or face-plant in the water, just as long as they get there without inconveniencing the rest of the group. No points are awarded for style, but be assured it will be laughed about later if you fail!

More seriously - the technique is not difficult... but the key part is - I'm sorry to repeat - "Giant" stride.

With tongue in cheek

C.