It's as if you were stepping off the boat onto a dock across a 30" gap. Torso upright. This is easy for long legged folks, and a stretch for those of economical stature. The side benefit of the giant stride is that natural return of the legs to center, which creates a perfectly timed kick that keeps the diver at the surface.
Why a think about stepping across a 30" gap? Because your tank is about 8" deep, plus an inch or two for wet suit and BC space and a few inches for the center of your body. Call it 14" from the back of your tank to the center of your body. So a minimum stride would be about 28", 30" for a small safety margin. The bigger the motion of the surface you are striding from, the more you will want to step out. You're not leaping, no wasted motion with hopping, just a big step and off you go!
The mental image of stepping across a gap helps us remember to keep our torso upright or just slightly forward. It also helps us make some decisions about conditions.
Imagine a stride from the boat across a gap to the dock, and the boat is really moving because of waves and such. If your judgment would call for a LEAP instead of a stride to get across a 30" - 36" gap, the boat is moving too much for a giant stride. If you are still considering diving, you might think about using a back roll into the water.
That's how I think about the giant stride.
Dive safely!
Dive Safe!
---------- Post Merged at 02:39 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 02:29 PM ----------
@windapp - It doesn't really matter if your head goes underwater, but it is an indication of a really well executed giant stride.
If you and your buddy get used to perfect giant strides and always wind up at the surface giving the OK sign in just a moment, your buddy will know immediately if something goes wrong. It's never OK to jump in the water and deliberately descend without an OK sign at the surface.
I noticed from reading accident reports that it's not uncommon for dives to go wrong at entry. A well executed entry is the beginning of a skillfully executed dive.