Why Diving & Not Tennis?

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Green Hand

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Why do you SCUBA dive and not spend your weekends playing tennis, or growing orchids, or painting etc.etc.?

I know others have asked a similar question but I'm looking for a slightly different discussion.

I think I know why most of you physically dive, but why did you choose diving from an emotional and pyschological perspective? It isn't the safest past time and it certainly isn't the cheapest.

Are you an 'A' type personality who is all action and adventure, or more of an introverted person who likes the skill's of photography?

Does the aspect of danger and controlling it excite you? Do you love the technical aspect of the equipment [read some of the Hogarthian threads]? Does the sheer beauty of being underwater impact on you so much that you just can't stay away? Or are you just a lousey tennis player?

Be honest and let us know why you part-take in this sport. Some of you will have had scary and dangerous experiences, some of you will be happy sticking to 15Mt. reef dives and others will have been to the edge diving in caves and pushing their skills to the limit - in some cases just surviving, and then returning for more - why? aren't you just tempting fate?.

This same question has been asked of mountain climbers and is often posed after a fatal accident. Many of their spouses say 'I wish they didn't climb, but it is who they are, their make-up and without it they woud be a different person'.

Would you give up diving if your spouse and kids begged you too? [a hypothetical only, my non diving wife is happy if I am happy - but I am sure some of you would have experienced some questions that would have required some deep soul searching].

A quote that points in the direction I hope we will head:

Mountains are the means, the man is the end. The goal is not to reach the tops of mountains, but to improve the man.
WALTER BONATTI, Italian climber


Let the thread begin!!
 
It is such a different world. I try to start every wekend with getting wet, but conditions here mean it is more like evey second or third..

I know some who would claim I am type A but what I enjoy most underwater is photograhy which is slowly, slowly, catch your wrasse.

Alison
 
I guess the simple answer is I'm the "a" type person. all action and adventure. I ride fast motorbikes at race tracks, love ot ski the double black runs and out of bounds runs , am into rock climbing - and diving, of course. Part of it is that it is fun. But I don't think it is all that dangerous. I think knowing your limits is the safety net, and the people that usually get hurt are the ones who don't know their limits and go way beyond them (of course, this is not always the case)

I'm new to diving, so I know I need to learn to improve. there are things I wont do now - like cave diving, but I will do in the future, once perfect bouyancy is like breathing, and the right experience is gained.

I've been skiing since I was 12, but only did my first double black run at 26 - that is how long it took to get the experience I needed before I felt I could jump of a cornice and ski down a 50 degree slope. I could probably have done it much sooner - but skiing in australia is very limited...

I expect my scuba learning curve will be steaper - I live close to the water (can walk to it) and thus will do alot of diving.

Yeah, it's dangerous, but I'd rather die skiing or diving or riding my motorbike than being burnt to a crisp in a kitchen fire, or being hit by a bus on the way to work. (having experienced the former, I can tell you I was not having fun before I got burnt). At least I will have died doing osmething I loved.

Apart form that, I think it is the "a" type people who push us forward. Where would we be if no one got on a ship to sail around the world because it was "too dangerous" What if flying was seen as being "too dangerous" by those that pioneered it? What if we were all too scared of fire to use it to keep warm and cook food?

As a final note, I crashed my old bike about 2 years ago after hitting some oil at 50km/h around a corner (the speed was actually slower than the 65km/h posted for that corner). The bike was a write off (hi side) and I hit my head and hip pretty hard. (I always wear my gear so a headache and brusied hip were the result)

First chance I got, I got back onto another bike and went around the block - just to get that crash out of my head. Now imagine when "personkind" went from all fours to two legs. Walking is dangerous, when you trip, you fall a long way - people die when they trip and hit their heads on rocks! What if our ancestors thought this walking thing was too dangerous? Danger isn't so bad, one just has to be prepared for it...

Apart from all that, it is beautiful down there!



Z...
 
Hmmmm . . . I actually probably spend more time playing tennis - but I usually wish I were diving instead! For me the most 'addictive' thing about diving is the peacfulness of it all. Underwater, you can't talk, you can't answer your mobile phone, you just float and breathe . . . very special feeling, hard to put into words (but I do admit to being a tennis addict too, just wish my backhand were as good as my SAC :wink: ).
 
dive_lover88:
Why not invent underwater tennis,since there is already underwater hockey. Give it a try,who knows,maybe you will like it?

I tried - but the tennis balls kept floating to the surface.... :D
 
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