Mastering Buoyancy skills

[3rdEye]

ok, so there's been several threads on buoyancy, and we all know it's one of the most important skills for being a good diver. And most of the responses to these threads have suggested practice practice pratice. I mean we all know how the power inflator works, and the general purpose of our BC, but I didn't learn much technique in my OW class concerning that, maybe more is covered in peak performance, but who knows when I'll be taking that. I can do a fin pivot and a hover, but I'm more concerned about adjusting to different depths quickly and gracefully.

What I would like to hear and what I think could help some others is specific technique for mastering that type of control. Those of you who are really good at this, what specific cues do you react to, or what specific methods do you use to control buoyancy?

For example, when you are descending say to 60 feet, are you continuously adding air to your BC? how often? how much? Or do you just plummet down and get neutral when you're at depth? How do get neutral without sitting there for 2 minutes making adjustments?

I'm convinced that there's art and technique involved here....and I'd like to learn some of that.

[medic001918]

The amount of air that everyone adds depends greatly on the rig they're using and how they're weighted. As far as practicing, just pick different depths and try to descend to it and stop within a certain amount of that depth (example: 60ft +/- 1ft). Work on platforms if you have a dive site with them installed. Try to hover 2 ft above, and work closer and closer. Controlling your bouyancy with the amount you inhale and exhale will go a long way as well. When you're neutral, you should be able to ascend or descend with your lungs. Try performing different tasks while holding a depth. Tasks can be air share, lift bag deployment, light deployment, etc. The more you dive, the better your bouyancy will get. Try to adjust your weighting, and not just the amount of weight but the placement as well. You'll find it will help your trim. Practice with different amounts of air in your tank as well, as that will have an effect on your bouyancy.

Shane

[Dive-aholic]

You just need to practice, practice, practice!

Actually, like Shane said, it depends on your rig. If I'm in a single tank rig with an AL80, the it's more of a gradual descent because I'm better weighted. If I'm in my doubles, the descent is faster because I'm a little heavy at the beginning of the dive.

The key to good buoyancy is perfect weighting. Make sure you are neutral for a safety stop at the end of your dive. That means you'll be about 3lbs heavy at the beginning. So the whole surface at eye level means surface above eye level at the beginning of the dive.

I typically go as fast as my ears allow and blast some air in the last 10'. This keeps me from plummetting into the bottom. The thing to remember is that buoyancy correction doesn't happen immediately. There is a lag time between action and response. If you're perfectly weighted, you shouldn't have to touch that inflator more than 3-4 times during the dive at the same depth. It's all in breath control.

[namabiru]

One thing that throws that off, though, is what kind of exposure protection you're wearing. I improved buoyancy through diving (as well as PPB training), but last weekend I was in two full wetsuits, and found myself bouncing off the bottom like a basketball. I was mentioning this to my fellow divers, and they suggested it was because I was in two wetsuits.

If you're shorter, like me, you may also find that your tank is causing you grief. I used to wear mine in standard position, valves just around the BCD collar, but then it was actually Dive-aholic who suggested I move my tank up so my weight was better-distributed. Now I dive so the valves are at the back of my head, and I noticed a world of difference.

So maybe play with where your tank sits.

Although I did go to Cozumel and had to keep the boat crew away from my rig, as twice I caught someone covertly trying to move my BCD back up. So know that if you go diving in a "touristy" place you may have to contend with explaining your tank placement choice.

[Dive-aholic]

Originally Posted by namabiru

One thing that throws that off, though, is what kind of exposure protection you're wearing. I improved buoyancy through diving (as well as PPB training), but last weekend I was in two full wetsuits, and found myself bouncing off the bottom like a basketball. I was mentioning this to my fellow divers, and they suggested it was because I was in two wetsuits.

That could be the case. It would depend on the depth. You're going to have great buoyancy changes at shallow depths. If you were anywhere deeper than 30', I'd say you were just being bouncy. If you were shallower than 30', it could be the wetsuits. It shouldn't even matter that it's 2 wetsuits, it's probably not being used to that combo.

[cummings66]

If you want a good tip, dive shallow. If you can perfect your buoyancy in 5 feet of water you'll do fine deeper. Then work on the ascents and descents, nail them so you can start and stop where you want. Use your lungs for small changes, or momentary changes in depth.

[3rdEye]

all good suggestions so far,

one question, why use the lungs for small changes, when you can swim up or down easily, and quickly? or are we talking about when hovering here? I guess it seems like to me, that would require some concentration on breathing, which I tend to not think about....but maybe i need to think about it until it becomes second nature?

[creggur]

Originally Posted by cummings66

If you want a good tip, dive shallow. If you can perfect your buoyancy in 5 feet of water you'll do fine deeper. Then work on the ascents and descents, nail them so you can start and stop where you want. Use your lungs for small changes, or momentary changes in depth.

I practice this in my pool 5-6' of depth.. I start at one end of the pool and swim to the light in the wall of the other end, the point is to be dead on the spot I'm aiming for on the other wall when I get there only using my breath..

I also lie flat on the bottom, keep my body rigid, keep the tip of my fins on the bottom and do "push ups" with my breath. The trick is to never break the surface and get my regulator as close to the bottom without touching... It's tricky to do, but you really get a good idea how much difference a deeper or shallower breath will make. As well as controlling when and how deep to inhale/exhale to arrive where you want..

[cummings66]

Because constant finning will use more air than will a simple change of breath. Look at it this way, your leg muscles use a lot of O2 and if you push them all the time you're going to use more air to support the movement.

When you get to dive with a great diver like I've been privileged to, you'll notice two things. First they don't fiddle with their inflator(s) and second they seem to do things without apparent effort. That lack of effort comes from good buoyancy control which your lungs help control. Keep in mind this is for short excursions, not a 10 minute trip down 50 feet.

The other key IMO to good air consumption is to stay horizontal, by using your lungs to help buoyancy and not finning you maintain that horizontal orientation. If you're finning down you head is low causing more drag, if you're finning up the same thing occurs. The faster the motion the worse the drag, and the worse the drag the more energy you put into maintaining it and to output that energy level you need to burn O2 and that means you're going to breathe more air. It's a cycle.

[BSea]

Originally Posted by 3rdEye

all good suggestions so far,

one question, why use the lungs for small changes, when you can swim up or down easily, and quickly? or are we talking about when hovering here? I guess it seems like to me, that would require some concentration on breathing, which I tend to not think about....but maybe i need to think about it until it becomes second nature?

if/when you go on a drift dive, all you need to do is get neutral, use your fins to steer, and use your lungs to go up or down. It's like flying. Breath in to go up over objects, then exhale to cruize back to the bottom.

Before BC's divers would use their lungs for BC's. They would have to be optimally weighted so they didn't sink or float. Those guys in the late 50's & early 60's knew what buoyancy was all about.