A dive supervisor's comment fixed my buoyancy problem for good

Last year off the coast of Galveston, a supervisor named Dave watched me surface and said, 'You're swimming like a paddle boat, not a diver.' He pointed out I was kicking from my knees instead of my hips, which made me burn through air fast. I switched to slower, full-leg kicks and started using my dry suit to fine-tune trim instead of scrambling. Has anyone else had a supervisor catch something basic that totally changed their bottom time?

2 comments

2 Comments

irisg5727d ago

That "paddle boat" comment hit close to home for me. I had a similar moment with my old dive buddy, except his advice was about my mask. I kept clearing it every few minutes and burning air like crazy, and he finally said, "You're smiling underwater, stop it." Turns out I was grinning at the fish, which broke the seal every time. I quit the grin and my bottom time shot up almost instantly.

andrew77825d ago

Ha, that's hilarious and way too familiar. For me it was my fins, my instructor caught me using my ankles like I was riding a bicycle and told me to think of my whole leg as a whip, that single tip added like fifteen minutes to my bottom time. And honestly @irisg57, the mask thing hits hard because I did the same thing on a night dive before I realized I was clenching my jaw, not even smiling, just tense.