For DIR education, proper propulsion techniques are an essential part.  After a diver develops a solid base of buoyancy control along with body mechanics and trim, different propulsion techniques are added to the divers’ useful resources.  A collection of propulsion techniques will benefit the diver in many ways.  It does not take a new diver very long to appreciate the ability to swim efficiently forwards as well as backwards.  The menu of DIR propulsion techniques which are taught in the beginner Open Water/Recreational 1 level include a Proper and Modified Frog Kick for efficient and tireless motion, a Modified Flutter Kick for power, Backwards Kick for stability, positioning and control as well as 360 degree Helicopter-Turn.

When many divers swim they kick with their entire body.  The kick begins in their brain as they try to move themselves to another location.  The synapses fire and motion is generated in the leg, and the whole leg is involved with the kick.  Along with the calf, quads and glutes; the back, chest, shoulders and neck are also thrown into an explosion of muscle contractions in an attempt to generate movement.  Unfortunately, the return from all of this expense is usually wasted energy and CO2 build-up.  The answer is not to purchase easier kicking fins or build stronger muscles; it is to understand the muscles needed to generate propulsion.  We learn to use only the muscles that are efficient and productive; disregarding the inefficient and wasteful movements. It is important to develop a controlled use of the smallest and most efficient muscles through muscular compartmentalization of the body.  Instead of using the entire leg to kick, we learn to use only the muscles we need to use.

Any DIR class that teaches these essential skills will include a thorough understanding of proper propulsion techniques.  These skills are the building blocks for future development and their importance cannot be understated.  Along with proper body mechanics, buoyancy control, trim and technique, the propulsion techniques you develop in your DIR training will take your diving to a new depth of skill and ability.

For more information on developing these and other DIR techniques look into the UTD Essentials or Intro To Tech classes.

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Or contact James Mott at

jm@unifiedteamdiving.com

What exactly is the goal of leaving some air in our tanks?  To help a buddy in need, to keep water out of our tanks, to inflate our BCD’s at the surface?  Many divers use the 1/3’s rule, but even this plan has numerous flaws.  So where do we start?  Is there a plan that works for deep-diving technical divers and shallow-water recreational divers alike?  What is wrong with the idea of surfacing with a safe amount of gas, like 500psi?

The answer to the 500psi problem is that being on the surface at the end of the dive with 500psi does not answer the more important question for scuba divers, which is, “When do I have to leave the bottom?  If we have an emergency and we need to share air, “How much air will I need to bring me and my buddy to the surface safely?  This is the question that should start all gas planning.

DIR education teaches the unified team to plan for the worst possible emergency before the dive starts.  We always ask the question, “What happens if at the worst possible moment, the deepest part of the dive, the furthest distance from home… my buddy runs out of air… How much gas do I need to bring both of us to the surface without any incident?”

Calculating Rock Bottom is easy enough to do in your head before the dive and it is taught in all entry level DIR courses.  How long will the ascent take, multiplied by two divers, then by the average depth and then by a consumption rate, equals Rock Bottom. Once Rock Bottom is determined, the remainder of the useable gas is then divided into a logical plan.  Maybe it is a drift dive on a Caribbean reef where we can use everything. Maybe we are diving on a shipwreck in the Great Lakes and need to get back to the mooring line, or we might be doing a penetration on this shipwreck where we will need enough gas to get out of the wreck plus enough to get to the surface.  Different dives will require different gas plans, but Rock Bottom must always be accounted for, before the gas plan is made.  DIR education teaches the unified team to plan their gas in accordance for the specific dive, so that each diver can get the most fun possible out of their diving and still be safe.

Being at depth below Rock Bottom is irresponsible and will not give us enough air to safely ascend.  The only emergency underwater is running out of gas, everything else is just an inconvenience.  Once the out of gas diver is breathing again, we move from emergency to management.  Just because someone ran out of air, does not mean that we rush to the surface, exceed safe ascent rates, skip safety/deco stops, or anything else we know about safe diving protocols.  The only option is to remain calm, think, communicate and finish the dive.

For more information about Rock Bottom or other Gas Management Options, contact me at jm@unifiedteamdiving.com

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James Mott

Over-weighted, the negatively buoyant student diver begins to grow more comfortable with the workings of a demand valve regulator.  It is from this kneeling position on the bottom of the pool that students are introduced to various skills necessary for learning to scuba dive.  DIR education is trying to change this behavior and enlighten new divers and instructors to the logic behind neutrally buoyant skill development.

For a student diver, the position of kneeling negatively buoyant on the bottom of the pool becomes a basic ready position.  Stable and rooted, the student learns to remove and replace their regulator and partially flood and clear their mask.  Eventually, more advanced skills are introduced like full mask clears, mask removal and replacement, air sharing, etc., all learned on the bottom of the pool, negative and upright.  Much like in martial arts, the ready position associates the body with comfort and control.  However, the diver is not in control and is only ready for sinking and falling.  In the three-dimensional world of scuba diving the only position of universal control is the prone, balanced, neutrally buoyant position.

Unfortunately, neutral buoyancy is a skill that is usually presented somewhere towards the middle or the end of a course.  Instead of being taught to associate neutral buoyancy with comfort, control and basic skills, new divers subconsciously fall into a head-up, knee down negative position every time they perform a skill.  This is why we see divers plummeting to the bottom while clearing their mask, clutching the mooring line with a death grip while making an ascent, kneeling in a cloud of silt while tying a reel or perched on top of brain coral while trying to take a picture.  The learning law of primacy tells us that we should start these new students the right way.  Start with a base of balance, buoyancy and positioning; on top of that we can build personal regulator and mask skills.

This is one of many ways where DIR education differs from traditional scuba training.  The law of primacy tells us that the first thing a student learns is the most remembered.  Subconsciously these are the natural responses that occur when we are forced to react to a situation underwater, where conscious decisions cease and instinct takes over.  DIR education introduces the student to the underwater world with neutral buoyancy, weighting, balance and positioning.  Through this building block approach the student then learns additional personal skills.  Regulator removal, recovery, mask clearing, mask removal and replacement, air-sharing, etc.… are all done while maintaining neutral buoyancy, with proper trim and body mechanics.

As the year 2009 comes to a close, the time to reexamine how we present underwater education is long overdue.  The law of primacy upholds the DIR educational model.  The building block approach not only gives the student a solid base to grow as a diver, but also reassures the student and instructor both that when faced with a problem underwater, whether it is a mask clear or an air share, subconscious instinct is to remain neutral, stay in trim, breathe regularly and solve the problem.

James Mott

DIR education differs from that of conventional diver training, in that DIR is rooted in a holistic system that is consistent with the students’ progression. This includes the essential building blocks of education, as well as equipment, experience and community. The idea is to “Start with the end in mind.”

Too many in the scuba industry deplete the necessary ingredients of quality education that DIR finds fundamental. A quick and cheap class, the bare minimum of equipment, reliance on technology rather than ability; these are the catalyst for problems that should not exits and simply do not exist for the well-trained, thinking diver. DIR teaches the awareness and understanding underwater that allows the diver to adapt to the three-dimensional world which they have become part of.

All DIR education starts with the development of individual personal skills that will transform a human being with $2,000 worth of SCUBA equipment on their bodies into a comfortable, neutrally buoyant, evolved diver who is truly a guest of the underwater world and not an intruder.

The basics of horizontal, neutrally buoyant body mechanics, balance and trim are the essential building blocks that are fundamental to all divers. Upon this base, more individual water skills such as a menu of propulsion techniques, muscular compartmentalization, equipment awareness and multi-tasking are the next level of individual skills that give the diver the necessary ability to become a cohesive and competent team mate. And this is where real DIR education begins….

DIR starts with an underwater skill base and then it builds upon that into a beautiful chemistry that is magical to see in the water.
To really become a DIR diver, to see what DIR really is and where it will truly take you… you need to be DIR.