Dive Like a Pro

Our panel of experts look at the essential core skills that divers of all levels should have in their diving arsenal.

Core skills. We hear that term a lot in diving

circles, but just what does it mean? We asked our team of diving experts from all of the main training agencies for their take on this terminology, and what they consider ‘core skills’ that should be the focus of every diver, regardless of their certification level.

BSAC Chief Executive Mary Tetley said: “Core skills are not just the concern of the new diver, they should be regularly practised by all divers to ensure that they can be performed safely and effectively when needed.

“Practice builds ‘muscle memory’ when it comes to key diving skills, and the aim should be to make them almost second nature. Effort put into regularly fine-tuning core skills will pay dividends when in open water.

“Honing buoyancy skills, for example, means a diver can focus on other aspects of their diving, secure in the knowledge that their buoyancy and trim is tuned in and that they can dive safely in a range of conditions and circumstances. Strong buoyancy and trim skills greatly improves the diving experience, helps to reduce gas consumption and makes time underwater all the more comfortable and enjoyable. So time spent practising at an inland site, in the pool or at the start of a dive is certainly well spent.

“Your core diving skills can also be a life-saver, either your own or that of your buddy, and practising them regularly means you are more likely to respond instinctively in what could be a chaotic situation. Regularly going through outof-gas, controlled buoyant lift, rescue breaths and towing scenarios can help to make your reactions instinctive in an emergency situation. Panic is a major factor in the incident pit and if your response is well rehearsed, you are more likely to be able to take control of a situation.

“And it doesn’t matter what level of diving experience you are at, it is also important to revisit those basic skills that set you up as a diver. Mask clearing, reg retrieval and free flow can all be overlooked as your diving gets more diverse, but they remain the bedrock of diving skills, whatever depth you are at.”

GUE instructor trainer John Kendall said: “There are several vital skills that every diver should have. Some are easier than others to attain, though. The major skill that every diver needs to have is self-awareness, and with that self-criticism. Being able to correctly analyse your own skill level, preparedness and capability before, during and after a dive is vital.

“After this, the core skills needed are buoyancy control, breathing control and body position control. These all link together to form the fundamental platform that a diver needs to be competent, confident and comfortable in the water. I have heard far too many instructors over the years

saying things along the lines of ‘Don’t worry too much about buoyancy, that will come with time’ – unfortunately, they are wrong. Buoyancy, just like mask clearing, is a skill that needs to be correctly taught and then practiced.

“Heavily linked into buoyancy control is what we call trim. Trim is the body’s orientation in the water. If when you kick your feet are low, then you will push yourself upwards, and this leads to divers not correctly setting their buoyancy, which is fine when they kick, but if they have to stop, then they sink. A test to try yourself is simply to stop moving your feet and see what happens to your depth.

“Finally, breathing control is a core part of buoyancy as well. You should be breathing in and out around the middle of your lungs. A good test is to just stop in the water. Inhale fully and see what happens, then exhale fully and see. Ideally you should move up slowly on a full inhale and sink slowly on a full exhale. If you find that you move rapidly in either direction, then you need to adjust the gas in your wing/BCD until you are back in the middle of your lungs.”

Garry Dallas, Director of Training for RAID (UK and Malta), explained: “It doesn’t matter what car you drive, how fast it will go, brake or its cornering ability. To safely get you from

A to B requires good driving skills… Awareness… If we just remove the ‘r’ from driving, awareness works the same in diving and is the most-intrinsic core skill a diver could have, the one at the top that governs everything else.

“Awareness isn’t just the ability to judge your distance from something or someone as you might think. We can break this down into three categories: Personal, global and domino effect.

“Personal awareness focuses on your mental state of mind before, during and after the dive; gas management and observation; confirmed dive plan; reserves; equipment working; your skills, including finning and trim on the dive.

“Global awareness is a spherical metering between the diver and everything around them, including your team mates. A 360-degree radius in every direction at any depth of water column.

“Domino effect awareness basically looks at the knock-on effect that not being aware in the first two instances has a consequential effect in the future moments. For example, poor finning technique could reduce the visibility for the diver behind or damage something, not sticking to a dive plan could leave your team not knowing what to do and when. Not looking after your equipment or servicing it may cause

a premature failure on the dive. Being dehydrated could make you feel nauseous or anxious, leading to other things. Poor trim will, in essence, have a knock-on effect on your buoyancy, your breathing rate (SAC/RVM) and your ability to think clearly. Every diver feels the advantages of good trim - you relax, you can hover and you can deploy a DSMB easily and without stress.”

Mark Powell, Business Development Manager for TDI/SDI, said: “Every year there are a burst of diving incidents around the start of the season due to divers jumping in for their first dive of the year and having problems with their equipment, or being rusty on their diving skills. Unfortunately, some of these incidents are fatal. Make sure you don’t become a statistic by carrying out an ‘Annual Service’ before your first of the year.

“Many divers dive all year round. They will book sea dives throughout the year in the knowledge that some will be blown out by the weather, but in some cases they will be lucky and get a great dive with potentially good visibility due to the lower levels of plankton in the cold water. For other divers, inland sites provide an opportunity to keep their skills sharp during the winter. On the other hand, there are some divers for which there is a definite ‘diving season’. They are unlikely to dive before May and the first or second May Bank Holidays are often the first planned dives. Others leave it until June, when the sea has warmed up even more and the May bloom has dropped off to plan their first sea dives. These divers will then start cutting down their diving in late-September or October and will hang up their kit for six months until the diving season starts again.

For these divers, this six-month lay-off means that skills levels have lost their edge, equipment has been unused and the diver is not considered ‘dive fit’. It is all too easy for the first dive trip of the year to creep up on us. One minute it’s New Year and the next it’s the day before our first dive trip. For these divers, an annual service before they restart diving is a good idea and there are a few simple steps that can be taken to ensure that the re-start of your diving activities is safe, incident-free and enjoyable.

“Most of us service our equipment every now and again (I did say most, not all) but how many of us put our diving skills through an annual MOT. If you dive regularly then your skills stay sharp, but if you last dived in September then you are probably a bit rusty. Before jumping into the sea for a real dive then try some practice dives.

“If you are a member of a club with access to a pool, then make use of it. Your local dive shop probably has pool evenings where you can go along and practice. A month or so before your first ‘real’ dive trip, you might want to think about a trip to an inland site. Most people have an inland site within an hour or two drive and these are an ideal spot to brush off the winter cobwebs.”

Emma Hewitt, PADI Regional Manager for Southern UK and Ireland and a PADI Master Instructor, said: “Being able to safely, easily and swiftly deploy a DSMB is a vital skill. In so many parts of the world there are strong currents and boat traffic in diving areas, therefore the use of a DSMB is imperative. Honing this skill and being able to comfortably execute it at any given time will mean increased safety for all divers in the group.”

Vikki Batten, PADI’s Training Supervisor and a PADI Examiner, said: “Body position (known as trim) in the water is sometimes seen as less important than buoyancy control, but really the two are interdependent. Think about the direction you are moving and whether you are making it easier or harder for yourself. Here is an example that happens frequently with divers who have some experience: If you are slightly negatively buoyant, it’s common to end up in a slightly feet down, torso up position then when fin you will tend to ascend slightly with each fin kick. Eventually you will ascend enough to be positively buoyant so you will exhaust some of the air from your BCD and sink, repeating the cycle again and making for an exhausting dive. If you haven’t yet mastered effortless buoyancy control, then get yourself back in a pool or shallow water and make sure you practice both buoyancy control and trim where you can crash and burn without damage to yourself or the environment. n