Diving and Insecurities
Greetings beautiful bubbly buddies,
Recently, there has been an uptick in the progress of my divemaster program. I took and passed my written exam! Woohoo! I have also been focusing on chasing my next goal, preparing for GUE Fundamentals. The tie that binds these two goals is proficiency. The biggest take away that I am left with comes from an article the S-Fish found entitled, “Blueprint for Survival 2.0 — Technical Diving” by Michael Menduno & Billy Deans. It summarizes some important facts in an acronym: AKTEE
A — Attitude
Proper attitude is essential, particularly an attitude that focuses on conservatism.
In evaluating myself, I am attempting to maintain as positive and studious an attitude as possible. I have to be careful because I tend to be very hard on myself. In some exciting news, the M-Fish is on the mend! I am so excited for him to be back and to learn all the things from him. I want to know all the things!! I am looking forward to the opportunity to learn from a true master of the sport. I am honored and humbled to be his student and this is the attitude I will be carrying forward into the program.
K — Knowledge
Appropriate knowledge base for the level of diving in which you are participating.
I love to learn! I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge base. I am also looking forward to acquiring new and different knowledge! I am also looking forward to learning the “why” behind different things and why things are done the way they are and the history of that why.
T — Training
Your skills and training need to be fluid and proficient.
This is one of the other parts I am SO excited about. SKILLS! I have already had the privilege of having the K-Fish and the S-Fish helping with trip and buoyancy and getting me switched from the traditional recreational configuration into the back DIR configuration. I cannot wait to learn skills from the M-Fish. He makes it look so flawlessly smooth, and he DOES NOT move in the water column while performing the skills.
Bonus points to the S-Fish and the K-Fish for listening to me whine about my impending training phases :)
E — Experience
While experience requires participation, appropriate and safe participation for the type of diving you would like to participate in is crucial. Diving within your experience and training level is crucial.
Experience only comes with time. I am not at all concerned about this. Not in an arrogant way, but in the sense that I get the experience of having the M-Fish teach me how to spread the love of the ocean. I’ve always been so incredibly impressed by the way he teaches and I cannot wait to experience that from a new perspective. Cool story about the picture — I was able to navigate to that plaque. I need to knock the dust of my navigation skills but I found the plaque! :D
E — Equipment
Proper equipment for the dive and understanding the purpose for the equipment is key.
I’m excited about learning some of the finer points about manipulating my DIR configuration. There is so much to learn and there is basically an endless plethora of things I can learn about it and I cannot wait to learn more about how I can become more proficient with my equipment.
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I am learning more and more that there is a high percentage of insecurity in diving. This level of insecurity comes from a number of sources. We are going into an environment that we really are not designed to survive in on equipment that is man made, which means it can fail. It comes from a need to keep up with the “Jones’”. Everyone has their own version of the Jones’. Then you have the people who want to make everything competitive and aren’t concerned about the fall out of this kind of attitude.
This summer has been a very large growing experience for me. Not to pout or rehash old mash, but this summer has been hard. The pandemic and the inability to feel safe and comfortable amongst people has been really depressing and stressful in a deep and unique way. The positive that came from this, is that I’ve had the opportunity to really reflect and make a definitive list of things I need to focus on and improve. One of those things is my insecurities about my diving. So what am I insecure about?
My ability to beach dive.
Oh beach diving…my seductive foe. I’ve gotten “tumbled” multiple times. For those of you that are unfamiliar with what it means to get tumbled:
Imagine a turtle getting pushed over onto its shell…in the surf. Getting hit by waves.
Funny image…if you’re not the turtle.
I DESPISED beach diving for years! I refused! I would not do it! Until 2 summers ago. Now I have to work on my confidence. I’ve gotten tumbled, I knocked myself over, I’ve lost a mask. I’ve had sand EVERY WHERE. And, for official record, I mean EVERY. POSSIBLE. PLACE. Getting tumbled is like the ultimate Microderm abrasion and I don’t recommend it.
Good news! It’s getting better! But, it is something I have to be aware of, always. It is also a source of fear that I need to control. It is definitely getting better.
Watermanship skills.
I never learned to swim. Why? I don’t know. Can I tread water? Yes. Am I confident that if it came down to brass tacks I could help someone else in water? Yes. Can I swim fast? No. Not at all. Do I use proper technique? Absolutely not. Do I get there? Yup. Is it something I’m working on? You bet your socks I am! The S-Fish even helped me with snorkel skills the other day! I was excited, I piked and tuck dove and it was fun! I even had fun making mistakes.
Trim/Buoyancy
It’s not that I am entirely “insecure” with these skills but I am solidly frustrated with it. The K-Fish and the S-Fish have been helping me quite a bit and have been making progress! I’ve been learning a lot about how to go from a head up angle diver and am currently chasing the pancake flat trim position. I can’t wait to work with the M-Fish on these skills! I want to get as close to perfection as I can. Be the pancake!
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I don’t feel the need to be competitive most of the time. I can be very competitive. I prefer to be competitive with myself. Be better than I was yesterday. Grow my skills and refine them. Grow my knowledge and apply it. I also would much rather build a community of people who work together to support each other in their insecurities and work together to make their insecurities a thing of the past and to move forward. I firmly believe it can be done and I also believe that by working together to work past insecurities, you can build a community of kind, mindful and supportive buddies. This is the biggest reason I am honest about my feelings and experiences. We can all learn from each other and, honestly, it helps me think through some of my experiences. Plus, transparency is a good policy, generally speaking.
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At the end of the day, scuba is supposed to be fun. It is a hobby and for some, myself included, a burning passion. For me, I need to find the balance between fanning the flames and not letting them burn too hot or rage out of control.
Keep it fun. Keep working on your skills. Keep expanding that knowledge base. Laugh at the goofy moments. Enjoy the ride. Oh and try not to be the turtle :)
xoxo,
Mermaid K
