How to practice together in a best possible way...

[Diving princess]

Hi all,

We have finally managed to create a team of three females here in Oslo:) Now we just have to start diving together as well...hopefully we will have our first dive next week...

May be a silly request, but I would like to get some tips on how we can get as good as possible :D Do you guys have any advice on how we should proceed from here? What works and what does not work? How to unify a team in a best possible way? I know that there is no perfect answer here, but I would just like to hear your advice and learn from your experiences (both good and bad ones :cool: )...

I know that at least two of us would like to take our Tech 1 next summer...

[MonkSeal]

Video reviews are good for improving skills. Simple still camera with option of clip making will do. You can use it shallow when practicing kicks and drills before you're confident enough to carry it for deeper dives.

[Dan Partelly]

For diving skills, generally I wouldnt recomand anyone to buy a DVD, but Andrew Georgitsis's skill DVDs are pretty well done. Get Intro to Tech DVD + Tech DVD , its a small investment for a team of 3. The truth is you can find over the internet a lot of other skill videos , but they are small resolution and you cant always see clear in detail whats going on, the DVD being much better. COmbined with what Monk recomanded , video reviews, you got a pretty powerfull tool.


And dont forget , as we concluded in another thread, DIR princesses have to dive fashionable non-DIR neoprene suits ;)

Dan

[Diving princess]

And dont forget , as we concluded in another thread, DIR princesses have to dive fashionable non-DIR neoprene suits ;)

Dan

Hehe...at least till my DUI TLS350 suit arrives :D

[rjack]

Be willing to discuss any and all shortcomings of the dive/practice as a team. Be willing to be critical of each other, but when you're done with the discussion/debriefing stop talking about it and move on.

Its hard to get better when your teammates hesitate to criticize because they're afraid to hurt your feelings. Overall, respect each others strengths and weaknesses. Have fun.

Richard

PS, another vote for the DVDs as a visualization tool.

[Cbsaw]

In preparing for Tech one myself, I have found that the biggests, baddest drill is an Accent / Decent Drill, to 60 or 70 feet. If your team can accomplish this many many times, there will not be much you cant do together. After you come together as a team and can judge your timing correctly on your slides, do a dive plan that incorporates, and S-Drill at one stop, a Valve Drill at another and a Basic five at another, and soo on.. And everytime on the surface be critical of each other, and take all critcism likewise, and incorporate into the next drill.



Chris

[Deep6]

Regardless of what type of drills you and your team conduct, keep in the mind that the most important team building activity is 'regular' diving.

It is easy to get caught up in a habit of conducting similar 'training dives' at the familiar local dive site, practising until all your drills and skills are picture perfect, but this repetative form of diving chokes your awareness and ability as a thinking diver.

Facing new and challenging situations by visiting different dive sites and enjoying different profiles will keep the team awake, and identify a wide range of minor cooperation and communication errors that a pre-set list of drill won't. However, you can always end a dive with a little practise, wherever you go! :)

[db8us]

It may sound stupid, but nominate something like "the princess of the day".
She will then lead during the training day, what to do, briefing debriefing etc. next time another chick does the princess.
Diving is democratic, but only BEFORE or AFTER a divingday :-)
Michael

[Dawn]

It may sound stupid, but nominate something like "the princess of the day".
She will then lead during the training day, what to do, briefing debriefing etc. next time another chick does the princess.
Diving is democratic, but only BEFORE or AFTER a divingday :-)
Michael

...and the "princess" gets the hot solar shower while the rest of the crew gets the cold river bath after the dive, right? :p

Seriously, I think this is a great idea Michael. The days I've gone to hang with a team doing training, it usually breaks out into an hour long discussion about which skills, how, in what order, etc. before anyone gets in the water.

I tried to convince the the guys I was diving with this morning to run things this way, but no one was secure enough with his masulinity to be called "princess for the day" :rolleyes: Another cool aspect to an all-female team :p

Good luck to you, Dijana and team, and have fun!

Good diving,
Dawn

[Dan Partelly]

I tried to convince the the guys I was diving with this morning to run things this way, but no one was secure enough with his masulinity to be called "princess for the day" :rolleyes: Another cool aspect to an all-female team :p

Good diving,
Dawn


Hahhahahah. Good one. If you ever convince a guy to be a princess, even for one day, please share the story with us ! Those posts, which contains a shade of humour , are so cool to read.

[LCF]

I think the most important thing is to dive together -- a LOT.

My practice buddy and I did a lot of training dives while we were working on converting our provisionals to passes for Fundies. But we also went diving for fun, observing all the protocols and procedures we had learned. Time spent in the water together was really valuable. It improved our sense of one another, our positioning, our underwater communications, and it built confidence for each of us in the other.

Be careful not to drill SO much that you begin to lose the joy of what you are doing.

[Wedge]

...and the "princess" gets the hot solar shower while the rest of the crew gets the cold river bath after the dive, right? :p

[...]

I tried to convince the the guys I was diving with this morning to run things this way, but no one was secure enough with his masulinity to be called "princess for the day" :rolleyes:


I'd be a dive princess, or any princess for that matter, any day. Not sure if that reflects on the security of my _masculinty_ though, more on my fabulous feminine side. ;)

But who would be my knight in shining armour? That, of course, would always be the boat captain, whoever she be.

[Diving princess]

I'd be a dive princess, or any princess for that matter, any day. Not sure if that reflects on the security of my _masculinty_ though, more on my fabulous feminine side. ;)

...yea...most likely your fab faminine side, Wedge... :D

...I will try and see how "the princess of the day" thing works with my male dive buddies and let you know...on the serious side...my female buddies liked the idea as it is true that we often spend 15-20 min on deciding who should do what and why and when...

[Dawn]

Be careful not to drill SO much that you begin to lose the joy of what you are doing.

Probably one of the best pieces of advice I've seen given in a long time :)

[MSD]

Absolutely. The trick is not just to have training as the only objective, but to weave training and exercises into regular dives.

I did quite a lot of cave diving in a group of three in Britain. We tended to dive pretty independently (the typical technique for British sump diving is that you have a basic diving unit of one person, because of the communication difficulties in very poor visibility) and every dive had a specific objective (other than training). Nevertheless we used to learn a lot from each other.

A good time for playing around is deco stops. We would sometimes do things like lost line drills, or practice removing equipment underwater and putting it back on again, etc. etc. It's more fun than just sitting there, you keep warmer and you sharpen your skills.

Mark