Often students ask me if they could have done something to prepare themselves better for the course and generally the answer is yes. For most people, cave diving at the beginning is an unbelievable task loading activity simply due to the fact that they often struggle with basic skills.
Now “basic skills” sounds like something easy to come by but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
When I speak about “basic skills” I generally talk about three things:
- Buoyancy
- Trim
- Propulsion
In recreational diving we are getting used to many things which are counterproductive for cave diving and so a lot of times very experienced recreational divers have harder times in the cave course than less experienced divers. First they have gotten used to many bad habits, from a cave diving perspective and second they easily get frustrated when things don’t go their way. Often they are harder on themselves as the instructor and once they focus on being angry their performance declines which is kind of a vicious circle.
So let’s look at the above and see what you can do to get a head start and make especially the first couple of days more fun.
Buoyancy:
Usually in recreational diving we are used to drop down to the bottom adding air until we are neutral and then use our lungs for fine adjustments. While I was guiding that was always like a general rule, the more frequent a diver used his inflator the less experience he had.
In cave diving it is almost the opposite. The cave dictates our profile and often around here in Q.Roo this means saw tooth profiles. Given our relative weight in double tanks it is simply not as efficient to use the lungs rather than the wing for buoyancy changes. Another difference is the general type or style of diving. Cave diving often involves some form of traveling certain distances while in recreational diving we mostly limit our activities to a smaller region. In other words, one of the most important parts of cave training should involve learning techniques to swim distances as efficient and economic as possible. Not really to set records but to ensure for example calm exits after emergency scenarios with adequate gas reserves.
A relaxed and CONSTANT breathing pattern is a key element since it guaranties stable buoyancy with little up and down, lowers gas consumption and minimizes Co2 retention. Having too much Co2 in your blood has many negative consequences such as headache, elevated breathing rate as the body tries to get rid of it, increased risk of DCS, oxygen toxicity and inert gas narcosis amongst others.
Why is buoyancy so important, well I guess if you are reading this you have already a very good idea why but generally it has to be second nature because we need all the focus we have to direct it on new things such as laying line, team and cave awareness and so on. Being stable in the water is the platform on which we built everything else and in an environment where sometimes only inches separate my tanks from a highly decorated ceiling and my chest from a 3ft deep silt bed this skill is an absolute must.
So what can you do to prepare? Start to use more your inflator than your lungs for buoyancy changes and learn to deflate without changing too much your position in the water column. Train to hover motionless without observing your gauges but reference points only and try to limit depth variations to about a foot up or down. Start getting a feeling for your ascent rate, again, without observing your gauges.
Trim:
Well unfortunately most recreational BCDs in conjunction with hip worn weight belts or integrated weight pockets lower the center of gravity to a point where it is impossible to maintain a horizontal trim in the water, the optimal position for any type of overhead environment diving. So what can you do? Buy a wing style BCD and get the weight off the hip and try to move it further up so when you hover motionless you have a straight line from your shoulder to the knee, which is parallel to the floor with your back arched.
Why is this playing such an important role?
Well first up it minimizes the water resistance, which comes in handy if you want to travel 10ft with one kick instead of three. It also decreases exertion but maximizes efficiency which further lowers gas consumption and avoids Co2 built up. Proper trim is a must for each and every fining technique used in cave diving especially for the helicopter turn and the reversed frog kick which we will discuss in just a bit. In the low to no flow caves here it assists also in avoiding silting and without the air traveling up and down in the BC your buoyancy will be more stable.
Most people are not used to have their head so low in reference to the rest of their body when they enter the cave course, which often gives them the feeling of falling forward. This results in general discomfort which is never a good thing but more the root of other problems to follow. From the moment we walk our brain is used to be on top of our body and this is why most cave students almost instantly fall back in this position once confronted with a task loading activity. It takes a certain amount of concentration to stay in this position and when we require this amount for something else the horizontal trim goes out the window.
Picture and out of gas scenario in a cave where a diver drops vertical while exchanging regulator with his buddy and with it silting out the passage. Now he made a bad situation worse and as we know most accidents are not caused by a single, but cumulative factor.
Getting used to this position way before your course starts will be a tremendous help and in addition with good buoyancy skills establishes a perfect foundation.
How can you check your trim, fairly easy, just put your chin on your chest, you should be able to see behind you without stopping to be parallel to the floor though. And don’t worry if you are slightly off, it will avoid that your heels get in contact with the ceiling.
Propulsion techniques;
Or how we move our body and all the equipment attached to it through the water. Think of a diver in double tanks as of a car with the shoulders and knees being the four tires. In order to park in tight spaces I need the ability to turn in little spots, move forward and backwards. This is only meant to be a short introduction but a session with your instructor will be most likely necessary to optimize your performance.
Now when we want to move forward we use three types of kicks, mainly the modified frog kick. It is modified because in order to prepare the kick we do not lower our knees, but instead spread our legs horizontally to the sides. It is the most powerful kick we poses and has the advantage to propel your body straight forward while keeping the wash of your fins off the floor and ceiling where the sediments are. It uses the biggest muscle groups which is again important on long swims and properly done can gain you 10ft and more with one single stroke.
The frog kick consist of four basic steps, position number one which we hold when we hover motionless, two where we spread our legs and try to get our heels as far apart from each other as possible, three turning the blade to create as much surface area with which we can propel the water and four the most difficult fluent round motion where we steer the water to the back extending our legs and ankles fully while closing them. Now we stay in this position while gliding and wait for the momentum to slow down before bending our knees 90 degrees to get the feet back up.
The modified flutter kick which works exactly like the normal flutter kick with exception my fins do not go lower than my body. So generally I bend my knees up and down while constantly keeping my fins parallel to the ground. The main difference to the frog kick being that instead of propelling the water with the sole, I do so with the upper part of the fin and I kick with one leg at a time instead of with both. This also means that one leg is slowing me down due to creating water resistance while the other one is propelling. This kick comes in handy in canyon type tunnels where I do not have the horizontal space for the more efficient frog kick and also in touch contact for the diver in front.
Last but not least the shuffle kick. This one we use in tight or fragile places as well as the front diver in touch contact while passing a restriction. It is basically the same as the flutter kick just that all the movement is only done by the ankles leaving the thigh and lower leg almost motionless. Done properly one can gain an enormous speed with very little effort and little space. It is like pivoting on and off your accelerator in a traffic jam or tapping the rhythm while playing guitar for example.
As mentioned earlier there are two specialized fining techniques for diving in the overhead which are the helicopter turn and the reversed frog kick aka backwards kick.
The helicopter turn exists in two versions the slower and the faster one. The slower is nothing else than doing a frog kick only with one leg while the other one stays in place acting somewhat as a rudder. The rule is simple kick with the right leg and you turn to the left and vice versa. It is like sitting in a paddling boat. The faster version is to do a frog kick with one while you do a reversed for kick with the other one, again like in a paddling boat.
This is the only way we turn underwater and therefore extremely important. Since we always turn towards the line it is also important to be able to turn in both directions equally efficient.
The reversed frog kick is for many like black magic and source of legends. It is for sure the most difficult of all but with some guidance, training and will to practice it is achievable by everyone. Like all coordinated motions it takes time to build up muscle memory but compared to learning and instrument, joggling a football or serving a fast tennis ball it is really simple.
Remember the four positions of the frog kick, well, simply reverse them. Instead of pushing the water back with the sole pull it to the sides with the upper part of the fin. Important again is to not drop your kneed but shuffle the water to the sides. Start of with your legs straightened out and your heels together, turn your knees out so you form an ‘O’ with our legs. Now spread your legs and bend your knees back up so they are in position two of the frog kick. Don’t move; let the momentum carry you back a little before you gently close your legs making sure that your fins are flat in the water so they don’t propel you forward.
Why is it important to swim backwards, well mainly to stop your forward motion which is a tremendous help to keep a good contact with your team. It also helps you to stay in one place namely close to the line and your team while you perform other tasks. Of course I can live a life driving my car without parallel parking, but my life would be way easier and more efficient with it and therefore I need a reverse gear.
So how can you train all this. Start off lying on top of a flat surface that prevents you from bending your hip and lowering your knee. Put your fins on and practice the motions if you can next to a mirror so you see what your legs and feet are doing. Next, go to a swimming pool without your equipment but just your fins, mask and snorkel. Hold on to the side of the pool and practice. The water will give you an immediate feedback on what is working and what not. If possible ask a friend to do a video of your feet so you can debrief and correct yourself. Last, train with your gear on underwater and remember good buoyancy and horizontal trim give you the stable platform you need in order to do controlled movements with your legs and feet. Once you start to get the hang of it put something on the floor such as you reel and try to stay right on top of it for as long as you can with as little movement as possible.
Have fun practicing and remember it won’t come easy but once you have it, it’s like riding a bike.
If you come to the course with these skills in good shape you will spend less time in open water and move faster in the cave and there have more awareness for the environment, the line, your team etc. Also your instructor will be able to spend more time on showing you the finesses of cave diving rather than correcting buoyancy, trim and propulsion techniques.
If you have any question on how to prepare or practice don’t hesitate and drop me a line. I had a hard time with a bunch of this stuff and therefore know a couple of good tricks.
Make diving your art.
Patrick