| Shutdowns are important, but, to echo Howard, reliably holding stops is a key skill.
Practice holding midwater stops with a visual reference - ie shot and then turn around and hold them without being able to see the shot. This is something that can and should be done at the end of every dive.
Next step - start task loading at a mid-water stop with no reference - deploy your DSMB, flood and clear your mask, remove and replace mask, swap mask.
Once your happy with all of these and your confident that you can reach your valves then spend time at the beginning of dives and at 6m doing shutdowns.
Once you've got the buoyancy control and the flexibility / kit set up valve drills are not a drama. Slow and steady is good, rushed and chaotic is not.
Hugh
PS - next time you're stuck in a traffic jam do some arm stretches - reach round behind your neck rest as far as you can and hold until the traffic moves. It's more productive then getting stressed at the traffic. |