Depressed & Defeated

[Mal Bridgeman]

Marty

Don't lose heart, fella.

In your write up you describe with such passion how your diving has been improving .... your situational awareness, your team play and your comfort with mask off to pick a few, it was not so long ago that was a "big" deal for you.

You seem to have a "performance" problem with the left post .... so you are not alone .... everyone I know struggles more with the left post than any other .... at those moments of stress when internal muscle tension takes over, we none of us can achieve the same stretch as before.

Then counter intuitive things start ... trim goes a bit, pushing the valve a bit further back and so it just gets worse.

This really is not an unfamiliar journey, Marty, but with practice, you can overcome the tension and force yourself to relax in order to perform as you can in the pool. Re-establish the trim, relax then have another go.

If you have absolutely made up your mind to invert, though, then good luck with that too.

Best
Mal

[MartyC]

Thank you all for your wishes and support, apart from that bloke I'm not supposed to mention
I won't give up, I'll keep on till I get it, the inverts will be a stop gap solution - again through personal choice - it may take me a while but I'll get there, might help if I lay off the pies for a while

[Reikimaster]

great report, and by the sound of it another great course by mark

the one thing you have to remember is you can dive.

there are things that you may need to pratice, for when you extend your diving but you can do it. i would say stay with what you have got and practice.

take all the offers from people that are willing to help, most of them will be talking shit that wont help but its always nice to know the options, then someone will tell you something that clicks.

top tip, {talking shite mode on}the valves are just behind your head, just reach back and turn them

[Janos]

Excellent post. Don't beat yourself up about it. No-one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes.

The most important question is: Is my diving safe?

Janos

[Mal Bridgeman]

Originally Posted by Janos

Excellent post. Don't beat yourself up about it. No-one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes.

The most important question is: Is my diving safe?

Janos

You dive a KISS, Janos, it's designed to kill you and you still ask that question
Mal

[Frankie Price]

Great report, all sounds so familiar..

[principia]

might help if I lay off the pies for a while

That is just crazy talk

J.

[tom]

Originally Posted by MartyC

I won't give up, I'll keep on till I get it, the inverts will be a stop gap solution - again through personal choice - it may take me a while but I'll get there, might help if I lay off the pies for a while

In that case, can I make a suggestion: DON'T invert the cylinders again.
The reasoning is that with that kit config, you're never going to get where you want to be unless you regularly change it all around again for practice. You'll be training different skills and muscle memory.

If you only see this as a temporary stage, why not dive your twinset as independents instead. You'll need to rethink a few things (gas planning and sharing maybe) but you'll be able to a) dive safely and have fun, with b) a kit config close to what you eventually want, and the possibility of practicing reaching your valves.

[hebails]

Marty,
this is a great report so thanks for taking the time to post it.
I have the same course in March with Mark and, like you, I am struggling with the shutdowns in full cold water gear.
I have spoken to SteveS about his inverts so maybe pm him as he has a great setup and is only too happy to talk to you about it.
On the other hand, it took Garf 18 months to sort out his drills so there is hope for us lesser mortals
Please keep us posted on your progress

[neilh]

Great post Marty and I feel for you mate, I really do!

It took me a long time to be able to stretch enough to reach my valves - like you the left was a real bind. For a while I could manage it by having my 1st stages angled so they pointed out in line with the knobs and gave me a "handle" to hold with a couple of fingers while I used the others to turn the knob! Not ideal, but it worked and helped me practice the drill and reaching back.

I guess you've got a couple of options depending on where you want to go now. If you've got a spare set then you could invert one to use on dives where you want to know you can shutdown if you need to and the other which you can dive as a big single and practice. Alternatively could you do the diving you want to do for the next few months with a single? If so, leave them valves up and keep on practicing.

I need to get some practice in myself so more than happy to sort out some Blue Lagoon evening trips