Does anyone have prior training or tips on how to remain calm in/under the water?

ENS Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 20:08:04 -0400

Water: the great equalizer. It is easy to lose your head in the water, and easy to panic once stress is induced. What training or advice can you pass along to help others remain relaxed and become confident in a water environment?

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 8 at 2016 8:17 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 20:17:38 -0400

Zero substitute for experience. Training leads to equipment familiarity. Familiarity of diverse conditions (night, low visibility, overheads environments, etc) leads to confidence (and calm) when things go awry. It all comes through experience. The more you dive, the more probable it is that you or a dive buddy will have something go awry that must be solved. Get in the water, get new certifications, know your gear inside and out. With experience comes confidence.

Response by SPC David S. made Aug 8 at 2016 9:22 PM

SPC David S. — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 21:22:10 -0400

Training. Dive instrutor would rip off mask, sneak up behind and turn off air and so on in pool environment.

Response by MAJ Javier Rivera made Aug 8 at 2016 10:11 PM

MAJ Javier Rivera — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 22:11:27 -0400

Practice, practice, and more practice under the watchful eye of an experienced instructor!

Response by MAJ Raúl Rovira made Aug 8 at 2016 11:01 PM

MAJ Raúl Rovira — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 23:01:13 -0400

Fear is in the mind. We create that. The more I swim the more comfortable I get. From increasing the distance, to every bad experiences chocking, recovering, and moving forward. I know that even if I exhale there is plenty of time left before I really needing another breath. I am distance swimmer not a diver. It is all in the mind. Practice makes us better.

Response by Cpl Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 8 at 2016 11:42 PM

Cpl Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 23:42:22 -0400

It's only unnerving the first minute, once you realize you can breath, you can relax. Good Dive Masters can instill an even calm across a group also.

Response by MSG B D. made Aug 9 at 2016 1:35 AM

MSG B D. — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 01:35:59 -0400

Special Operations diver for the US Army here, also certified at age 16 to open water dive in 1989 to 130 ft (I know it's shallower now) I have well over 4,000 dives logged, that many or more non logged. Have worked tube blast from subs, mine and underwater missions all over the blue planet. Have dove black water so bad you couldn't tell if your eyes were closed or open and would rely on the line tender to direct you via bubble trail. I can say, everytime I enter the water, I still after 35 yrs of diving still get nervous. Like everyone said before, training, training and more training will help you learn to handle your fears. You will gain muscle memory and will perform tasK with out thinking.
Even to this day, after being retired from 26 yrs spec ops, I dive with a joint task force in our town of fellow fire dept divers, swift water personal as well as ex military divers from the Navy, airforce and army. We assist PD's in weapon/evidence retrieval, body searchs and recovery ect. Most everything is in darks, cold swift black water. Whenever I feel a little nervous, our handler is trained to listen to your breathing, watch your heart rate ect. We have to constantly remind ourselves to pause, breath slow and relax. The worst thing is what you can not see and what you fear. Training will help with it, but you will always feel apprehensive about entering the water and always deal with the adrenaline rush after it's over.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 9 at 2016 3:18 AM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 03:18:30 -0400

Diving since 1986. Training, dive planning, and equipment maintenance and inspection! Sound familiar?

Response by MSG Dan Castaneda made Aug 9 at 2016 10:46 AM

MSG Dan Castaneda — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 10:46:55 -0400

Although I am Dive Sup, I hate breath holds. Maybe because I smoked for a lot years prior to going to dive school. But with a lot training, I was able to beat the odds. Good luck buddy.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 9 at 2016 1:23 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 13:23:08 -0400

Do laps to build up stamina.
Focus on the task.
Start in shallow water.
Work your way out deeper and deeper.

Response by PO2 Mark Saffell made Aug 9 at 2016 2:19 PM

PO2 Mark Saffell — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 14:19:45 -0400

Im a dive Control Specialist and a dive tour guide. I have done 518 dives in an old lead mine. Trust me when you are leading people around in an underground lake what can go wrong does. MSG Private RallyPoint Member is correct. There are no secret bullets for becoming at ease in the water except doing it over and over. When I first started diving in the mine i had a ton of dives. I was a diver on the USS Enterprise and I had all the training...things they dont do to you any more like blacking out your mask and making you exchange equipment while they mess with you or teaching you to jump over the side and putting your equipment on on the bottom. So i was worried about getting my mask kicked off under rock. so I took two tanks, sat on the bottom of a lake you couldnt see 6 inch in and sucked two tanks of air without a mask on. It worked...i dont care if i have a mask on or off anymore when diving and trust me...its harder than it sounds. Dive every chance you get...in pools, lakes and the ocean. join a dive club and spend time talking and listening to other divers. When you stress, breath slow and controlled. Close your eyes and control your fight or flight response. Most of all Have Fun

Response by PO3 Cris Smyth made Aug 9 at 2016 2:57 PM

PO3 Cris Smyth — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 14:57:52 -0400

If your going to go threw BUD/S remember the instructors will not kill you. No better way to get use to the water then by swimming in it. Near the ocean spend time in the water swimming. Don't let your mind take over. Work on holding your breath and consintrate on relaxing. Scuba is very relaxing. I dive every chance I get. Swimming is not a equalizer for a person who is comfortable in water. It is a advantage in my opinion. Best of luck.

Response by SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 9 at 2016 5:38 PM

SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 17:38:08 -0400

As all have said before, training and familiarity.

I was trained civilian (PADI Advanced Open Water Diver) but Mother Ocean doesn't discriminate when it comes to hurting or killing you. Whether or not that happens is mainly up to you, but freakish stuff happens.

I am a "water-baby" so being in water comes naturally to me. I was "drown-proofed" at 6 months old, as my family lived in South Florida, and there is water within a stone's throw in any direction. So learning SCUBA was a natural progression for me at age 15. My dad is also a SCUBA diver, so I had some motivation to "be like dad" too.

I am a careful diver, but will admit I've had one or two dives where I tempted Mother Ocean to kill me, and by all rights she should have, but for dumb luck. I have not repeated those incidents again.

So train train and train some more. Get in/under the water as much as possible. Just like any other skill, the more you do it (right) the better at it you will be.

Response by SGT Virgil Pritchett made Aug 11 at 2016 2:54 PM

SGT Virgil Pritchett — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 14:54:07 -0400

A lot of above water practice and in a controlled invirment for what you are going to be doing, so when you're under water you are confident in what you're doing so if you run in to problems you're less likely to freak out and try to control you're breathing if you start to panic you will burn through uoure tank.

Response by SGT Frank Pritchett made Aug 11 at 2016 4:15 PM

SGT Frank Pritchett — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 16:15:07 -0400

What I do is to concentrate on breathing and watch the bubbles, if you need to you follow them up or maintain a zero buoyance until the panic attack is gone, always beware of your surroundings.

Response by PO2 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 14 at 2016 11:36 AM

PO2 Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 14 Aug 2016 11:36:37 -0400

First off if your afraid of confined spaces this isn't for you. Practice in shallow water all emergency actions you can think of until they become second nature is the best way to protect not only yourself but your dive partner. Main thing to remember is triple check your gear before you even touch the water, better to find an issue before it finds you. One other point make sure to carry two dive knives because if you get tangled in fishing line or nets sometimes you can't reach the one on your leg,, used to keep one on my left arm just in case, and make sure your using fresh batteries on your dive light.. I always took mine with me even on daytime dives, you never know. Don't have that many dives just 150 but still here to talk about them. Be safe, have fun...Diver Down!...lol

Response by COL Jeff Williams made Aug 20 at 2016 9:48 AM

COL Jeff Williams — Sat, 20 Aug 2016 09:48:51 -0400

People panic because they don't know what to do. If something starts going wrong, take a second or two and think about what the next step is you must take, and remember if you have your regulator and it is working, that is a good thing.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 22 at 2016 6:46 PM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 18:46:07 -0400

I suggest you take some PADI courses like rescue diver and self reliant Therese courses will at least put you through some stressful situations above and below water and with an instructor that will guide you through issues you may have, I know they won't compare to what you will have to go through but they will give you more confidence the water.

Response by PO1 Joe Burdette made Sep 2 at 2016 5:07 AM

PO1 Joe Burdette — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 05:07:45 -0400

I was an instructor for many years, I found that if you just learn that your not going to run out of air and focus on something like your octopus and take nice and easy breaths in you can relax but it might take a few try's

Response by Sgt Francisco Luna made Nov 16 at 2016 11:59 PM

Sgt Francisco Luna — Wed, 16 Nov 2016 23:59:09 -0500

I never feared the water, even when the Dive instructors took my air and forced me to the bottom. I always trusted them to revive me if I blacked out. Thankfully I never drowned and I was able to perform the tasks I had too. The Dive instructors always asked me how I was able to stay calm. I simple told them, if I died they would have to live with the death of a good diver.

Response by Sgt Jeff Kelly made Nov 28 at 2016 2:37 PM

Sgt Jeff Kelly — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 14:37:38 -0500

I did commercial diving in Port of Miami when I was young. We called it black water diving because you were under a ship doing repair work and operating hydraulic tool. Being out of shape is no place for any diver doing anything challenging. It takes time to become very familiar and comfortable in rough, dirty, fast moving water. Training and experience are necessary to conquer stress.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Oct 31 at 2020 12:36 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Sat, 31 Oct 2020 12:36:46 -0400

Learn how to float. After you learn how to float, learn how to swim.

Response by HN Alex Slinkard made Jan 28 at 2022 5:26 AM

HN Alex Slinkard — Fri, 28 Jan 2022 05:26:55 -0500

So long story short diving a wreck in Palau solo (not smart) and got stuck on 3rd deck (60ft) couldn’t get loss hose or tank stuck tied up ( what nightmares are made of) I stopped access my air. Tried to rotate moved in different directions nothing worked (starting to get a little nervous) stopped and re-assess what next move was about to cut gear and take a look at what I was stuck on and like a miracle was free turned out it was a piece of steel bar looped in my hoses.. so my advice Think of situation try to resolve.. no effect re-assess try again if you breathing (have air in tanks ) you have options. And above all just find your calm