5 steps to becoming a Buoyancy Control master

Have you ever watched a fellow diver suspend effortlessly mid water while you do your best flounder impression? Have you wondered what the secret is to unlock this mysterious power? In this blog, I will reveal all in my 5 steps that will transform your diving from now on.

But first, why bother fine-tuning buoyancy at all? If we have poor buoyancy control then we will put more effort into swimming and spend more time going up and down as we overcompensate in our BCDs, we will use more air during the dive and have to shorten it. We will swim fins down and disturb the bottom reducing the visibility. All things to avoid where possible.

1 Dive correctly weighted

Diving correctly weighted is fundamental. With too much, we need to add lots of air into our BCDs to stay off the bottom, with lots of air in it becomes hard to control on the ascent. Over weighting tends to lower your legs leading to increased bottom touching and upward propulsion instead of forward, sending you up. Underweighting isn’t good either, you will struggle to descend at the start of the dive, then not be able to comfortably hold your safety stop depth at the end.

To find your perfect weight you need to perform a weight check. Kit up in your gear with an estimated weighting, enter the water, deflate your BCD while taking in a normal breath (about half full). You should float at eye level with your breath in and sink slowly once you exhale. Make sure you are not kicking, on your back, or standing on the bottom while you do this! Add or remove weights as needed. If you have used a full cylinder then you need to add 1-2kg to account for the weight of the air. Used cylinders weigh less than full ones. Record your magic number of kg for next time.

Note though that this will be specific to that kit configuration, water salinity and your current physiology. You will need to recheck if you change the kit especially suit thickness, go from salt to freshwater, or gain or lose body fat.

Owning your own gear means you will have a predictable set-up that you feel comfortable in. Making proper weighting easier.

2 Dive with proper trim

Once our weighting is sorted we can look at trim. Trim is how horizontal we are in the water. We should aim to be nice and level on our front while we dive. This gives us the most streamlined profile and reduces the effort it takes to move through the liquid.

Imagine yourself as an old balance scale with the pivot point around your middle. Any weight on either side of this point will tip the scale downward, any buoyant force on either side will tip the scale up. We want both sides balanced. We can accomplish this by distributing our weights on a belt, in integrated pockets in the BCD, small trim weights high up the BCD and heavy fins or ankle weights.

The best thing to do is play around with different weight placements until you find one that works for you. I like a medium belt with most in the BCD and trim pockets with heavy fins in a drysuit. You can find all sorts of weight solutions in the shop, and even try some out.

3 Visualise perfection

Top athletes will spend hours visualising their perfect race performance, picturing every detail and imagining how each will feel when the time comes. On the day they just have to follow the feeling they’ve trained for in their minds alongside the practical training.

It’s the same in diving, take some time to imagine in as much detail as possible the perfect dive where you have great buoyancy control, perfect trim, you avoid the bottom and everything feels effortless. Next time you go diving you will be surprised at the improvement already. As you dive be aware of what’s going on with your trim and position, breathing pattern, your finning etc. Sometimes good trim comes just from being aware of your legs. Avoid zoning out or thinking about what’s for dinner. Have someone video you as you swim to pick up on things you may not have noticed yourself. Recognise an area you’d like to improve on and focus on that.

4 Master breath control

This element brings together proper weighting and visualisation because once mastered we will be able to sink and rise in the water as we swim, or remain where we are without thinking about it. First, we must be neutrally buoyant. Start by deflating your BCD and laying on the bottom, then add little bursts of air until you rise when you inhale and sink when you exhale. Relax here for a bit then try to come up into a hover. Take in a larger inhale and a normal exhale to bring yourself up in the water, then resume a normal pattern. When hovering, notice how your breath changes your position. To go down exhale deeply and inhale normally, to go up take a bigger inhale and a normal exhale. Practice moving as close to some underwater structures like boulders as you can without touching. Use breath control to contour over them without adjusting your BCD. Soon enough you will be able to change depth intuitively. We practice this in the peak performance buoyancy speciality course and buoyancy workshops.

5 Slow down and relax

Most of us try to swim too hard on dives. The more we swim the more the water pushes back at us. We must kick and glide, kick and glide to efficiently propel ourselves through the thick soupy ocean. Avoid moving the arms, keep them by the side or out in front, see how your hands change your trim? Try different kick styles, maybe a frog kick would be less disruptive to the bottom, or maybe try little side to side kicks to pivot around without using your hands. When you want to stop and look at something, stop kicking even if your feet drop a little you won’t be stirring up the sand. If you’re still working on your breath control or it’s a bit surgy use a finger on something nonsensitive for stability, then lightly push away when you’re done. By slowing down and relaxing motionless where possible you will reduce your air consumption and enjoy a nicer dive experience.

Written by Adam West