mask filled flutter kicks

[SRMoore]

I know that this doesnt have to do with the cold or sleep but I heard that 30 people dropped out when they had to fill their masks up with water and perform flutter kicks. I've tried this a few times and I hate to say it but it's the only thing giving me real problems.

Water runs down my throat everytime that i breath out. If anyone has tried this and could explain in detail their method i would much appreciate it. It may just be that i am much more comfortable with swimming goggles than a scuba mask (swam my whole life competatively).

I still have about 2 months until i ship so plenty of time to practice anyone's advice.

[reub89]

never tried it but seems like it cud cause some problems..when do u ship..i ship in oct? bootcamp at the same time? same BUDs class?

[JPRecon]

Try stuffing cotton up your nostrils, or use the wax swimmers use to plug there ears....May not be water tight but it will make it more manageable.

[SRMoore]

I ship sept. 26th. when in october do you ship?

and i thought about putting stuff up my nose but a few things:
a) wouldn't the BUD/S instructors mind?
b) I may not even know the day that we are going to do it so how will i be prepared.
c) If they dont want me to do that and i do it anyways they would probably come down on me very very hard.

I'll figure out how to do it, But I really have no idea where to start because i cant breath out my nose while i breath in my mouth and for some reason water just always goes down my throat.

[SRMoore]

So I realize that i'm dominating my own forum but after working for a few hours on it today I became very comfortable with it. If you are having troubles with it the same way that i was this is how i got over it.

I was getting water down my nose everytime I breathed out and I tried to swallow each time. Just let it run down and breath slow deep breaths. If you can't do it on your back than fill your mask standing in the shallow end and get used to it slowly tilting your head back. Swallow about every 4 breaths, long deep breaths and getting used to it made me good enough to do flutter kicks with my head flat on the ground.

I hope that if anyone else had this problem that it helped them.

[kklingman]

so where do you do this? at a public pool? i think people would look at me like i was a f***ing psycho.

[kklingman]

As soon as I get my mask, i'll be joining you in figuring out the mystery of the flutter kicks with water filled mask though. And I'll definitely try out your method.

[brian411]

I suggest swimming a few laps with your mask full every time you go to the pool. It will help you get used to the sensation and dealing with all the psychological crap cause thats really all it is.

[SRMoore]

hey kklingman in response to where i do this you were 100% on both accounts. I do use public pools and yes people look at me like a f***ing psycho.

Brian I see that you're out of bremerton, do you have any training groups? I'm from bellevue but i train with a bunch of guys out of alderwood and lynnwood.

[brian411]

There aren't any training groups around here. I know there's a few groups over your way and south in tacoma area. BTW Chief Swetzof is doing a PST on Tuesday if you or anyone you know can make it give him a call.

[SRMoore]

Actualy he is doing one on monday in Everett. what do your pst scores look like and when do you ship? ... if you dont mind me asking.

[maphic]

hey.

I have a technique that worked for me when my mask floods when I scuba dive.
When my mask first flooded on me I took in a huge thing of water through my nose and panicked. So I practiced different ways of breathing with water in my mask so I can stay calm when this happens.
This will sound stupid but trust me it works. Take a snorkel, if you dont have one you can buy a cheap one at a sports store or even walmart/target.
Fill you kitchen sink up with cold water (do not use warm water), put the snorkel in and put you face in the water and breathe for a few minutes like this. You may need to do this a few times before you get comfortable while breathing with water in and around your nose. What you are doing is learning how to breathe with water on your face. When you have your mask on in Scuba you obviously do not have water touching your eyes or nose, so it can be a shock when water hits these areas during a dive. Which results in you breathing in water.
You learn to control this by breathing through a snorkel with your face in cold water. Also dont wear a mask when doing this it will defeat the whole purpose. lol

If you decide to try this let me know if it worked for your flooded mask flutter kicking exercise.

[donald12345]

I dont have a problem with it at all. No water goes down my throat. But you said you got your head flat on the ground, which is not the correct form for flutter kicks. Your supposed to have your chin into your chest to where your head is off the ground at all times. Try it like that and see if you still got problems.

[SRMoore]

hey donald, I've gotten it to the point where no water goes down my nose anymore. I only put my head flat to see if I could, I know that it isnt the correct form. Maphic thank you for the idea. My mom just bought her self a cheap snorkel and mask set and the mask just broke so perfect.

I talked to someone in the last PST I took who happened to be in the gym. He was a DOR and he dropped while doing mask filled treading. Confirms that this is a real problem for at least a few people so make sure you test these "waters" before the real gig in BUD/S. I repeat I originally thought I would have no problem and I am a strong swimmer. TRY IT and get comfortable!

[joshchora]

try clamping your teeth so the water stops there while air goes through, but that is just a guess so don't expect anything. it seems like it would work

[I_am_drew_brown]

Actually when you do this in BUD/s, you are laying on your back, and your head is hanging off the edge of the pool, almost up side down. The evolution is teaching you how to "close" off your nose, so no water will go down. There really isn't any easy way to describe it, you just do it until your body naturally does it. Then you will never have a problem doing it again, just like SRMoore has seen.

I would be a little skeptical of "30 people dropped" during that evolution though. I don't think that we lost any in our class. It sucks till your body "closes" your nose, and then it is no big deal.

But you need to learn how to do that incase you have problems with your mask during the real deal.

[bud/s sucks]

Drew answered it properly, your head is hanging off the side of the pool, it shouldn't be that hard. We only had two guys quit. The evolution during mask appreciation that sucks the most is the beehive.

[I_am_drew_brown]

The bee hive sucks a$$. Just take a big breath and spend some time on the bottom.

[Term]

Could you fill us in on what the bee hive is?

[bud/s sucks]

Could you fill us in on what the bee hive is?

You and your group of guys huddle around an instructor in the 15ft section with masks full of water. You have to stay shoulder to shoulder and tread water for 5mins. As soon as someone panics and pulls another person down, it ruins everyone and it turns into 5mins of hell.

[dive doc]

Just another fun day in the pool from the sounds of it :)

Treading water using hands, or hands on the shoulders of the guy next to you?

[joshdupre]

like Drew said I haven't been to buds but for training our Chief done that with us one day and to get us used to it and to train our bodies to shut that valve off that allows the water to flow we hung our legs on the edge of the pool. Our calves on the side and our butts on the wall. Then we would without a mask tilt back till we were upside down and our heads were touching the wall and we would hold it for 3-4 secs then we would sit back up. We done that 10 times, the first time it was a sinus flush and I couldn't do it. However by number 8 I was good, and once we done that we filled our mask with water and all three of us done 20 4 count flutter kicks no problem with the water. Since then I haven't had much of a problem with it, we also swim on our backs with fins when we fill our mask. Hope that helps you peeps out.

MR2

[bud/s sucks]

Just another fun day in the pool from the sounds of it :)

Treading water using hands, or hands on the shoulders of the guy next to you?


However you could survive. Of course, if everyone kept a slender profile and didn't start wiggin', it would be all good. But that's never how it works out :(

[m2]

The following technique may work for some people.

While you are putting on your water-filled mask...push the mask against your face a bit harder than normal. What that should do is create a strong vacuum/suction inside the mask. With that suction inside the mask the water will not run down your nose.

It's like filling a straw with water and putting your finger on the top end of the straw...water will not flow out the bottom of the straw until you remove your finger...releasing the "suction" effect.

[eriq.law]

Check this out boys . . . get in contact with the NRS Everett station. If you are in DEP in the Greater Seattle area they will hook you up with a "Dive Motivators MOtivators" program. I am from Bothell and i joined up two years ago and they hooked me up with it. They do it Every saturday at the NSE base out in Everett. They bring you on base and basically beat the **** out of you for a good 6 or seven hours, in and out of the pool. Its pretty bad ***. I ship out to bud/s some time around May, im at the Navy Ceremonial GUard in D.C. right now. have fun, good luck and hope to see us all in the Teams some day.
-Law

[missathletic]

The following technique may work for some people.

While you are putting on your water-filled mask...push the mask against your face a bit harder than normal. What that should do is create a strong vacuum/suction inside the mask. With that suction inside the mask the water will not run down your nose.

It's like filling a straw with water and putting your finger on the top end of the straw...water will not flow out the bottom of the straw until you remove your finger...releasing the "suction" effect.

Wouldn't this be defeating the purpose of the exercise?

[m2]

Wouldn't this be defeating the purpose of the exercise?

:) that depends. I've always believed in the saying "work harder not smarter". Plus, I've done mask filled flutter kicks with water running down my throat and coughing. If the purpose of the exercise is to know what it feels like...been there, done that.

[m2]

:) that depends. I've always believed in the saying "work harder not smarter". Plus, I've done mask filled flutter kicks with water running down my throat and coughing. If the purpose of the exercise is to know what it feels like...been there, done that.

hahaha I mean "work smarter not harder" LOL

[missathletic]

haha do it once and that's enough, huh?

[ddssdv]

At birth you were a mouth breather. By one years old you became a nose breather. ANY diver training makes you a mouth breather again. It isn't easy but can be done with concentration. Swim without a mask and blow air as you do from your mouth only. This helps develop the brains natural urge to breathe from the nose. Work at it. Practice.

[searles72]

They teach you this in Open Water Scuba Diving Certification also.

[jp116]

I will concur with everything that has been said here so far. This is one of those evolutions at the pool that just sucks. It is not quite as sucky lifesaving but it is up there. I think it was 268 that lost a lot of people but it was during the beehive, but I'm pretty sure it was eight at most. I had problems with water running down my nose and I didn't find out until the evolution started! I just kept reminding myself to keep my hands under my butt and do not move them, because if you touch your mask or take it off it is a non-verbal DOR. Sometimes they give you a warning other times they don't. I ended up throwing up 5 times right after the flutter kicks, it was all yummy pool water. The beehive is way worse than flutter kicks. It can become pure pandamonium if guys in your class start freaking out. They take about twenty guys at a time and they make create a circle around an instructor. But then you have other instructors on the outside of the circle splashing you and pushing you closer and closer together. They are just waiting for that tipping point of when someone freaks out. Once that happens the rest is just a matter of survival. I just took a bunch of big breaths and went underwater, which is also the technique I used in 2nd phase during the tread.

[docman]

Just so you know, yes, this is the day most people fail out cause they are not comfortable with it. But no, you do not lay flat on your back. Well yes and no. Actually you lay flat on your back with your head pointing down towards the watter while doing flutter kicks and singing as loud as you can. Then with an instructor standing over you yelling if your water level in your mask goes too low, he will kindley remind you to dip your face back in the water to refill it. But most people dont have a problem with this. Its the bee hive that follows. Now that is another story in itself.

[docman]

Oh, and to the guy who wrote above me, I was in 268 and yes we lost a **** load. A lot of them our best guys. So no matter how big of a stud you think you are, remember there are many ways you will be tested at BUDs. Good luck

[gator33]

We did this at dive school for about an hour one day and it was on the ramp to the bay. I just kept sucking water up my nose and letting it out of me mouth and when they would see it was getting low I would be told to fill it up. I just kept doing that until the beating was over. The bay water was delicious.

[ddssdv]

Try it with masked filled,lying on your twin 72's with fins on doing flutterkicks on the quaywall. SUCKs.

[bud/s sucks]

Try it with masked filled,lying on your twin 72's with fins on doing flutterkicks on the quaywall. SUCKs.

Our twin 80's PWN joo :P