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"INTRODUCTION"
As divers, we often view our performance in terms of
the manueuvers we can, or cannot, do. Skills, and
their respective levels of development, are
certainly of concern to both the beginning and
accomplished diver. In grooving motor skills and
attempting to enhance our performance, it appears
useful to consider a number of competing factors
impacting physical performance and mental
perception, and especially their interplay, the so
called head games of competitive endeavor.
Accomplished athletes often exhibit exceptional
control of mental disposition, superb reflexive
mastery of movement patterns, and uncanny ability to
visualize motor skills. Some of that performance
ideology can be applied to both learning to dive and
diving better, a more pedestrian, yet equally
complex, activity. |
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"SKILL PERCEPTIONS"
The word skill underscores proficiency in the
performance of certain motor tasks. The acquisition
of a skill requires both practice and the desire to
assimilate, or learn, the skill. The rate of skill
assimilation depends on muscular dexterity, the
degree of understanding of the skill, the complexity
of the skill, and the standard of performance set
for the skill. Conscious, and even unconscious,
perceptions of these skill factors are mainly
centered, and controlled, by one side of the brain,
the right side.
Recent studies have established that the brain
hemispheres have different cognitive styles and ways
of perceiving and processing information. Both
hemispheres interact through a connected nerve
bundle (corpus callosum), and, when necessary, can
gradually assume the functionality of the other.
Most activities use both sides of the brain, but
motor activities draw principally upon the right
hemisphere, while cognitive activities rely more
upon the left hemisphere.
The left side is the smart
side and the right side is the skilled side. Another
way to describe that separate functionalty is verbal
and nonverbal. Left brain activities are analytical,
such as thinking, reading, writing, talking,
counting, and dissecting patterns in sequential
(parts) manner. Right brain activities are creative,
intuitive, and associative, such as dreaming,
composing, crafting, drawing, laughing, and
integrating patterns in holistic (whole) manner.
The
right brain, oriented towards holistic grasping of
complex patterns, can deal with multiple concepts,
making those intuitive leaps that complete otherwise
disjoint, but logical, associations of the left
brain. In physical activities, such as diving, both
sides of the brain interact to control movement
patterns, but the perceptual and information-processing functions required are those
of the right brain.
In learning to dive, we draw heavily on right brain
capabilities of holistic perception, rhythm, spatial
differentiation, and simultaneous information
processing. The left brain is largely uninvolved in
such activity. However, we should not discount the
functionality of the left brain. When it comes to
learning dive tables, the left brain readily sorts
and collates information for tabular reconstruction.
Admonitions to never dive alone, never hold your
breath, and always surface with 200 psi are
similarly imprinted on the left brain. The right
side of the brain is facile at integrating
components, then actually making each of the
components more efficient in the total movement
pattern. Tapping into methods like rhythm,
relaxation, awareness, and feeling can build a
strong basis for preconditioning skill assimilation
via the right side of the brain.
As divers we are concerned with waterskills, that
is, any number of complex movements carried out
mostly without conscious attention in the water.
With growing experience, control of physical
movement passes from high centers of right brain
consciousness to lower centers, thus releasing
mental resources and energy to deal with new
problems. Complex skills require considerable
concentration at first, and then pass on to lower
centers of reflex action. Recall your first
regulator breathing experiment, and contrast that
experience against the matter of fact procedure you
now engage routinely.
At all levels, diving can be
looked upon as the end result of many component
waterskills at the microscopic level, or the result
of just a few skills on a broader level. In either
case, there is one attribute which is fundamental to
skillful diving, and that is the ability to relax,
both mentally and physically.
"RELAXATION AND PERFORMANCE"
Relaxation is to diving what balance is to
windsurfing and skiing. Without a well-developed
sense of relaxation in the water, learning even the
basics of diving can be inefficient and difficult.
Though we all inherit some ability to relax in the
water, it is a state of mind and body that can be
developed and sharpened in all divers, through
practice, reflection, and patience.
To be relaxed as a diver is to be first relaxed as a
swimmer, and that is often where we can start.
Working on basic swimming skills is completely
compatible with diving, and such nonbuoyant water
activities can often enhance our relaxation as a
diver. Sometimes swimming skill refinements are
prerequisite to diving skill refinements. Witness
the head-out-of-the-water swimmer who automatically
adopts the same snorkling position, or the
surface-only swimmer who never learns to orchestrate
pike surface dives in mask and fins, or who chokes
following attempted no-mask scuba regulator
breathing.
Fostering a sense of relaxation and efficiency in
the water, while performing tasks such as buoyancy
control, snorkle and regulator clearing, buddy and
octopus ascents, and so on, is really the
fundamental issue when we learn to dive. As
beginning divers, our first and sometimes only
concern is to remain safe and comfortable in the
water. Other tasks are secondary until we are
relaxed in the environment. The quality of our
performance of secondary tasks increases with
increasing levels of comfort. Until we have
discovered a comfort zone in diving gear, it may be
pointless at times to push forward with tasks
requiring more than nominal activity.
Pool play
periods are great for practice and relaxation,
permitting new sensations. And while we cannot
always process our senses in movement patterns, we
can help the learning process by assuming body
positions and movement patterns which aid in the
discovery process. Certainly, the full head
out-of-the-water attitude can can easily be righted
when we learn to snorkel, and our attempts at
horizontal body positions when swimming underwater
eventually root home with proper buoyancy control.
Our need for relaxation in the water really never
goes away, no matter how proficient we become in the
performance of tasks. True, after certain comfort
levels are achieved, our attention turns to other
aspects of diving. But soon again, conditions,
natural or imposed by others, will cause a return to
square one, that is, a new task requiring relaxed
disposition. Building on prior experience,
adjustments necessary to accommodate proper water
attitude and relaxation can then be effectively
employed in new situations.
For instance, recall
when you first learned to clear a snorkle, and then,
possibly, to buddy breathe off a shared snorkle. In
the latter case, only continuous exhalations between
clearings need be interposed to perform the exercise
easily, assuming equal competence in the pair. And,
if we view our performance at the beginning and
advanced levels, we find many similarities.
Refinement and integration of more complex skills
require additional motor training, but essentially
the same comfort levels as with the assimilation of
simple skills. The rigors of an equipment ditch-and-donn
outweigh those of mask clearing, but mainly in
multiplicity and not mental disposition.
Comfort in the water can be developed with practice
certainly, but proper neuro-muscular imaging helps
the process immensely. And here mentors can play a
primary role. Behaviorists tell us that degrees of
apprehension in skills learning situations correlate
with perceived discomfort in the performance of
skills by the mentor. And that makes sense. Body
language usually preempts the spoken word. Students
read mentors from what they do, and then from what
they say. To establish and develop a sense of
relaxation in divers first requires a refined sense
and conditioned response in the diving instructor.
If your present diving instructor is less than
efficient in the water, or makes you nervous, maybe
you need a new one. If he makes you visibly anxious
and fearful, you do need a new one.
Anxiety and fear play two important roles in the
learning experience. Depending on how we handle
them, they can either enhance or detract from
learning. At low intensity, fear can actually aid
learning by creating a more perceptive atmosphere,
enhancing awareness. Beyond that, and to a much
greater extent, uncontrolled reactions cause muscle
tension, which disrupts motor function and
bio-feedback to the right brain.
"VISUALIZATION
AND NEURO-MUSCULAR CONDITIONING"
Motor skills develop according to all the broad
principles described in learning theory. To learn,
we must want to learn, and our interests need to be
constantly maintained by successes in goal
attainment. But, there is another important
ingredient in skill learning, and that is
repetition, since skills are assimilated and refined
by doing. Skills are the product of neuro-muscular
conditioning, and are remembered through a
kinesthetic (muscle) memory, a memory even more
durable than the factual (brain) memory.
The feeling
for riding a bike is never forgotten once the skill
has been assimilated. Swimmers do not forget how to
swim. Yet, by a process known as retro-active
inhibition, inefficient actions can interfere with
new ones being conditioned, resulting in reduced
performance levels until the new actions are
mastered. Dissatisfied with poorer performance, we
often revert to earlier styles in an effort to bring
about feelings of success. Confronted with a tank on
our back for the first time, we may inefficiently
elect to overinflate our BC before changing body
attitude and optimizing kick.
Or we may turn over on
our back completely, seeking out that well grooved
resting position. Then, skill learning benefits from
clear demonstrations and correct movement patterns, to supplant inefficient ones and to minimize the
necessity for unlearning. And here a good mentor can
be both prime mover and catalyst, describing,
suggesting, and demonstrating manuevers and skills,
partially or in totality. Choose your mentors well.
Seeing a skill performed properly the first time has
positive impact on fresh learning, the crisper the
demonstration, the fresher the experience. When
possible, skills should be viewed at two different,
but complementary, tempos. The actual working tempo
sets the standard for performance, while performance
at a much slower tempo permits viewing of component
parts more easily. In the latter case, movements can
be repeated, slowed down, or exagerated for
emphasis.
Skills can certainly be learned through
trial and error repetitions, but are yet best
learned through imitative behavior, the learning
psychologists tell us, particularly with practice
following good demonstrations. Visualization,
followed by skill practice, forms the basis of many
modern AV approaches to teaching. SYBERVISION, for
instance, is one highly successful approach used in
skiing, tennis, golf, and windsurfing. Right brain
stimulation also works in learning to dive, and
there are a number of diving instructional videos on
the market commercially providing just the means to
such repetitive stimulation ands visual grooving.
The impact of a skill demonstration dramatically
affects learning patterns. Optimally, we note the
activity and movement patterns in the
demonstrations, and then make a general assessment
as to their effectiveness, continuity, timing,
efficiency, and importance in attaining stated
objectives. Good demonstrations provide not only a
positive endorsement of the activity and skill
objective, but fix the movement patterns in the
kinesthetic memory, reinforcing those patterns which
produce the desired result.
Poor demonstrations
incur negative endorsement, reinforce little in the
muscle memory, and result in dismay instead of
enthusiasm. Good demonstrations put us in a state of
readiness to learn, bad ones induce apprehension. In
honing diving shills by emulation, focusing on the
total flow of a correct and functional set of
movement patterns can be helpful. Drawing on
feelings of harmony and flow provides durable
reinforcement for kinesthetic memory through the
imaging process.
"IMAGING AND SELF-CONCEPT"
Imaging, a right brain function, uses mental
pictures to aid skill mastery and performance. As
described, it helps to have visual images from
description, from pictures, or best yet, from
observation of demonstration. The more vivid the
conjured image, the easier it is to emulate. Images
fade rapidly, so to retain accuracy, images must be
constantly refreshed. Observation is a big part of
developing waterskills.
Models which convey rhythm,
cadence, harmony, and flow allow all natural sensory
associations, permitting deeper imaging to
transpire. Recall your first impressions of a
well-executed dolphin kick underwater. Imaging is
also preparation for action. Either summoning mental
pictures of a performance, or concentrating on an
image to affect mood or movement can enhance
execution.
Visual rehearsal is one form of this
practice. Role playing is another. In the former
case, one might imagine himself performing a
bailout, starting with all gear in hand, jumping
into the water, sinking to the bottom, stabilizing,
and so on. In the latter case, one could imagine
himself floating like a feather through the water,
attaching like an urchin to the bottom, and then
moving like a manta, with the power of suggestion
depending on willingness to identify with the particular subject chosen.
Imaging awakens the right side of the brain. In
various forms, it can be a powerful tool for divers
at all levels. It helps us all believe in ourselves
and relax anxieties. Through practice and a
willingness to surrender to the image, this
technique is one of the most useful tools that an
athlete can acquire to improve his performance. It
works well for assimilation of waterskills in diving
also, particularly when coupled to positive
self-image and peer reinforcement.
We are who we think we are, and we can do what we
think we can do, if we maintain a positive
self-image. Self-image is really concerned with
self-perception and self-communication. At times, we
can talk ourselves into having a bad day, convincing
ourselves that we are powerless to change the
outcome. Few can talk themselves into a good day.
Our perception of ourselves is the basis for
self-talk, which in turn, influences performance,
which creates self-image, more self-talk, more
imaging, and so on back and forth. When we blow a
neutral buoyancy control exercise, we can often talk
ourselves into the same rut next time. Negative
self-image feeds on failures.
Negative self-imaging is fairly common in diving
skills assimilation. Tied to values of right and
wrong is a lack of confidence that undermines all
performance. To enhance performance, it is necessary
to alter a negative self-image, either self-imposed
or other imposed. Low self-esteem can also result
from constantly comparing performance to what it is
not. Such unrealistic comparisons and senseless
attachment distracts from the reality of a
situation.
Since awareness is a path to change, we
ought not allow negative self-image to interfere
with awareness. Self-image will rise the moment a
goal is achieved. Positive self-image will help us
to focus upon concrete tasks, and divert thoughts
from destructive processes in self-talk. Choosing
reasonable and attainable goals in a learning
progression insures ample successes and positive
self-images. In such a positive situation, small
jumps are the rule, and quantum leaps the exception.
Thus, in learning to clear a mask and snorkel on one
breath, it is helpful to learn to first clear the
mask and the snorkel separately on half a breath.
"AUTHOR SKETCH"
Bruce Wienke is a Certified Member of the United
States Ski Coaches Association (USSCA) and the
Professional Ski Instructors Of America (PSIA),
works as clinician and coach in the United States
Ski Association (USSA) Junior Racing Program in New
Mexico, and is interested in performance methodology
and motivational techniques. Wienke also races in
the USSA Masters Series Competition.
As a NAUI
Instructor Trainer, PADI Master Instructor, and YMCA
Institute Director, he is interested in diver
learning and skills assimilation processes,
particularly ways to enhance the experience. Wienke
has also authored three diving monographs, Basic
Decompression Theory And Application, High Altitude
Diving, and Diving Above Sea Level (in publication),
serves as a Contributing Editor for SOURCES, the
NAUI journal, and is a co-owner of Inner
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B.R. Wienke
Applied Theoretical Physics Division
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos, N.M. 87545 |
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