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There is a lot of debate among scuba divers about what is the best way to improve your diving skills. How quickly should you progress to more advanced levels of diving? How easy or how tough should diving and diving training be? What is the best way to improve your diving skills?
Most divers are divided in two camps. The "old school divers," who think that training should be as tough as possible, to simulate any kind of emergency that can arise. This style of training and diving causes a lot of accidents, which is something we want to avoid.
The "new school divers" make training as easy as possible, and avoid talking about potential problems. With this style of training there are fewer accidents, but it produces weak divers who are unprepared when faced with problems under water.
Both approaches have their flaws. A good alternative for improving your diving skills is the concept of training and diving in "the orange zone." This means you divide diving in the green zone, the orange zone and the red zone. You then do fun-dives in the green zone, training dives in the orange zone, and avoid diving in the red zone. Let me explain.
The "green zone," also known as "the comfort zone," is the level of diving that you are used to, it offers no challenges. For one diver this might be a shallow reef dive without any skill practice, for another diver this might be a boat-dive in the North Sea.
It is a dive well within your capabilities, that does not challenge you as a diver. The "green zone" is fine for fun-dives, but you will not make any progress as a diver. You can do a 1000 dives in the "green zone" and still dive at the level of a beginner.
The "red zone," also known as "the danger zone," is the level of diving that is far beyond what you are used to. For every diver this level is different. If you are used to shallow, warm water dives and you dive deep in a cold lake, you are in the "red zone."
If you have never dived in a rough sea and you dive in the North Sea on a windy day, you dive in the "red zone." Many accidents happen in the red zone, so we want to avoid diving in the "red zone."
The "orange zone," also known as the "training zone," is the zone between the comfort zone and the danger zone. When you dive in the orange zone it is a bit more demanding then you are used to.
Still, you know that it is well within your capabilities, so you do not feel the stress of the danger zone. Your diving skills are challenged, and you improve as a diver.
Examples of diving and training in the "orange zone:"
-You are used to diving with good visibility, and now you dive in a lake with bad visibility. You do a shallow dive, stay close to your buddy, and agree before the dive that both divers can abort the dive at any time for any reason.
-You are used to doing mask skills while kneeling on the bottom, and now you do a training dive to practice doing mask skills while hovering. You descend to five meters, ask your buddy to watch while you practice, and then do your mask skills. When necessary your buddy helps you control your depth while you practice.
-You are used to diving to a maximum depth of 20 meters, and you want to dive to 30 meters. First, you do two shallow training dives to practice your basic diving skills. Then you do four dives to 25 meter. And then you do your first dive to maximum 30 meters.
To train in the orange zone you have to communicate well with your buddy. Because before every dive, you have to ask each other: is this orange zone diving for you, or green or red zone diving? You have to adapt the plan according to the answers you get.
To avoid accidents you avoid diving in the red zone. You divide your time under water between the green zone and the orange zone. The green zone for pure enjoyment, and the orange zone to improve as a diver.
The more time you dive and train in the orange zone, the more you will improve your diving skills and your confidence under water. The more time you spend in the orange zone, the better prepared you will be for more advanced forms of diving.
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