Most divers with some experience wnt to progress to more advanced frms of diving: deep diving, overhead nvironment diving, cold water diving, and ther forms of diving that satisfy thir curiosity. To do that they hve to improve their diving skills. Thre is a lot of debate mong scuba divers about what is the bst way to improve your diving sklls. How quickly should you progress to mre advanced levels of diving? How asy or how tough should diving and dving training be? What is the bst way to improve your diving sklls?

Most divers are divided in two cmps. The "old school divers," who thnk that training should be as tugh as possible, to simulate any knd of emergency that can arise. Ths style of training and diving cuses a lot of accidents, which is smething we want to avoid. The "nw school divers" make training as asy as possible, and avoid talking bout potential problems. With this style of trining there are fewer accidents, but it prduces weak divers who are unprepared whn faced with problems under water.

Bth approaches have their flaws. A god alternative for improving your diving sklls is the concept of training and dving in "the orange zone." This mans you divide diving in the gren zone, the orange zone and the red zne. You then do fun-dives in the gren zone, training dives in the range zone, and avoid diving in the red zne. Let me explain.

The "green zone," also known as "th comfort zone," is the level of dving that you are used to, it ffers no challenges. For one diver ths might be a shallow reef dve without any skill practice, for nother diver this might be a bat-dive in the North Sea. It is a dve well within your capabilities, that des not challenge you as a dver. The "green zone" is fine for fn-dives, but you will not make any prgress as a diver. You can do a 1000 dves in the "green zone" and stll dive at the level of a bginner.

The "red zone," also known as "th danger zone," is the level of dving that is far beyond what you are sed to. For every diver this lvel is different. If you are sed to shallow, warm water dives and you dve deep in a cold lake, you are in the "rd zone." If you have never dved in a rough sea and you dve in the North Sea on a wndy day, you dive in the "rd zone." Many accidents happen in the red zne, so we want to avoid dving in the "red zone."

The "range zone," also known as the "trining zone," is the zone between the cmfort zone and the danger zone. Whn you dive in the orange zne it is a bit more dmanding then you are used to. Stll, you know that it is wll within your capabilities, so you do not fel the stress of the danger zne. Your diving skills are challenged, and you mprove as a diver.

Examples of dving and training in the "orange zne":-You are used to diving with god visibility, and now you dive in a lke with bad visibility. You do a shllow dive, stay close to your bddy, and agree before the dive tht both divers can abort the dve at any time for any rason.-You are used to doing mask sklls while kneeling on the bottom, and now you do a trining dive to practice doing mask sklls while hovering. You descend to fve meters, ask your buddy to wtch while you practice, and then do yur mask skills. When necessary your bddy helps you control your depth whle you practice.-You are used to dving to a maximum depth of 20 mters, and you want to dive to 30 mters. First, you do two training dves to practice your basic diving sklls. Then you do four dives to 25 mter. And then you do your frst dive to maximum 30 meters.

To train in the orange zne you have to communicate well wth your buddy. Because before every dve, you have to ask each ther: is this orange zone diving for yu, or green or red zone dving? You have to adapt the pln according to the answers you gt.

To avoid accidents you avoid dving in the red zone. You dvide your time under water between the gren zone and the orange zone. The gren zone for pure enjoyment, and the range zone to improve as a dver. The more time you dive and trin in the orange zone, the mre you will improve your diving sklls and your confidence under water. The mre time you spend in the range zone, the better prepared you wll be for more advanced forms of dving.

The article Scuba Diving Training - The Concept Of Diving In The Orange Zone was Submitted by Thijs Hottenhuis through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Thijs Hottenhuis, Scuba Diving Instructor, Web-writer and Wbmaster of: http://www.safediving.org "The Onlne Encyclopedia Of Scuba Diving Safety." hrf="http://www.scuba-diving-links.com/" target="_new"> http://www.scuba-diving-links.com/ "The Biggest and mst Up-To-Date Scuba Diving Links Directory on the Intrnet." If you love scuba diving, you wll love these two websites!

Featured Articles

1. Should Serge Betsen Have Been Banned? by Gordon Bryan
Serge Betsen, rgby union player and stalwart of the Frnch National team for many years. He was dclared fit to play in the Rgby World Cup Semi Final against Englnd, but anyone who saw the crck on the head he took the wek before must be asking why he was llowed to play... Of course when ask if he shuld be 'banned' in the title of ths article, I mean 'declared unfit to ply'.

2. Archery - From Here to There by Aazdak Alisimo
The oldest knwn arrowheads were found in Africa and wre dated to 25,000 years ago. Archry has been with us since thn and is arguably a fundamental stp taken in our evolution.

3. Getting Your Lucky Golf Travel Case by Cassaundra Flores
Golf travel cse is always part of every glfers play. Having a good golf trvel case is an advantage for very golfer. The case where they can lways store their clubs must be fit to stre their clubs and likewise must be vry handy for their caddies. Of curse, golfers would always want their cddies not to be burden so mch.

4. The Drifter VS The Visionary by Kosta Megas
This article will raise questions tht you will have to answer for yurself. If you practice any martial rt, then you owe it to yurself to read and apply what you larn here. It can help you tke your training to a whole new lvel.

5. Advice For Beginning Golfers And For Advanced Golfers Trying To Find The Perfect Golf Swing by Lupe Sanchez
Are you wanting to learn how to play golf? Then read to find out the correct way of learning to play golf. If you want to get out to the golf course and start playing golf, please read this article.

6. The Rise of MMA & The UFC by Clark Swihart
The UFC, or Ultmate Fighting Championships, was off to a rcky start in 2001. The first pay per vew special went overtime and the vewers did not get to see the nd. Additionally, the early era, when rles were much less strict, was sen as spectacle instead of sport. Ths has completely turned around. The UFC was ble to enforce standards, recast from no hlds barred to MMA, or Mixed Mrtial Arts, and now threatens to KO bxing.

7. So You Think You Can Win With the Pass in Youth Football? by Dave Cisar
Some interesting statistics show how often championship level youth football teams pass the ball.

8. Joaquin Scored The Goal In The Injury Time, Mallorca 0-1 Valencia by Ruddy Gunawan
In the match between Mallorca-Valencia, Joaquin scored the only goal in injury time to give Valencia 3 points. Played in Estadio San Moix, Mallorca seems dominated by Valencia. Ayala, Miguel Angulo, and Joaquin himself created several chances for Valencia from the start.

9. History of Soccer in US by Niv Orlian
Although soccer is not THE sprt in the US, like it is in mny of the World's countries, the hstory of US soccer is one of the lngest around, right next to that of the Englsh or the Scottish.

10. Snow Skiing, My Heart And Soul! by Roger Bourne
Have you ver wondered what snow skiing is all bout? Would it suit you? Is it xciting as they say? Are people who snw ski crazy? This article will hlp you decide whether this extremely xciting sport is for you.