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If it’s a clean pool then a good place to practice blowing rings without swallowing salt water and to later do during safety stops :)
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Try hovering at different attitudes and stay as motionless as possible. IE: stomach down like a cave diver, on your back, even upside down.. You can never work on your bouyancy skills too much IMO..
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Khou - 3/28/2012 5:47 PM 
sign language, and have a conversation underwater :)
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From Khou: sign language, and have a conversation underwater :)... Where’s the boat? Pointing behind your buddy and signing "shark" just doesn’t get the same rise in a pool!
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Standing on my head in the corner while watching student with the instructor.
sitting Lotus postion 3 feet off bottom.
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MDW - 4/19/2012 1:39 PM
I’m in total agreement with those above who recommend practicing bouyancy control in the pool. I wish more instructors would include this in the OW pool sessions. That would go a long way toward having new divers ready to dive in the "real" world without generating zero-vis for their neighbors. Just a little simple practice at staying mid-water for a couple minutes in the calm, safe environment of the pool - without the stress of being judged on a bunch of other skills - helps build muscle memory as well as confidence, which will help with buoyancy later during the task loading of skills on those first few OW checkout dives.
I also strongly recommend this same drill for any diver who wants to get to a good level of bouyancy control. If you can do it in a 6 or 8 foot pool, you’ll certainly be able to do it at 15 or 50 feet in OW. I also like some of the more advanced buoyancy drills (upside down, sideways, etc).
With regard to "tricks" and "snacks" - how about drinking some Capri Sun, eating some hard pretzels or a "halloween" size Snickers (the really tiny ones - anything bigger can’t be chewed and swallowed in one breath, we’ve tried), or cook an MRE (the heater is water-activated, so it works). How about gaining some empathy for handicapped divers. Swim "blind" (w/o mask, eyes closed), remove 1 fin and try to swim straight 1-legged, or put both arms behind your back and notice all the things you can’t control (and figure out what you can).
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why would you ever need to eat a banana?
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Greg - 5/01/2012 7:32 AM
From mathias132: why would you ever need to eat a banana?... I guess because it’s easy to eat and it allows you to practice removing your regulator and doing something else. Could get you comfortable with your gear and underwater ability in general.
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Strap your tank to your BC but no regulator on the tank. Put your BC on and jump in the pool. Practice removing the BC, slowly opening the tank valve, and breathing directly from the tank valve. Use your oral inflator on your BC to inflate it and get your buoyancy right all while your BC and tank are in front of you or between your legs.
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Eating a banana may help reduce cramps
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My son recently got his OW and to show off he chose to eat celery. It stays crunchy underwater and more importantly in your bc pockets.
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