Drills that should be taught in the OW class

[Amphiprion]

Based on your diving experience or knowledge, what drills should be done in OW class that are not done?

Two that came to mind:

shoving the student back into the pool as he is climbing out to simulate trying to get back on the boat in rough conditions and falling back in the water.

ripping the student's primary regulator out of his mouth and breathing off of it with no notice and letting him find his octo to use.

 

[Zen1300]

Our instructor at the lake liked to get us to do summersaults and move around and have fun. At one point she came are me while I was on the outside of the platform and flipped over the rail in front of me. I couldn't get back far enough and her fin caught my reg. By the time I realized what had happened I was putting the reg back in my mouth Good training I suppose.

I think if buoyancy is so important more focus should be on getting a good foundation. Many divers take OW because they are headed to a nice vacation spot to dive reefs. Do we want them bouncing all over them?

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

In the 1970's, with some instructors at least, harrasment or hazing dives were a common part of basic OW training. In my class, we had our air turned off and masks ripped off several times during the dive. This was on the last pool dive, but prior to the final open water dive (there were more pool dives back then, and the classes were longer).

There was and is a lot of debate on whether or not these types of drills were a good thing... they are now absent from basic OW training..... but having gone through them, I didn't see a problem. It all depends on how well the students have been prepared going into the hazing dive.

Best wishes.

 

[vjanelle]

Based on your diving experience or knowledge, what drills should be done in OW class that are not done?

Two that came to mind:

shoving the student back into the pool as he is climbing out to simulate trying to get back on the boat in rough conditions and falling back in the water.

ripping the student's primary regulator out of his mouth and breathing off of it with no notice and letting him find his octo to use.

Agencies tend to frown at molesting the students. You should also not throw additional stress events in an already stressful situation. Perhaps they should be educated instead about rough water exits onto a boat(keep your fins on if the crew allows it, reg in mouth, mask on).

Ripping their regulator out of their mouth will lead to people bolting. Open Water can be very difficult asis for some people. Perhaps we should make people swim single file close together to experience what it's like to get kicked in the face with fins?

I'd like to see more focus on propulsion though, unfortunately split fins aren't really good at frog kicking.

 

[idocsteve]

Well, given the tone of the ops post, I'll throw in my recommendation.

While at depth, let the student breathe his tank down to less than 100 psi, hand him a slate with a math problem and while he's trying to figure it out, rip his mask off his face.

 

[Amphiprion]

I actually did harassment drills when I was a kid before I actually got certified.

As far as tone of my post, I wasn't thinking of being mean to students, rather providing scenarios that could induce some panic in real diving if the diver wasn't prepared. Non-panic inducing drills that you think are not taught but should be are also fine.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Agencies tend to frown at molesting the students. You should also not throw additional stress events in an already stressful situation. Perhaps they should be educated instead about rough water exits onto a boat(keep your fins on if the crew allows it, reg in mouth, mask on).

Ripping their regulator out of their mouth will lead to people bolting. Open Water can be very difficult asis for some people. Perhaps we should make people swim single file close together to experience what it's like to get kicked in the face with fins?

I'd like to see more focus on propulsion though, unfortunately split fins aren't really good at frog kicking.

The statement I highlighted is what I expect caused the harrasment/hazing drills to be dropped.

The problem I have is that it really was not "molesting" the students, at least that was not my experience. It was "testing" us and providing a slight "challenge" under controlled conditions... But there are good arguements that the same comfort & skill level in the water can be attained by other methods.

I'm not an instructor, but I did go through the harrasment training and it was, well, actually fun.

Best wishes.

 

[idocsteve]

I actually did harassment drills when I was a kid before I actually got certified.

As far as tone of my post, I wasn't thinking of being mean to students, rather providing scenarios that could induce some panic in real diving if the diver wasn't prepared. Non-panic inducing drills that you think are not taught but should be are also fine.

"Tone" really wasn't the right wording for me to use.

Nothing wrong with your tone, rather you're looking for really messed up things to do to divers to make them into REAL divers.

And that's ok, except of course for those who will drop out and never get their certification as well as those who might panic and suffer an injury and maybe even die as a result of one or more of those suggested skills tests.

 

[bygolly]

One really interesting skill I learned in 1979 was how to clear your reg with empty lungs and without using the purge button. It is simply a matter of taking water in and out of the reg using a pumping action with your cheeks. (facial ones...)

I also recall the CESA being done after the tank was turned off and the reg was breathed down. Sometimes you started the CESA with little excess air in the lungs.

 

[vjanelle]

Preparing students for the idea that you don't have emergencies underwater, just annoyances would probably be helpful too.

It's not an OOA emergency, it's an annoyance. Calmly ask for your buddy's regulator by providing the right signal, and don't panic.

DON'T PANIC.

Actually, that should probably be printed in big friendly letters somewhere, like on a book.