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Or maybe "The man who can only learn from the knowledge of another man will never advance mankind's knowledge."
At what level (if any) can scuba be self taught?
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Or maybe "The man who can only learn from the knowledge of another man will never advance mankind's knowledge."
It's all the stuff you learn after you know it all that really counts.
I remember reading about this crazy Frenchman who was entirely self taught on scuba, and he actually went so far as to engage in heliox diving to 400 feet on the HMHS Brittanic.
I wish I could recall his name... oh yes - Jacques Cousteau.
I wish I could recall his name... oh yes - Jacques Cousteau.
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I think there is a lot an instructor can give you at different levels of training that you cannot get from a book or learning on your own. It will take me several posts to give examples.
First of all, a lot depends upon how skilled you want to be.
Bobby Jones was one of the world's greatest golfers. In his book on how he plays golf, he told the story about how he was struggling on the driving range because he was not able to do the things he wanted to do and could not understand why. A friend who was a mediocre golfer at best was watching him, and he finally timidly said something about seeing how Jones was doing something slightly differently from how he had normally done things in the past. Jones made a correction and the problem was instantly cured.
Similarly, golfer Tom Watson was struggling with his putting until someone watching him play on TV sent him a message about a flaw in his putting stroke.
A good instructor can watch your technique, spot problems you would otherwise not see, and correct them.
When I was a basketball coach, I would examine each of my players as they shot, looking for tiny flaws in technique that I could change to improve their shooting.
I learned to do the back kick by looking at videos and struggling with it alone in a swimming pool I wished I had a mirror so I could see what I was doing wrong. A competent instructor would have been so much better.
First of all, a lot depends upon how skilled you want to be.
Bobby Jones was one of the world's greatest golfers. In his book on how he plays golf, he told the story about how he was struggling on the driving range because he was not able to do the things he wanted to do and could not understand why. A friend who was a mediocre golfer at best was watching him, and he finally timidly said something about seeing how Jones was doing something slightly differently from how he had normally done things in the past. Jones made a correction and the problem was instantly cured.
Similarly, golfer Tom Watson was struggling with his putting until someone watching him play on TV sent him a message about a flaw in his putting stroke.
A good instructor can watch your technique, spot problems you would otherwise not see, and correct them.
When I was a basketball coach, I would examine each of my players as they shot, looking for tiny flaws in technique that I could change to improve their shooting.
I learned to do the back kick by looking at videos and struggling with it alone in a swimming pool I wished I had a mirror so I could see what I was doing wrong. A competent instructor would have been so much better.
Next example:
I can read in a book about the importance of awareness in diving. I can understand it as a concept, but I really can't practice it effectively.
Once in my cave training I was leading the dive in, and I turned it on thirds, meaning I was the last one out. The instructor in front purposely made a blind jump, taking us down the wrong passage as I casually followed along, unaware of his subtle mistake. Our subsequent discussion of how I had killed the team taught me something I could not have found in any book.
I can read in a book about the importance of awareness in diving. I can understand it as a concept, but I really can't practice it effectively.
Once in my cave training I was leading the dive in, and I turned it on thirds, meaning I was the last one out. The instructor in front purposely made a blind jump, taking us down the wrong passage as I casually followed along, unaware of his subtle mistake. Our subsequent discussion of how I had killed the team taught me something I could not have found in any book.
Next example:
I can read in any book about the need to remain calm in stressful situations and seek solutions, but how do I practice that on my own?
In one dive I had last year, my buddy and I went out with double tanks on our backs, an AL 80 stage bottle on our chest, and a deco bottle on our chest. As we dived, our instructor gave us one problem after another, until as we began our ascent, we had slowly lost the ability to use our various cylinders. Our back gas was gone. Our stage bottles were gone. When my buddy lost his deco bottle, too, we were down to one working regulator between us. So we started buddy breathing through our deco stops. Then the instructor took my mask, so I was holding deco stops while blind and buddy breathing.
I feel pretty confident that I can handle a lot of emergencies under water without panicking, and I think I can come up with the best solution under pretty serious circumstances.
I am not sure I could have gotten that from a book.
I can read in any book about the need to remain calm in stressful situations and seek solutions, but how do I practice that on my own?
In one dive I had last year, my buddy and I went out with double tanks on our backs, an AL 80 stage bottle on our chest, and a deco bottle on our chest. As we dived, our instructor gave us one problem after another, until as we began our ascent, we had slowly lost the ability to use our various cylinders. Our back gas was gone. Our stage bottles were gone. When my buddy lost his deco bottle, too, we were down to one working regulator between us. So we started buddy breathing through our deco stops. Then the instructor took my mask, so I was holding deco stops while blind and buddy breathing.
I feel pretty confident that I can handle a lot of emergencies under water without panicking, and I think I can come up with the best solution under pretty serious circumstances.
I am not sure I could have gotten that from a book.
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I don't know why you could not have learned that from a book ... I learned it from your post, and I will never forget it. I guess you just put it more clearly than your book did.
There's just something about the experience of actually doing it that imprints it in your mind.
Three days before it happened my instructor told me he was going to do it. He told me that despite his telling me, I would still screw it up.
And I did.
I won't do it again.
DevonDiver
N/A
If you read his book, you'll note that he nearly died on several occasions. A number of his diving companions did perish as the lessons were learned.
Nowadays, you can pay $100 for a 1 day nitrox course, that will teach you the principals and procedures that it took Cousteau several years to identify..and cost lives.
DaleC
Contributor
But you would not be Jacques Cousteau.
I understand the principles of flight but I'm no Chuck Yeager.
There is something to be said for the process of self learning in an endeavor wherein resourcefulness might be valued. However, that word has a negative connotation in modern SCUBA so I can see why self learning is shied away from.
I believe in self learning and/or mentorship when the pathway is straight forward and formal education when an information or conceptual gap occurs.
For me, OW/AOW introduced certain concepts that I was able to run with and expand upon by myself. I was able to begin solo diving, using different equipment configurations, gas planning etc...
My formal nitrox course introduced me to certain concepts (thinking in terms of the make up and effects of compositional elements, MOD's, PO2's) that I again was able to run with and expound upon.
I've self taught myself most kicks but still suck at the reverse frogkick which I think may take some formal education/tutoring.
He use and advanced decompression are other areas where I will probably seek formal education in the future, not so much for the information, but for the base conceptual framework to work with.
I understand the principles of flight but I'm no Chuck Yeager.
There is something to be said for the process of self learning in an endeavor wherein resourcefulness might be valued. However, that word has a negative connotation in modern SCUBA so I can see why self learning is shied away from.
I believe in self learning and/or mentorship when the pathway is straight forward and formal education when an information or conceptual gap occurs.
For me, OW/AOW introduced certain concepts that I was able to run with and expand upon by myself. I was able to begin solo diving, using different equipment configurations, gas planning etc...
My formal nitrox course introduced me to certain concepts (thinking in terms of the make up and effects of compositional elements, MOD's, PO2's) that I again was able to run with and expound upon.
I've self taught myself most kicks but still suck at the reverse frogkick which I think may take some formal education/tutoring.
He use and advanced decompression are other areas where I will probably seek formal education in the future, not so much for the information, but for the base conceptual framework to work with.
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