Agency bashing... what is it and why we don't allow it.

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I'm not sure I understand... is this a real question? Most instructors teach from the bottom up. That's a hard go for me, so I teach from the top down. Let's get them trim and comfortable on the surface with a slow frog kick. 5 to 10 laps should do it. We can even do mask clears and OOA right there. But, after the swim and snorkel test, they are on Scuba. Once they are comfortable, let's get some weight on them and let them swim just above the bottom.

I teach frog kicks on the surface on their backs, as if their knees break the surface, they know they are breaking at the waist and develop the feel for how their body needs to be and I can speak with them. I don't like teaching frog kicks at the surface as I don't know how to get students to not break at the waist there.

 

[The Chairman]

Straight-legged frog kicks do OK.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Straight-legged frog kicks do OK.

Fair point. The idea is still basically to get students without much of a water background comfortable with using fins to stabilize and not hands. As it becomes second nature, task loading them with the required dive skills while NB/T I have found to make things easier and faster. The order I teach has resulted in less time to learn all the required skills and have fun with "games" that I have picked up from the thread I started in the instructor to instructor forum.

The enthusiasm of my students as a result is far higher as they are having fun and feeling confident being underwater.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

It's in there because PADI was the first agency to offer OW training that began with students in dive gear. This was a major marketing advantage and something they still push even though all the other for profit agencies eventually copied them. They made it a requirement to keep the instructors who thought it was a stupid idea in line.

Here's how PADI puts it: PADI Through the Decades: The 1980s

In 1981, PADI became the first scuba program to have new divers use scuba gear during their first confined water/pool dives. At the time it was considered bizarre to start divers with scuba rather than freediving. Now it has become an industry standard, and the “Dive Today” approach has continued to prove itself.

Been thinking about this. I think it was a step backwards in terms of quality. One of the benefits of teaching freediving prior to putting on scuba is that students learn trim, as they learn that their body should go in the direction that their body is pointed. However, when students are negatively buoyant and they continuously are finning, then they will move forward, but waste a lot of energy and gas as they maintain depth.

Now I'm not advocating a full freediving course, just a few skills to get students acclimated to being underwater, equalizing and using fins. While not much of a benefit to people who are comfortable in the water, as scuba diving has reached essentially non-swimmers, I believe that starting with some freediving skills is a useful step. In addition, I have found that I require less time to teach all the open water skills, allowing me time to have "games" (like a race where students carry a golf ball on a spoon - if they drop it, they have to go back to the starting point which my students love).

So while "learn to dive in a weekend" certainly has marketing appeal (and PADI is the best agency at marketing), I don't think it translates to improved instruction but worsened instruction. With the law of primacy, having students start on their knees, overweighted, to blow bubbles sets the foundation for bad habits.

 

[The Chairman]

The enthusiasm of my students as a result is far higher as they are having fun and feeling confident being underwater.

Yes, yes, and yes! Make it fun! I teach a series of games/challenges.

 

[joncampo91]

Training is key