Becoming a DM?

[TSandM]

My husband has really enjoyed being a DM (although he didn't enjoy the entirety of the process). I think it's really warmed his heart, to see students trying to emulate horizontal trim and neutral buoyancy. He's been able to get students in the pool to work on skills in the water column. He's loved taking them out for their first tours of Puget Sound, and enjoying their excitement at the variety of things they see.

If you think working with OW classes would be fun, and if your instructors/shop appreciate your skills, then go for it.

I have decided not to, because I'm getting a ton of satisfaction out of hooking up with divers AFTER their certification class, and doing some mentoring. The big thing about that is that the people I hook up with are people who are motivated to learn more; OW includes a lot of people who just want to learn to dive for one tropical trip or so.

 

[RJP]

The big thing about that is that the people I hook up with are people who are motivated to learn more; OW includes a lot of people who just want to learn to dive for one tropical trip or so.

But Lynne, that where the real fun comes in: modeling the skills not just to teach them to go on and get their referral cert somewhere nice and warm, but to also model the love and passion for diving to get them to come back and dive LOCALLY as well!

 

[LowVizWiz]

I couldn't agree more with RJP and J.R.'s initial posts.

I would also suggest that you request access to the "going pro" forum and read up on all the experiences different people have had as they become DM's.

I did it because I enjoy getting people diving, when their faces light up when I tell them how it feels to be underwater and when they say thank you for helping them overcome difficulties during their classes.

Bottom line is, even if you find out you don't enjoy working classes after taking the course, the knowledge, training & experience will be good for you and your diving.

Wiz

 

[J.R.]

... I think it's really warmed his heart, to see students trying to emulate horizontal trim and neutral buoyancy.

This one put a smile on my face... about a month ago I was assisting with a class and the instructor told everybody to 'go play' in the deep end of the pool for a while. (Ie.- have a bit of fun swimming around and getting used to yer' gear...) I was doing the DM thing and kinda' hangin' there just keeping an eye on stuff... (a great way to practice your OWN bouyancy control while being *functional* by the way)...

ANYWAY, at one point I decided to rotate to a vertical head down position to keep my own little practice going... something I saw a DM do a couple of years ago during a pool session. WHADDA'YA-KNOW... next thing I see is two or three of the students trying to stand on their heads underwater!!!

Funny part is... this was the SECOND pool session!

Moral of story: While being a DM is cool... and while being a DM may be fundimentally an *assisting* role... PADI (... and I assume other agencies) is right when it says that being a DM is to become a 'role model' (... as much as I hate to admit it...)... so the UPSIDE is... you can, just by being there, have a strong influence on their starting direction... the DOWNSIDE is that ... well, dang it... ya' gotta' behave yourself because... well... YOU CAN HAVE A STRONG INFLUENCE ON THEIR STARTING DIRECTION.

Thank's TS&M... that had kinda' slipped my mind until you brought up the bit about your husband...

 

[herman]

This one put a smile on my face... about a month ago I was assisting with a class and the instructor told everybody to 'go play' in the deep end of the pool for a while. (Ie.- have a bit of fun swimming around and getting used to yer' gear...) I was doing the DM thing and kinda' hangin' there just keeping an eye on stuff... (a great way to practice your OWN bouyancy control while being *functional* by the way)...

ANYWAY, at one point I decided to rotate to a vertical head down position to keep my own little practice going... something I saw a DM do a couple of years ago during a pool session. WHADDA'YA-KNOW... next thing I see is two or three of the students trying to stand on their heads underwater!!!

Funny part is... this was the SECOND pool session!

Moral of story: While being a DM is cool... and while being a DM may be fundimentally an *assisting* role... PADI (... and I assume other agencies) is right when it says that being a DM is to become a 'role model' (... as much as I hate to admit it...)... so the UPSIDE is... you can, just by being there, have a strong influence on their starting direction... the DOWNSIDE is that ... well, dang it... ya' gotta' behave yourself because... well... YOU CAN HAVE A STRONG INFLUENCE ON THEIR STARTING DIRECTION.

Thank's TS&M... that had kinda' slipped my mind until you brought up the bit about your husband...

This is so true. This weekend I was DMing for an OW class and while the instructor was doing some skills I was hovering in the "budda position"...holding the ends of my fins just for fun....next thing I know I have 3 students trying to hover the same way...they were doing a reasonable job and by the time they had to do the hover skill it was easy for them. Monkey see monkey do is a big part of DMing....You do have to be careful what you are doing....I quickly decided that air ring practice was a bad idea.

 

[bamamedic]

Thank y'all for your advice and suggestions! The more I think about it, the more I think it's something I'd enjoy...

Besides, it'll be kinda fun to perform a backwards kick, and watch several OW students try to imitate it

 

[4sak3n]

A couple of times I have taken an apple into the pool to eat when I get bored. Apart from the few obligatory 'Eeeeeew, yuuuuck!' reactions I've also had a few students gesture for me to give them the apple underwater so that they can try.

:shocked2:

 

[ClayJar]

The more I think about it, the more I think it's something I'd enjoy...

Besides, it'll be kinda fun to perform a backwards kick, and watch several OW students try to imitate it

I love being a DM. (In NAUI, DM is a superset of AI, so I also get to do AI stuff.) I hear about "dive slaves", and while I've never felt like one, perhaps that has more to do with me than with the work. If you're the type of person who will sometimes decide to spend an evening picking up litter along the road just because, well, it's there and it ought to be picked up, DM will just be building skills and practicing attention.

I think of it like Pixar's hiring ideas -- I've heard them say they find it far easier to take an animator and teach them computer skills than to take a computer person and make them an animator. I'll take a diver with rough skill edges but the right personality, but even the best diver with the wrong personality will never make a great DM.


(The funny thing was when I had my brother in a class I was working. We were in "play time" at the end of the class, and I showed him the back kick (while underwater, without any previous coaching). The darn fella picked it up *immediately*! I didn't bother to tell him how long I'd worked on it before it clicked for me. )

 

[nilsdiver]

In the water, I feel pretty comfortable, and I've got about 80 dives in the 11 months I've been certified. The more I think about it, I'm actually kinda excited about the prospect of becoming a DM...I'm just not sure I've got the experience yet to be helping to teach students, though.

I took the PADI DM course from my local shop at right about 70 to 80 dives - where you are now maybe. This was before I did GUE-F. I think I did the entire DM course except for 1 item, don't remember what exactly. But I did take GUE-F before completing the DM and that changed my entire focus in diving.

During the DM course I thought I was doing pretty good and all.. And it was definitely fun doing the DM internship in student classes. But I took the DM course to learn more about diving, but specifically to help teach. Which is also sort of the wrong reason to take it.

But after fundies, and 3 years later and a few 100 dives more, I feel I'm not ready to do the DM/instructor thing. There is still too much for me to learn, experience, and master on a personal diving level. Fundies opened my eyes to where I was in my diving and where I wanted to be. And really I just don't know where I would get the time to do the Dive-Pro path right now without cutting into my personal dive time.

I'm only sharing this because I though you mind find this helpful from your your "Deep South DIR" tag.

Nils

 

[Peter Guy]

I'm TSandM's husband and I really have mixed feelings about DM'ing -- here goes:

a. History -- I originally certified in 1967 in a University program where "water skills" were the focus (not to mention the gear was very basic compared to what we dive now) -- I dove off and on for about 10 years and then stopped

b. A few years ago I recertified with TSandM through my LDS and PADI and was, quite frankly amazed at how the gear had changed AND how the teaching had changed.

c. About 18 months later I decided to do a DM program through the LDS/PADI -- then a little later started the evolution to where I am now with my diving (DIR-F; Helitrox; Full Cave) and eventually (quite a long process as it turned out) got my DM.

d. My very first OW class AFTER getting my DM was "interesting" to say the least. It was taught by my DM Mentor/Instructor but all of a sudden he didn't want me to introduce any of the "Tech" things I'd been doing while his DM student. (This led to an interesting SB thread DM Thread.) I was ready to quit because I couldn't believe in the training. I did continue, worked with other instructors (and continued with "my" instructor) and things have evolved to where I get to dive "my way" and, at times, even get to do a bit of teaching about it.

What is true however, is that modeling behavior is the best teacher and it does make me fell good to watch OW students hover and do mask drills just because someone asks them to. (And I've gotten VERY good at "swatting" at flailing hands during the OW tours -- most of them get it when asked!)