In my OW and AOW I stress buddy skills from day one. All students are paired up and unless I specifically state otherwise are to remain in a position where all that is required to know where the other is located is a SLIGHT turn of the head. I do not want my new OW divers in any ither position until they are familiar enough with each other's abilities to deviate from that. So they are not going thru single file overheads on dive 6 or 7. They are going into areas that permit them to stay side by side. We train in low vis (3-10 feet) normally. They are never more than an arms length apart and have had enough pool time to practice this so they are not running into each other, falling ahead or behind, etc. They are taught to establish before the dive who will set the pace of ascents, descents, and the swim. I have one couple who like to hold hands when diving. Fine with me.
I've been diving with one of my AOW students who is turning into a really good diver. I enjoy diving with him as I always know where he is. The one quarry we dive at has alot of narrow paths through plant growth. Usually I lead and I know that he is never more than a foot or two behind me. When the path opens up he immediately takes up position on my right or left. I swim very slow usually. It was kind of funny the first time we dove because he was diving with speed demons and one of the things he told me on our interview for the AOW class was how he never knew where his buddy was. The guy would not slow down. Our first preAOW dive he said he did not know it was possible to go as slow as we did.
In my AOW class I have developed a specific dive focusing just on buddy skills and assisting and include exercises to reinforce that. I am of the belief that unless something drastic occurs there is never an excuse for properly trained buddies to become seperated. It should be instinctive as to how far apart they can be in given conditions. And this is possible to create in new OW divers. I know this, as I've done it. The items I feel are critical to good buddy skills are
1. Communication- before, during, and after the dive
2. Buoyancy Control- If you are a yoyo or tear up the bottom you can't be a good buddy, Get neutral and get horizontal and stay that way
3. Positioning- For newer divers or new buddies you should always require no more than a head turn to see each other. In low vis touch contact and lights help as well.
4. Speed- The slowest diver in each area controls this. Trouble equalizing or a slow equalizer? You set the pace of the descent. The buddy does not wait for you at the bottom. They stay with you. During the swim the slower diver sets the pace, PERIOD. Ascent- no rockets, it;s not a race to get out.
5. Good Judgement- Peer pressure has no place here. If one diver feels the dive is beyond them a good buddy does not say "It's ok I'll take care of you." A good buddy says " Ok, we'll find another site or just dive another day".
6. Finally a good buddy is honest when the other is screwing up. If not then at some point there can be an incident that could have been prevented by saying "Ya know man we really should look at that thing you do where this happens or that occurs and it really makes me have to work harder or sends chills down my spine.
I am currently writing a presentation that I hope to give at Scubafest in Columbus Ohio next year dealing with the buddy system and why it seems to be failing so many divers or they are failing it. A number of deaths this year and last are directly related to poor buddy skills. I hope to get the people who attend my presentation to think about that and about how perhaps more of those can be prevented.
That you are thinking about this is to me encouraging. Not enough time is spent in many classes imparting the WHY and HOW of good buddy skills. Too much emphasis on just do it. If even that is done. I know of at least one or two cases personally where it was talked about in the classroom- but in the pool, and worse in OW, everyone was focused on the instructor as the buddy and the dives were led single file. Not a good way to reinforce this idea.
