Couldn't complete OWD, distraught & lost all confidence

[aquacat8]

Some dive shops have liberal pool practice policies, others do not. I chose my current LDS because they are easygoing about letting me jump in to practice skills. Another shop does not allow that outside of class. That annoys me as much as stores that won’t let me use their bathroom. In both cases I vote with my $$!

 

[bee123]

@bee123

Just to pick up on something in your first post about repeating skills.

Even if you complete the skill correctly or nearly correctly on your first attempt, a good instructor will get you to repeat it. We're not only looking for the skill to be done correctly but also that its done smoothly and that the student is comfortable doing it. We don't want you to get stressed with minor issues (like weight belt or mask clear

Now is appear from your account you were getting a bit stressed at the repeats. Perhaps if the instructor had given you more counselling afterwards you would have understood and realised what they were doing.

I'm not defending the instructor, just explaining the process.

Thanks very much for your response. My issue was that I wanted to repeat the skills several times, but wasn't really given the chance to do so because we rushed through everything in the pool session. When it came to doing them in the open water, I didn't feel confident enough in my ability to perform the skills correctly and safely, and this stressed me out. Nor did I feel that I was given the chance to regroup and try again after the failed no mask swim, my instructor just said "we will do it tomorrow" and then we had to go back on the boat.

 

[bee123]

I know there are a few on here from Australia. If you add your location, they may be able to advise on a good local shop/instructor. (You might have to put a new post asking for help titled Australia.)

The other potential option, is if you can find a BSAC club locally. Generally, BSAC clubs are members clubs, they are all different, but normally part of being a member is the agreement that they run diver training, from novice to advanced.

My club, we have a pool weekly for an hour. We don't really care if it takes you 5 hours of pool time or 50 to learn. The instructors are volunteers, generally they are there every week.

Take the positives from the experience. You are far wiser, you have had some tuition. You know what you now want, where you feel you have concerns. A better idea how you would like to progress.
You can have a proper dialogue with the shop. A good facility will get the chief instructor, to have a proper conversation with you. I would ask to talk to your potential instructor. See if they listen, if they discuss properly with you your concerns, and if they attempt to plan an approach that gives you confidence.
You will probably find, if you have confidence and are comfortable with the instructor, that everything falls into place.

Its not unusual to have to work at some skills to perfect them. Or perhaps more importantly, to develop your own confidence that you can do the skill well, 'correctly, comfortably and confidently'.

Thank you very much for the tips, I will definitely look into joining my local BSAC club, that is great advice, Cheers!

 

[bee123]

Please find someone else.

Two 3 to 4 hour sessions are my absolute minimum. You need at least that amount of time to get comfortable and learn control. Ask any prospective dive shop about their minimums before you sign up with them. Even then, don't allow yourself to be "pushed" into the next step until you feel ready. If you feel you need more time in the pool, ask for it. Offer to pay extra for it, if need be. I don't let my students go into OW until they can do every skill easily while remaining neutral and horizontal. Only then are you really ready to make the next step.It doesn't take that much longer if your instructor knows how.

Hey you can always fly me out for a week or two. I'd love to see Australia! I'd even teach your class for free.

Thanks so much for your response, trust me if I had the money, I would fly you out here tomorrow! I really want to learn to be a safe scuba diver, unfortunately I wasn't getting that with this place, so lesson learned. Thank you for your advice, I will keep this in mind when looking for a new shop/instructor.

 

[bee123]

@bee123 I can only speak for my experience of learning to scuba dive but it was vastly different to yours.

I paid extra for 1-1 (mainly down to scheduling) but in hind sight it was the best thing I could have done. What it meant for me was that I could take as much or as little time as needed to get the skills right and the instructor only had one focus - ME. I managed to get most of the skills down ok but my main stumbling block was hovering. No matter how much I tried I was always swinging way past the point on the wall. He did what was unthinkable to me - he told me (nicely) to get out of the water, have an early lunch and chill out - he could obviously see how stressed I was getting with it. Came back after lunch, had a little potter about at 3m in their pool and he signalled to do the hover. No problem at all - I could maintain the position within about 10cm instead of the 1m swings up and down that I had had in the morning.

Would that have happened in a group setting? I highly doubt it.

Have a word with the shop and see if you can do 1-1 with the instructor you liked (even if it is a bit more cash). Confidence and relaxation are HUGE factors in scuba diving and by spending a bit more time on the basics and being really comfortable, you will find the rest comes so much easier.

BTW skipping the float is a clear breach of standards as per SSI standards . If you follow the download link and look up the water fitness requirements you will see it.

This whole experience left me rather traumatized, so one on one lessons are probably the way to go. I think it's the only way to restore my confidence and learn to perform the skills safely and correctly. SSI's recommended hours for the OWD course completion is between 16-32 hours! I don't think I even got 10.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I would also encourage you to pick your next instructor as if you were hiring an employee. They work for you. You paid for a service you did not receive. They were supposed to teach you to dive and be comfortable in the water. One pool session is a joke. It could also have resulted in a serious injury to you.
This shop needs to be reported to SSI. No question about it.
My normal OW class is 6-8 weeks depending on the student. Most are in the 7-week range. 1 1/2 to 2 hours of classroom followed by 1 1/1/2 to 2 hours in the pool once a week. We spend a minimum of 12 hours in the pool.
Before you go to open water you should be comfortable doing all skills neutral and horizontal and they should be smooth and instinctual.
Sadly too many people experience what you have and that is a big factor in the decline of diving. You get out after a class and realize you are not in any way prepared for it. Or people get mad and quit halfway through the class or get scared and give up.
Diving is not for everyone. That is a fact. But with a patient instructor many people who gave up or were scared end up being good divers and having a blast. The only people I won't train are non-swimmers unless they take swim lessons.
Then they can come back and learn to dive.
I wrote a book a few years back to help new divers choose a class, instructor, and shop as well as a few other pieces of info they don't normally get in the OW class. It also outlines what you should expect at the end of your class as far as what skills and knowledge you should have and it's helped a number of people based on the feedback I get.
Choose your instructor like your life depended on it and demand you get what you pay for. In this case they didn't even come close.

 

[bee123]

I would also encourage you to pick your next instructor as if you were hiring an employee. They work for you. You paid for a service you did not receive. They were supposed to teach you to dive and be comfortable in the water. One pool session is a joke. It could also have resulted in a serious injury to you.
This shop needs to be reported to SSI. No question about it.
My normal OW class is 6-8 weeks depending on the student. Most are in the 7-week range. 1 1/2 to 2 hours of classroom followed by 1 1/1/2 to 2 hours in the pool once a week. We spend a minimum of 12 hours in the pool.
Before you go to open water you should be comfortable doing all skills neutral and horizontal and they should be smooth and instinctual.
Sadly too many people experience what you have and that is a big factor in the decline of diving. You get out after a class and realize you are not in any way prepared for it. Or people get mad and quit halfway through the class or get scared and give up.
Diving is not for everyone. That is a fact. But with a patient instructor many people who gave up or were scared end up being good divers and having a blast. The only people I won't train are non-swimmers unless they take swim lessons.
Then they can come back and learn to dive.
I wrote a book a few years back to help new divers choose a class, instructor, and shop as well as a few other pieces of info they don't normally get in the OW class. It also outlines what you should expect at the end of your class as far as what skills and knowledge you should have and it's helped a number of people based on the feedback I get.
Choose your instructor like your life depended on it and demand you get what you pay for. In this case they didn't even come close.

That is excellent advice, thank you. I am trying to find SSI's list of required skills for the OWD course online, to compare and see if I have actually been taught everything I was supposed to. I have been swimming all my life, and snorkeling for many years, I loved scuba the first time I tried it. And I won't give up, I think with proper training and a patient instructor, I can get there.

 

[bee123]

I agree with what John, oly and Eric say. Maybe you can get your money back. Reminds me of when I was on a cruise 19 years ago and noticed divers in the ship's pool. Guy said that they do about an hour in the pool then drop you down in the ocean. Not for me. But this was Discover Scuba (if they called it that then), not an OW course....

Thank you for everyone's advice, I am now convinced that I need to ask for my money back. Reflecting back on the whole experience, I did not get proper instruction, everything was extremely rushed, and this is why I felt so unsure and did not complete the checkout dives. I need to be confident in my skills before attempting open water again, and that won't happen with this shop.

 

[caydiver]

Bee just know you might not get your money back and while I totally appreciate the value of money, some things are more important. Get yourself involved with a good instructor and stop feeding off platitudes. There are some here with truly valuable info and some that are clueless. Just let your crap experience be a guideline of what not to do and let it go. Don’t feed your inner monster by answering every post. You have been given some first class info. Take it and let the rest go! No point on reflecting— no one here really knows whether or not you got proper instruction or whether you picked a bad shop. If you agreed to pay for what what was offered basically your choice. If they have happy customers you don’t have a leg to stand on. If you want to learn to dive which has nothing to do with a successful DSD find an instructor and do it. You wanting to repeat your skills several times but yet questioning mask clearing only tends to ask what are you looking for. When you are competent at a skill you move on when you are not, you don’t. Good instructors know this. I am totally not understanding if you want more or less but please understand that if your instructor thinks you are not comfortable with a skill set and they pass you, they carry you forward for a number of years as a professional liability. Even if you are prefect but have personal issues which is totally okay, any individual may not want the responsibility of you carrying their number.

 

[bee123]

Bee just know you might not get your money back and while I totally appreciate the value of money, some things are more important. Get yourself involved with a good instructor and stop feeding off platitudes. There are some here with truly valuable info and some that are clueless. Just let your crap experience be a guideline of what not to do and let it go. Don’t feed your inner monster by answering every post. You have been given some first class info. Take it and let the rest go! No point on reflecting— no one here really knows whether or not you got proper instruction or whether you picked a bad shop. If you agreed to pay for what what was offered basically your choice. If they have happy customers you don’t have a leg to stand on. If you want to learn to dive which has nothing to do with a successful DSD find an instructor and do it. You wanting to repeat your skills several times but yet questioning mask clearing only tends to ask what are you looking for. When you are competent at a skill you move on when you are not, you don’t. Good instructors know this. I am totally not understanding if you want more or less but please understand that if your instructor thinks you are not comfortable with a skill set and they pass you, they carry you forward for a number of years as a professional liability. Even if you are prefect but have personal issues which is totally okay, any individual may not want the responsibility of you carrying their number.

I have been replying to posts because I appreciate people taking time to read through my post and provide feedback, advice etc. This is my way of dealing with this experience and I am not feeding any inner monsters but just gathering advice from people who have been in this industry way longer than I have. My DSD instructor actually made us perform several skills before we descended, so it's not like I had no idea what I was getting myself into when signing up for the course. Thanks for your input though.