Has anyone been in or taught a DIR-F class where one of the divers was extremely "weak" (ie. they were poorly taught during OW and they probably had very few dives under their belt)? I'm just wondering what the learning curve was for these folks taking a DIR-F course. Did they finish the class with greatly improved skills? Reason I'm asking is because I would assume that the majority of people taking a DIR-F course are fairly strong divers with a hightend interest in the sport, in order to invest the time and the money.
DIR-F learning curve?
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Actually, yes.
3 of us recently (February '04) took the DIR-F course with Joe Talavera. Our experience ranged from newly certified in August '03 with 10 or so dives, to being OW certified in 1986 with a wopping 30 dives. To say the least the 3 of us had very little experience before taking the DIR-F course.
We still learned a lot from the class though, and have seen a huge (to us) improvement of our skills since taking the class. You have to keep in mind that the DIR-F course focuses more on education rather than passing the course. This is a big difference since instead of pushing us through all of the skills to pass us, Joe held us back and focused us on the basics.
To give you an idea of the in water experience of the DIR-F course, it's broken down into 4 dives that focus on different skills.
1) Kicks, trim, and buoyancy
2) The 5 drills: Mask flooding, Mask removal, Regulator Switch, Modified S-Drill, and S-Drill
3) Controlled ascent/descents while maintaining a horizontal trim, and shooting a bag.
4) Make up session to focus on anything that still needs work
On our DIR-F course, we spent 3 dives on session #1, and we were able to get to session #2 on our 4th dive.
Throughout this entire fiasco of ours that I lovingly refer to as a choreographed circus clown act underwater, a second group of divers with more experience than us were able to complete the DIR-F course. Which means Joe was able to organize the class in a way that didn't hold back the more advanced divers.
Joe has setup a DIR-F Make Up Day on May 9th for us in Monterey, Ca, and we're hoping to make it through the rest of the skills this weekend. My wife and I have been practicing with other DIR type divers in our area, and have come a long way since February. I'm not trying to say we'll pass the course this weekend, but we are definitely improving.
There are many subtle things in the DIR-F course that if you've never noticed before, then you're likely going to have a challenging time in the course. For instance, I've heard from other divers that you can control your buoyancy by listening to your body and your ears to changes in depth. However, it's a big difference between listening to your body, and teaching yourself to act when those changes occur. With some practice, I'm now able to some what instinctively dump or add air when I realize these changes in depth are occuring. Now I need to learn how much air to add or dump based on the way depth changes affect the way I feel.
My wife and I knew going into the DIR-F course that our skills needed a lot of work, but that was our entire reason for taking the class. To help us to remain composed and present during the class, we focused on the primary skills that were important to us, and realized at the begining of the course that we might not get to all of the skills. So we focused primarily on trim, buoyancy, and kicks, and the class was a complete success based on our priorities. And now that we've had a bit more practice, we're looking forward to seeing how far we get during the make up session.
With regards to the learning curve, keep in mind that the DIR way of diving is a holistic approach. They really mean it when they say that. Buddy team skills, excersize, mental awareness, dive planning, learning the new gear configuration, the dive skills, and everything else that's taught in the course all work together. More experienced divers sometimes have more experience with putting all of these skills together. At the same time, many of the experienced divers have never dove this way before. I guess what I'm trying to say about the learning curve is that there's a lot to learn, and a lot of time the more experienced divers have a harder time with the course because they have to un-learn those dive skills that go against the DIR way of diving. That's a huge thing for many, and it often means that the experienced and in-experienced divers will have a similar learning curve to work through.
Hope the above helps.
~ Jason
3 of us recently (February '04) took the DIR-F course with Joe Talavera. Our experience ranged from newly certified in August '03 with 10 or so dives, to being OW certified in 1986 with a wopping 30 dives. To say the least the 3 of us had very little experience before taking the DIR-F course.
We still learned a lot from the class though, and have seen a huge (to us) improvement of our skills since taking the class. You have to keep in mind that the DIR-F course focuses more on education rather than passing the course. This is a big difference since instead of pushing us through all of the skills to pass us, Joe held us back and focused us on the basics.
To give you an idea of the in water experience of the DIR-F course, it's broken down into 4 dives that focus on different skills.
1) Kicks, trim, and buoyancy
2) The 5 drills: Mask flooding, Mask removal, Regulator Switch, Modified S-Drill, and S-Drill
3) Controlled ascent/descents while maintaining a horizontal trim, and shooting a bag.
4) Make up session to focus on anything that still needs work
On our DIR-F course, we spent 3 dives on session #1, and we were able to get to session #2 on our 4th dive.
Throughout this entire fiasco of ours that I lovingly refer to as a choreographed circus clown act underwater, a second group of divers with more experience than us were able to complete the DIR-F course. Which means Joe was able to organize the class in a way that didn't hold back the more advanced divers.
Joe has setup a DIR-F Make Up Day on May 9th for us in Monterey, Ca, and we're hoping to make it through the rest of the skills this weekend. My wife and I have been practicing with other DIR type divers in our area, and have come a long way since February. I'm not trying to say we'll pass the course this weekend, but we are definitely improving.
There are many subtle things in the DIR-F course that if you've never noticed before, then you're likely going to have a challenging time in the course. For instance, I've heard from other divers that you can control your buoyancy by listening to your body and your ears to changes in depth. However, it's a big difference between listening to your body, and teaching yourself to act when those changes occur. With some practice, I'm now able to some what instinctively dump or add air when I realize these changes in depth are occuring. Now I need to learn how much air to add or dump based on the way depth changes affect the way I feel.
My wife and I knew going into the DIR-F course that our skills needed a lot of work, but that was our entire reason for taking the class. To help us to remain composed and present during the class, we focused on the primary skills that were important to us, and realized at the begining of the course that we might not get to all of the skills. So we focused primarily on trim, buoyancy, and kicks, and the class was a complete success based on our priorities. And now that we've had a bit more practice, we're looking forward to seeing how far we get during the make up session.
With regards to the learning curve, keep in mind that the DIR way of diving is a holistic approach. They really mean it when they say that. Buddy team skills, excersize, mental awareness, dive planning, learning the new gear configuration, the dive skills, and everything else that's taught in the course all work together. More experienced divers sometimes have more experience with putting all of these skills together. At the same time, many of the experienced divers have never dove this way before. I guess what I'm trying to say about the learning curve is that there's a lot to learn, and a lot of time the more experienced divers have a harder time with the course because they have to un-learn those dive skills that go against the DIR way of diving. That's a huge thing for many, and it often means that the experienced and in-experienced divers will have a similar learning curve to work through.
Hope the above helps.
~ Jason
divemed06,
Yes, I have been to two DIR-F classes and have seen a wide variety of skill sets and experience in attendance. One great thing about the program though...DIR-F is not a class designed exclusively for those who are intent on technical diving, high monetary investments, etc. Quite the contrary; it is open to divers at all levels. That's part of the beauty of diving DIR, and we're not just talking an equipment configuration or a "tech-only" group. The fundamental things you learn in this class are applicable to all diver levels, diving environments, etc. Whether you primarily dive shallow tropical reefs in ideal conditions, or whether you want to look into more challenging diving environments, the Fundamentals class is great for everyone. There are just as many people who come into the class as new or very inexperienced divers who get so much out of it. The learning curve usually gets pretty awesome no matter what your experience and skill sets are when you take the class. And it's also worth mentioning that you don't necessarily finish the class with the wve of a majic wand, and all of a sudden you are a wonderful diver. It's more of a chance to learn what you can improve, give you the knowledge for what you need to accomplish, then you go out and practice for long-term improvement.
Yes, I have been to two DIR-F classes and have seen a wide variety of skill sets and experience in attendance. One great thing about the program though...DIR-F is not a class designed exclusively for those who are intent on technical diving, high monetary investments, etc. Quite the contrary; it is open to divers at all levels. That's part of the beauty of diving DIR, and we're not just talking an equipment configuration or a "tech-only" group. The fundamental things you learn in this class are applicable to all diver levels, diving environments, etc. Whether you primarily dive shallow tropical reefs in ideal conditions, or whether you want to look into more challenging diving environments, the Fundamentals class is great for everyone. There are just as many people who come into the class as new or very inexperienced divers who get so much out of it. The learning curve usually gets pretty awesome no matter what your experience and skill sets are when you take the class. And it's also worth mentioning that you don't necessarily finish the class with the wve of a majic wand, and all of a sudden you are a wonderful diver. It's more of a chance to learn what you can improve, give you the knowledge for what you need to accomplish, then you go out and practice for long-term improvement.
You don't really exit the class with greatly improved skills. You exit the class knowing where the bar is and what you need to do to get there. You're not necessarily right that everyone who takes the class is already a good diver, but you're right in saying that the people who take the class are serious about diving.
The good thing about the new divers is that they don't have any bad habits to break yet. It really gets the new diver started in the right direction from the beginning.
I found that I had picked up some bad and lazy habits over the years, and it is taking a lot to un-do certain things that had become set in their ways. Man, is that hard!
In my class, there were people starting off doing down right dangerous diving. Over the course of the class, there was improvement. Over the coming weeks and months, continued improvement.
This is why the certification, if you will call it that, is considered a license to learn. The whole point of the class is to learn and start down the path.
I found that I had picked up some bad and lazy habits over the years, and it is taking a lot to un-do certain things that had become set in their ways. Man, is that hard!
In my class, there were people starting off doing down right dangerous diving. Over the course of the class, there was improvement. Over the coming weeks and months, continued improvement.
This is why the certification, if you will call it that, is considered a license to learn. The whole point of the class is to learn and start down the path.
Eric__U
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My DIR-F was really good for me. I entered the course with 40 dives and no dives in doubles, or having exposure to a long hose. I rented a set of doubles and learned so much during the course. I didn't master the drills during the few days however it gave me a great foundation to learn to build upon. I am happy i ltook the course while i was still new and didn't have many bad habbits to break. Aftering practicing all the skills i learned i now feel ready for my tech 1 which is next week :0.
eric
eric
boomx5
Contributor
Eric__U:
I've been training and preparing for Tech1 for a while now. Unfortunately I have to wait till September for my class. Good luck and make sure to post a trip report when it's all over with.
ElectricZombie
Contributor
I would say that it's the opposite. A lot of people take the class because they realize that what they were originally taught in OW is lacking and they are not where they should be.divemed06:
Some people already know how to do the skills, but take the class simply because it's a requirement to progress to Cave 1 or Tech 1.
I think everyone has a different reason for wanting to take the class and expects to get different things from the class.
VTernovski
Contributor
ElectricZombie:
I have yet to see those people... I took the class twice and everyone sucked, including myself on a second class as well.
However, I do see a progress and a sign of hope as I feel my skills are improving with each dive. The funny fact is that we have seasoned divers with a huge experience in diving, but they never had proper trim and buoyancy skills just as (if not worse) as the newer divers. I believe those folks will have a longer learning curve to get up to the bar because besides learning new skills, they need to unlearn their bad habits... and those are deeply rooted, and die hard habits, which will need a lot of work...
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