Diver Training: Kick-up the intensity, or not?

[dbulmer]

I recognise some of the elements that DCBC proposes in the club training that I received when I first started to dive in the UK. For harder conditions than Bonaire where you need to be able to carry your heavier gear (because no one is going to do it for you) being in better shape physically makes sense.

There are many aspects in training a diver but if I had to single out the most important aspect in developing an individual's skill (this is just a personal opinion it is the abillity of the instructor to get the student to slow down.

With DCBC intensity I think the student will learn to slow down because the student will be too knackered to do otherwise

 

[DCBC]

DCBC I get where you are coming from and PERSONALLY I would really have got into your training system.Reality is the first time I learned to dive I was taught by my father who was a recently demobbed Royal navy diver. So I was taught the "navy way"
But heres the rub. if you want people in your sport -regardless of what it happens to be you need to "feed the funnel"
This means that theres gonna be a bunch of people who are only prepared to learn the very bare minimum to try out a sport.
Those people will be stopped dead and just won't even give diving a try.
Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Its a good thing because the skill level of each diver will be much higher.
Its a bad thing because you will loose the biggest volume of OW divers.The dribble down effect will be dive shops closing etc etc.

I understand what you're saying. Generally speaking, the direction diving training has taken, now allows those who didn't have the time, fitness, or the time to dedicate to it to become certified. I see the positives these changes have done to the industry. Equipment has improved, more dive shops have popped-up and dive tourism has become a big industry. Every diver benefits from this.

On the other hand, I remember diving in Cayman, the Bahamas, Bonaire, Chuuk, Palau and a number of other locations and felt that I was not just another vacation diver being led by the nose by a Guide. I could Buddy-up with anyone and feel that the Diver who I was with was competent. I just don't feel that way anymore.

About 30 years ago, I lived in British Columbia. The mountains were beautiful and I use to hike into them to a place where there was a natural hot spring pool. I loved spending time there. I returned last year to find the spot (or at least where I thought it to be) buried under someone's home. Now some might say that it's great that people can drive to this location and appreciate the beauty. Those that couldn't physically do it before. The building of homes helps stimulate the economy and now I don't have to hike I can drive, so my life is enriched. Unfortunately however, all I see is that something that has been lost...

Years before the "diving boom" I was able to purchase equipment and get my tanks filled despite being 30 miles from a dive shop. So forgive me for saying so, but I really don't care about "feeding the funnel."

Best wishes to your Dad. I did a NATO exchange with the RN in Portsmouth for a couple of months a lifetime ago. They had a great training facility there.

---------- Post added May 11th, 2013 at 09:10 AM ----------

There are many aspects in training a diver but if I had to single out the most important aspect in developing an individual's skill (this is just a personal opinion it is the abillity of the instructor to get the student to slow down. ...With DCBC intensity I think the student will learn to slow down because the student will be too knackered to do otherwise

An interesting observation, I hadn't looked at it like that; you're right though, it does cause them to slow down. Thanks for your comments.

 

[vladimir]

My YMCA certification in 1975 was similar to your curriculum in many respects. We did the ditch-and-dons, breathing from valves, black-out mask stressors, etc. We had swimming, treading water, etc. requirements. I was 15 and eagerly looked forward to every class, so I don't quite get the boot-camp comparisons.

I think your class should cost more, and I think there ought to be a niche for it, alongside today's typically less-demanding classes. My instructor charged me $150 for my six (or eight, not sure) week course. Inflation-adjusted, that's about $650 in today's money. If a teenager in South Brooklyn could scrape that up, so can most adults today.

My instructor did not try to sell me any equipment, by the way.

 

[DCBC]

My YMCA certification in 1975 was similar to your curriculum in many respects. We did the ditch-and-dons, breathing from valves, black-out mask stressors, etc. We had swimming, treading water, etc. requirements. I was 15 and eagerly looked forward to every class, so I don't quite get the boot-camp comparisons.

I think your class should cost more, and I think there ought to be a niche for it, alongside today's typically less-demanding classes. My instructor charged me $150 for my six (or eight, not sure) week course. Inflation-adjusted, that's about $650 in today's money. If a teenager in South Brooklyn could scrape that up, so can most adults today.

My instructor did not try to sell me any equipment, by the way.

Thanks Vlad. It seems unimaginable for some divers (particularly Instructors) to comprehend how diving use to be taught and the caliber of diver that was produced from these programs. Students and Instructors use to have a different attitude, in-that the focus was on "learning the skills" and not just having fun (not that there's anything wrong with that, my students also enjoy the challenge). It's just that diving seemed to be taken much more seriously back them. I do appreciate however, that times change and people's attitudes change with them (some people refer to this as 'evolving') .

Using the yardstick of "not certifying anyone that I wasn't comfortable with acting as a Buddy for a member of my family," caused me to require something different from my students at the onset. Having made my living underwater, I also realize how dangerous the underwater environment can be.

Two sentences that are appropriate are:

1/ The Ocean doesn't treat a new diver any kindlier than an old salt; and
2/ Every piece of diving equipment will eventually malfunction (despite proper maintenance).

The best thing that any diver can do is to prepare himself, his Buddy and their equipment for a worst case scenario. This outlook has served me well.

BTW, I don't sell diving equipment either.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Upping the intensity is one of the reasons I take courses and workshops from other instructors who are teaching at levels far above mine. I look for those courses and workshops that will take me out of my comfort zone and force me to push my own personal envelope. What then follows is finding that some of those things then make their way into my OW and Advanced Level Classes. IMO it benefits my students by requiring them to perform at a higher level than others. Even when compared to students I taught two or three years before. Each year I teach I learn something new myself and up the level of the classes I offer.

My OW students and Advanced Level students that I will teach this year will get new skills and knowledge that the ones I taught four years ago did not. They still got a very good course but I don't believe in being stagnant and teaching the same thing over and over year after year. My OW instructor could just about recite the PADI OW manual from memory. But he had no idea how to set up a BPW or configure a long hose set up. He did not know the theory behind doing deep stops. It it wasn't in the book students didn't need to know it.

I don't agree with that. Anytime new info comes out I am looking to see if I can add it to my courses. I add new skills that I feel will benefit them and increase their comfort level and confidence.

I don't think though that is upping the intensity. I think in fact that it lowers the intensity they may feel when getting in the water on their own and reducing the level of stress they may feel.

 

[DCBC]

My OW instructor could just about recite the PADI OW manual from memory.

Something I haven't really perfected with the USN Diving Manual. LOL

...I add new skills that I feel will benefit them and increase their comfort level and confidence. ...I don't think though that is upping the intensity. I think in fact that it lowers the intensity they may feel when getting in the water on their own and reducing the level of stress they may feel.

Thanks for your comments. I agree, it often seems when the training is progressively more difficult, student confidence increases and much of their OW anxiety is lessened. One of the problems in diving today, is the lack of diver retention. I'm sure part of this problem is because the students do not feel prepared to dive (let alone unsupervised). What do you think of this Jim?

 

[bbarnett51]

deleted

 

[DCBC]

Seems like a lot of wasting time. I would rather spend the extra time on diving skills.

Would you clarify your comment for me please. What skills are you referring to?

 

[bbarnett51]

Would you clarify your comment for me please. What skills are you referring to?

I deleted my post and I apologize. I went back and reread and I think you do a good job of teaching OW skills. I was caught up on the first part and the fitness part. Not my cup of tea for an OW class but I am sure some like the challenge. I SPOKE TO SOON

 

[DCBC]

I deleted my post and I apologize. I went back and reread and I think you do a good job of teaching OW skills. I was caught up on the first part and the fitness part. Not my cup of tea for an OW class but I am sure some like the challenge. I SPOKE TO SOON

No problem, I'm just interested in all comments (whether positive or negative). Thanks for your input.