Failed my Day 1 PADI Pool Training

[kaylee_ann]

(only read the OP)

I feel like you had quite high expectations of yourself. You studied the books, passed the exams with better scores than anyone else, have previous (dry) experience, you're a pilot, you passed all the medical tests... And then it turned out you weren't perfect under the water.

Take it easy man, it's your first time. You don't have to know everything yet, that's why you're doing the course. It's good to be prepared but it's not a competition.

Although it's not an excuse for the behavior of your instructor, if you showed this know-it-all attitude during my course and then turned out to struggle as much as you said, I'd also roll my eyes...

Relax, take a 1-on-1 course and just forget about what you learned already, do as your instructor says and breathe.... It's supposed to be fun!

I sort of get the mindset. not from normally being good at everything, but from being a huge perfectionist and having strict standards. and when I don't feel I met those, it's really discouraging. not that I see it as a competition with others tho, more so one with myself.
edit: academics have always been my thing, but hands-on stuff? nope. was especially nervous for that reason. definitely didn't equate success in one for success in the other, as I recommend everyone should also do. they're very different animals.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I sort of get the mindset. not from normally being good at everything, but from being a huge perfectionist and having strict standards. and when I don't feel I met those, it's really discouraging. not that I see it as a competition with others tho, more so one with myself.
edit: academics have always been my thing, but hands-on stuff? nope. was especially nervous for that reason. definitely didn't equate success in one for success in the other, as I recommend everyone should also do. they're very different animals.

People come from all walks of life and have different mindsets. My student who was most fearful of the open water (the Puget Sound is rather dark) was a 6'5" 280 firefighter. A guy who would bust through walls in a burning house to rescue a kitten was afraid of the water. This is a guy that if you hit him with your car, you'd be calling AAA, not 911. Sharing this story does help my nervous students relax as they realize that their concerns are common, nothing to be embarrassed about, that we will break things into small steps to make continuous progress where their confidence builds at every step.

 

[Esprise Me]

if you hit him with your car, you'd be calling AAA, not 911.

Love this description! Is that your clever turn of phrase, or did you borrow it?

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Love this description! Is that your clever turn of phrase, or did you borrow it?

It's my own. Been refining it for a while as I don't tell this story that often.

 

[Paradoxprophet]

These reasons and more are the reason I went with private instruction with my wife. I plan on eventually getting into tech diving and I knew that my wife might be miserable in a class setting. Honestly, it was well worth the extra money to do so. We were able to go at my wife's pace and keep expectations grounded. My wife and a few hiccups but in the end was able to successfully finish her open water cert!

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Okay, I haven't read through this whole thread, and all the posts. But I think you simply need to get underwater without any pressure to "do things." Your wife is a diver, so why not get the equipment and go to a swimming pool, and simply get underwater in shallow water? Don't try any of the exercises, just get underwater and breathe, and look around. Do it without fins if you haven't gotten ones that fit. You can't really hurt yourself in 6 feet of water, and just getting used to the environment will probably help you out a lot. Your wife will also help out, but tell her I said not to be demanding, just get underwater and enjoy the experience. It is unlike any other.

SeaRat

 

[Wibble]

Your wife will also help out, but tell her I said not to be demanding,

Last time I told my wife not to be demanding the black eye didn’t go down for a week

 

[EFX]

People come from all walks of life and have different mindsets. My student who was most fearful of the open water (the Puget Sound is rather dark) was a 6'5" 280 firefighter. A guy who would bust through walls in a burning house to rescue a kitten was afraid of the water. This is a guy that if you hit him with your car, you'd be calling AAA, not 911.

In today's highly charged political climate AAA must stand for:

A(nd) yet A(nother) A(ctivist)

We need to protest that there are too many firefighters standing in the way of oncoming cars.

 

[alexdives]

Sounds like an instructor that really wants a second career as a navy seal instructor. I think you are using your pilot background (which strives for perfection) and driving yourself nuts with details. Relax, have fun and find the right instructor and there is no reason at all you can't do this.

 

[Stoo]

She signed me off for her portion and recommended I only do shore diving, and use the DAN network so if I do have an issue I can get medical care quicker than if I was on a remote dive. She did not limit my depth.



He was willing to sign me off but he recommended I only dive with my wife because she is very experienced, rescue diver certified, and knows my limitations. He recommended my first 20 dives I dive no deeper than being able to surface without the need for a safety stop. He also did not limit on my depth.

Apart from the good suggestions made by others, I feel I need to comment on the Doctors' "conditional" blessings...

If I am reading this correctly, the Cardiologist said "There's a pretty good chance your going to need emergency evacuation, so it's best you only shore dive". WTF kind of response is that??? Notwithstanding there's a pretty strong argument that shore diving is a heck a lot more strenuous than boat diving, either you're fit to dive, or you aren't. Her advice was a medical opinion filtered through her lawyers advice.

The pulmonary Doc clearly knows nothing about diving or they would know that the top 20' are where the greatest gas expansion risk takes place. If you're going to burst a lung because they're all bunged up with lung goo, it's the last bunch of feet that pose the greatest risk.

Maybe this is how medicine is practiced in the Litigious States of America, but I'd be tempted to contact DAN and tell them what transpired. Those Docs shouldn't be on their referral list.