GUE Fundamentals - It's go time!

[BluewaterSail]

You have chosen to take Fundies with the best there is. I took both Primer and Fundies from Doug, and also some private time. His patience with clumsy divers seemingly has no limits, and he has lots of tricks up his sleeve to help individuals with individual problems. I came to him with virtually no control in the water, and after alot of work with me over a number of months, I left with confidence that I could put myself where I wanted to be and stay there. A minor miracle.

Relax, have fun, and think of it as a step on the path, not a destination.

Tell him Linda says Hi. :wavey:

 

[TSandM]

rambaldi, I think it was John Kendall in the UK who put it best: To get the most out of Fundies, you need to be able to hover in place long enough to watch the skills demonstrations. If you can't do that, you need to do a bit more foundation work.

One of the biggest problems with this class is the student's need to pass. It leads to putting the class off and doing incessant practice with people other than an instructor. Some of that practice may be profitable, but some of it teaches and ingrains bad habits. The ONLY thing that a pass from Fundies does for you is get you 32%, if you haven't had a Nitrox class before -- and a tech pass is the gate to GUE technical training. But honestly, it's my personal opinion that you are better off doing the class early -- at the point where you can hover, and do the basic five without corking or ending up a half mile away -- than you are delaying until you are sure of a pass, especially a rec pass. What would you be paying the instructor for in that case, anyway?

 

[rambaldi]

rambaldi, I think it was John Kendall in the UK who put it best: To get the most out of Fundies, you need to be able to hover in place long enough to watch the skills demonstrations. If you can't do that, you need to do a bit more foundation work.

One of the biggest problems with this class is the student's need to pass. It leads to putting the class off and doing incessant practice with people other than an instructor. Some of that practice may be profitable, but some of it teaches and ingrains bad habits. The ONLY thing that a pass from Fundies does for you is get you 32%, if you haven't had a Nitrox class before -- and a tech pass is the gate to GUE technical training. But honestly, it's my personal opinion that you are better off doing the class early -- at the point where you can hover, and do the basic five without corking or ending up a half mile away -- than you are delaying until you are sure of a pass, especially a rec pass. What would you be paying the instructor for in that case, anyway?

Thanks, that gives me exactly what I need to work on

 

[kathydee]

I wager the bet that you will have a great time with Doug, from what I have seen & heard of your ambitious journey towards Fundies ;-)!

Good luck!!!!!

 

[Lorenzoid]

Please post a full report. I'm signed up for Primer with Doug in April, and assuming that goes well, Fundies will be next.

 

[HenrikBP]

... but I too am my worst critic. My plan is to go and learn and whatever happens, happens

"Success is a poor teacher." How we accept failures and how we learn from them is what will ultimately make us better.

From a fellow harsh and unrelenting self-critic: those two points are absolute key in learning, having fun and not burning out along the way. I learned (finally ...) the hard way.

There is no doubt that you'll have a dive or two that turns into a complete cluster. Beating yourself up over it will just make it un-fun and much more difficult in the long run.

I had a "glorious" air sharing ascent during Fundies, where I got into an uncontrolled ascent - feet first - and attempted a "modified" tuck and roll to save it and promptly yanked the shared reg out of my poor buddy's mouth. On the swim back to shore I was silently typing up the eBay add in my head: "lightly used dive gear for sale cheap". And while the dive was clearly not my finest hour , the fact that I kept beating myself up over it the rest of the day - and then some - was the much bigger mistake.

Deep breath - relax

 

[Cyprian]

Please post a full report. I'm signed up for Primer with Doug in April, and assuming that goes well, Fundies will be next.

Will do. Good luck with your upcoming class.

---------- Post added February 11th, 2013 at 05:41 PM ----------

From a fellow harsh and unrelenting self-critic: those two points are absolute key in learning, having fun and not burning out along the way. I learned (finally ...) the hard way.

There is no doubt that you'll have a dive or two that turns into a complete cluster. Beating yourself up over it will just make it un-fun and much more difficult in the long run.

I had a "glorious" air sharing ascent during Fundies, where I got into an uncontrolled ascent - feet first - and attempted a "modified" tuck and roll to save it and promptly yanked the shared reg out of my poor buddy's mouth. On the swim back to shore I was silently typing up the eBay add in my head: "lightly used dive gear for sale cheap". And while the dive was clearly not my finest hour , the fact that I kept beating myself up over it the rest of the day - and then some - was the much bigger mistake.

Deep breath - relax

Understood. The hard part for me will be to keep myself from dwelling over the mistakes, just as you mentioned. For me it's more of the feeling that I'm letting the team down in that instance, because I know we will dive as a team and be graded as a team.

 

[Scott L]

rambaldi, I think it was John Kendall in the UK who put it best: To get the most out of Fundies, you need to be able to hover in place long enough to watch the skills demonstrations. If you can't do that, you need to do a bit more foundation work.

Very true, but the instructors west of the Mississippi keep that a secret. The OP did his homework well and picked a fine man as an instructor...

 

[50Fathom]

Good luck man. I know you'll do well. I've been telling you for months that you're ready, now go DO it.

I expect a full report when you get back, and then let's go diving!

 

[Cyprian]

Good luck man. I know you'll do well. I've been telling you for months that you're ready, now go DO it.

I expect a full report when you get back, and then let's go diving!

I'm on it. And thanks for your help along the way.

Diving you say? Always! We've got to get our GUE group up and rolling this year - let's plan some get togethers when I return from FL. I might even drop in on ya'll the week Bob is there teaching.