Isn't scuba supposed to be fun too?

[MXGratefulDiver]

I used to coach youth hockey ... 5 - 8 year olds. Parents are the reason I quit doing it ... some of these people acted like their kid was trying out for the NHL, and they were the kid's agent. Good lord ... they're barely in elementary school ... let 'em be kids.

That said ... I don't see that much "parenting" going on within ScubaBoard. Perhaps some consider me one of the parents ... but I do try not to be "that" parent ... or "that" coach ... recognizing that there are different levels of success, and that we each have our own ideas about what success means for us.

On the other hand, it's hard sometimes to see someone struggling with something and not want to help them find a way that'll produce better results ... because even for kids, it's more fun when you win ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[TSandM]

When I snowplowed down the bunny hill, I had fun.

When I could carve turns down the blue runs, I had more fun.

Diving should be fun, and if it ever becomes consistently not fun, something has gone wrong. Diving well is MORE fun, and if properly managed, the process of becoming better diver should be fun, too.

I'm sure there are people here who think I mean, by "better diver", a backplate clad long hoser -- but all I mean is someone who is always in control of himself in the water, and who leaves a site in the same condition in which he found it. Someone who is prudent and attentive to the important parameters of the dive -- depth, time and pressure -- and stays in communication with his buddy. It's not hard to be a good diver, but it takes most people a little work and sometimes some help, and most importantly, they have to know it's possible.

If your kids were racing go-karts, I think you would expect them to respect some rules, and maintain some discipline to be safe. Sometimes I think anybody who suggests that kind of thing for divers gets viewed as sucking the fun out of the sport.

 

[Peter Guy]

OP -- I am a "recreational" diver -- that is, I do this for the fun and joy of diving. And yes, I also teach scuba diving but that too is done primarily for the joy and fun of it. I have also spent a fair amount of time and money learning some of the nuances of the sport -- and guess what, the more I learned, the more fun I had.

I used to teach kids how to ski and I can guarantee you that the better (that is, more trained and skilled) they got, the more fun they had -- that is un less something else intervened and took the fun out of it.

I don't think there is any difference with scuba. The more you learn, the "better" your skill level, the more opportunity you have to have fun.

 

[Insta-Gator]

As with most things in life, if you're not having fun doing it, you are:

1. doing it wrong (incorrectly)

2. didn't really want to do it to begin with.

Have fun and enjoy your life. BTW, it is YOUR life.

 

[BDSC]

You know what I find to be as much fun as the diving itself........it's the comradery among the group of friends we dive with. This year during the week of the 4th of July, 22 of us are going on the Aqua Cat. We have been planning this trip for over a year. I can guarantee you that we will have as much fun cutting up on board above water as we will below. There will be divers on the trip with various levels of skills and experiences and any one of us will dive with another and we will all have a great time no matter what our experience level.

In October we have a group of 16 going to Little Cayman and again we'll have a blast.

Just last weekend my wife and I had an old fashioned southern "pig pickin" for all our dive friends we have met over the years and who now travel with us. We invited folks from all over. To our surprise we actually had folks fly in just to attend that day and others had drives that were several hours. We ended up with 52 people at our house. I can't tell you how honored we were that folks would make that kind of effort to join us.

I can't think of anything I have ever taken up as a hobby/sport that I enjoy more than diving and truly value the friendships we have made over the years meeting "strangers" who have become great friends. Someone once said to me "There is no such things as strangers, there's just friends you haven't met yet." I find that to be so true in the diving community.

Anyway, here's to having fun!

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Lynn said "hoser"

 

[Splitlip]

Lynn said "hoser"

Heh, heh. Heh, heh.

 

[j yaeger]

Lynn said "hoser" eh????

enjoying diving with both seasoned vets and wet behind the ears students,i have the same mantra as i did with my kids...
"don't prevent them from making mistakes...
keep them from making mistakes that are fatal"!!!

have fun
yaeg
​

 

[koozemani]

Take off eh.

 

[Splitlip]

I coached rec soccer for 12 to 14 year old girls. (Can you say hormones?) in any event, every kid playing in the league received a trophy at the end of the season.
When I played little league, only the top 3 finishing teams received a trophy.

Now, my daughter also played travel and high school soccer and volleyball. That was all about winning.