Diver0001 posted this in another thread. Rather than do a complete hijack I decided to start a new thread to answer his question. If any one wants to ask why I do what I do feel free. But what I HOPE you do is describe your typical class pool sessions. He posted:
Jim, how do you see the issue of drilling skills that the student gets right away? I've noticed that most people get maybe 80% of the skills/material naturally without a whole lot of drilling. For example, showing cramp removal or towing a tired diver I don't focus on a lot of repetitions to see if they understood it... just 2 or 3 times on different days of the course.
For some skills I do, for example, mask skills, air sharing, and buoyancy control, to pick a few examples, get huge amounts of repetition, for some students more than for others, depending on their needs/performance. These are what I see as "core" skills". Do you guys make a distinction between core skills and non-core skills and focus more energy on the core skills or do you see all skills as equally important and subject to equal amounts of repetition?
Also, do you tailor you approach to the needs of the student or do they all go through the same number of hours?
I'm asking to get a sense of why you take 16 hours in the water with students. The PADI system is more "performance based" and I've had students who were naturals and could probably have learned to dive without an instructor and people who have taken considerably longer than 16 hours to reach a level of comfort that both they and we were comfortable with (I think the record to date for our shop is a little over 30 hours--maybe a *lot* over 30 hours, with some people we stop keeping track...LOL)
I'm curious how you see this"
As I said the best way to answer this is to describe my typical class. I'll also note that I do tailor classes for students depending on their interests or the direction they THINK they may wish to go. Some know they want to look at critters, some want to see wrecks, and others just want to dive and relax. I am free to add material to meet these needs. But for the most part my class which is agency mandated to be 16 hours in the pool goes like this:
1st session- watermanship- swim 300 yds no MSF, 50 feet UW swim, 15 minute tread float. Introduction to snorkel gear. No mask breathing with snorkel. Then with mask. Mask clearing and snorkel clear. Mask remove and replace UW and clear. Next I introduce kicks. Scissors, back, dolphin, and frog. Note the back kick in this case is merely swimming on your back and very important is head position. tilt it back too far and you are sucking water through the snorkel!. I have them do 50 yds with each kick and offer advice and hands on correction. I may intro freedive skills here if they are not too cold and the class is small. ALSO note that during all of these skills and swims I require buddies to stay together. this is not racing. technique and staying together are more important than time.
2nd session- freediving and UW swimming with MSF. Start session with a few laps to warm up. repeat mask and snorkel clear and remove and replace. Demo head first and feet first dives. Instruct on the need to equalize in even a few feet of water and demo this. Then have students do a min of 3 dives each way from stopped position and require them to use equalization techniques. I also stress the need to relax and notice how little effort it takes and the amount of time that they can stay down when they do. Also stress proper ascent protecting the head. Next is 2 laps with each kick and a feet first or head first dive on every other length. Next is uw swim with MSF where I have them flood and clear. Finally the last item in this is to place MS on pool bottom. ascend. move 25 feet away, execute headfirst dive swim to MS, put them on, clear mask and have snorkel breathable when their head hits the surface then swim 2 lengths without lifting the head out of the water. Again they do these exercises in buddy pairs. If there is time I will intro them to scuba gear but usually save that for the next session as this is fun but it is work.
3rd session- Intro to scuba gear. Assemble gear and do buddy checks. We also estimate weight requirements and load the belts. Then carry gear to shallow end of the pool. Remove gear with assistance of buddy. Place in pool. Don weight belt and get in shallow end of pool with MSF. Buddies then assist each other putting on the bc and do bubble checks. Then no mask breathing with the reg and face in the water. Then breathing with mask on. Next move to water too deep to stand in and check weighting. Next is back to shallow end and do a horizontal descent to the bottom making making sure to equalize. THis is in 4 feet of water. We then just breath and use some basic hand signals we have already discussed in class and prior sessions. Slowly ascend again in horizontal position and make sure every one is ok. Then back down and do a partial mask flood and clear. Then reg in and out. Then full flood and clear, then remove and replace. We are still horizontal on the bottom. Next I demo use of the inflator and have students try it( fin pivot for most of you). Next is to move so that the body is out over the next level of the pool with just the thighs touching. More use of the inflator until they are neutral and horizontal. Then mask off and on, reg in and out, and reg retrieval is introduced with sweep and reach methods. Next I have them get slightly negative and take the weightbelt off and on. Then get them to do it a bit more neutral. Now we move to the next deeper level, equalizing, and get in position with just the fin tips on the pool "step". Repeat all skills in this position. Again they are required to maintain buddy position and watch each other and be ready to assist if needed.( I would actually intervene anywhere at this point but they still need to be right there). They then establish neutral buoyancy again and I give them 10 minutes or so to swim around and relax a bit. Here I sometimes need to slow people down so they stay in position and I'll encourage them to try the inflator with very small adjustments. Finally I'll stop them and have then try a mask remove and replace and reg retrieval while neutral.
continued next post
Jim, how do you see the issue of drilling skills that the student gets right away? I've noticed that most people get maybe 80% of the skills/material naturally without a whole lot of drilling. For example, showing cramp removal or towing a tired diver I don't focus on a lot of repetitions to see if they understood it... just 2 or 3 times on different days of the course.
For some skills I do, for example, mask skills, air sharing, and buoyancy control, to pick a few examples, get huge amounts of repetition, for some students more than for others, depending on their needs/performance. These are what I see as "core" skills". Do you guys make a distinction between core skills and non-core skills and focus more energy on the core skills or do you see all skills as equally important and subject to equal amounts of repetition?
Also, do you tailor you approach to the needs of the student or do they all go through the same number of hours?
I'm asking to get a sense of why you take 16 hours in the water with students. The PADI system is more "performance based" and I've had students who were naturals and could probably have learned to dive without an instructor and people who have taken considerably longer than 16 hours to reach a level of comfort that both they and we were comfortable with (I think the record to date for our shop is a little over 30 hours--maybe a *lot* over 30 hours, with some people we stop keeping track...LOL)
I'm curious how you see this"
As I said the best way to answer this is to describe my typical class. I'll also note that I do tailor classes for students depending on their interests or the direction they THINK they may wish to go. Some know they want to look at critters, some want to see wrecks, and others just want to dive and relax. I am free to add material to meet these needs. But for the most part my class which is agency mandated to be 16 hours in the pool goes like this:
1st session- watermanship- swim 300 yds no MSF, 50 feet UW swim, 15 minute tread float. Introduction to snorkel gear. No mask breathing with snorkel. Then with mask. Mask clearing and snorkel clear. Mask remove and replace UW and clear. Next I introduce kicks. Scissors, back, dolphin, and frog. Note the back kick in this case is merely swimming on your back and very important is head position. tilt it back too far and you are sucking water through the snorkel!. I have them do 50 yds with each kick and offer advice and hands on correction. I may intro freedive skills here if they are not too cold and the class is small. ALSO note that during all of these skills and swims I require buddies to stay together. this is not racing. technique and staying together are more important than time.
2nd session- freediving and UW swimming with MSF. Start session with a few laps to warm up. repeat mask and snorkel clear and remove and replace. Demo head first and feet first dives. Instruct on the need to equalize in even a few feet of water and demo this. Then have students do a min of 3 dives each way from stopped position and require them to use equalization techniques. I also stress the need to relax and notice how little effort it takes and the amount of time that they can stay down when they do. Also stress proper ascent protecting the head. Next is 2 laps with each kick and a feet first or head first dive on every other length. Next is uw swim with MSF where I have them flood and clear. Finally the last item in this is to place MS on pool bottom. ascend. move 25 feet away, execute headfirst dive swim to MS, put them on, clear mask and have snorkel breathable when their head hits the surface then swim 2 lengths without lifting the head out of the water. Again they do these exercises in buddy pairs. If there is time I will intro them to scuba gear but usually save that for the next session as this is fun but it is work.
3rd session- Intro to scuba gear. Assemble gear and do buddy checks. We also estimate weight requirements and load the belts. Then carry gear to shallow end of the pool. Remove gear with assistance of buddy. Place in pool. Don weight belt and get in shallow end of pool with MSF. Buddies then assist each other putting on the bc and do bubble checks. Then no mask breathing with the reg and face in the water. Then breathing with mask on. Next move to water too deep to stand in and check weighting. Next is back to shallow end and do a horizontal descent to the bottom making making sure to equalize. THis is in 4 feet of water. We then just breath and use some basic hand signals we have already discussed in class and prior sessions. Slowly ascend again in horizontal position and make sure every one is ok. Then back down and do a partial mask flood and clear. Then reg in and out. Then full flood and clear, then remove and replace. We are still horizontal on the bottom. Next I demo use of the inflator and have students try it( fin pivot for most of you). Next is to move so that the body is out over the next level of the pool with just the thighs touching. More use of the inflator until they are neutral and horizontal. Then mask off and on, reg in and out, and reg retrieval is introduced with sweep and reach methods. Next I have them get slightly negative and take the weightbelt off and on. Then get them to do it a bit more neutral. Now we move to the next deeper level, equalizing, and get in position with just the fin tips on the pool "step". Repeat all skills in this position. Again they are required to maintain buddy position and watch each other and be ready to assist if needed.( I would actually intervene anywhere at this point but they still need to be right there). They then establish neutral buoyancy again and I give them 10 minutes or so to swim around and relax a bit. Here I sometimes need to slow people down so they stay in position and I'll encourage them to try the inflator with very small adjustments. Finally I'll stop them and have then try a mask remove and replace and reg retrieval while neutral.
continued next post
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