My Venture into GUE - Another view

[LiteHedded]

everybody enjoys different things about diving. I don't judge those people who do 'skills dives' or strive for that perfect helicopter turn.

go nuts

 

[Cave Diver]

everybody enjoys different things about diving. I don't judge those people who do 'skills dives' or strive for that perfect helicopter turn.

go nuts

Yeah, I hear there's even a bunch of guys that just like to go look at wet rocks.

 

[LiteHedded]

Yeah, I hear there's even a bunch of guys that just like to go look at wet rocks.

and then there's all kinds of those guys that enjoy all kinds of different dives.

different strokes for different folks I suppose?

 

[ScubaSteve]

Yeah, I hear there's even a bunch of guys that just like to go look at wet rocks.

When were you ever diving up here? Up here, most of the rocks are all on the bottom......not above you.

 

[Cave Diver]

Makes me wonder if anything was learned, or if it were, what benefit is the knowledge-- do the divers have fun?

My issue with training as described is that it produces the following:
Q: How was your dive?
A: It was awful, my trim was off.

I don't mind intense training. I've had several classes where I thought to myself what the hell am I doing here?

On our second or third day of CCr training, we were at JB. I remember quite clearly thinking to myself "It's not to late to say screw this, bail on the class, sell this POS and manage to still get most of my money back out of it."

It wasn't that the instructor was being especially hard. It was the stress I was putting on myself for my performance, or lack thereof. In almost every class I've done, my self evaluation is more critical than that of the instructor.

The thing that I appreciate about training like that is that after the fact, I feel confident in the environment. Confidence gives you the ability to stay calm and rational and deal with a problem.

I'd rather take my lumps in class and come out bloodied and battered with a bruised ego and have fun during my dives, than the reverse.

 

[HenrikBP]

It was the stress I was putting on myself for my performance, or lack thereof. In almost every class I've done, my self evaluation is more critical than that of the instructor.

Ding, ding, ding - we have a winner.

 

[TSandM]

My issue with training as described is that it produces the following:
Q: How was your dive?
A: It was awful, my trim was off.

I don't think it's the training that does this. I think it's the temperament of the people who seek out the training. Everyone knows, before taking Fundies (or at least everyone who reads stuff on the Internet knows) that the class is intense and difficult, and a lot of people don't pass it. The kind of person who signs up for such a class despite that reputation is generally someone with some perfectionist tendencies, and such people are often or always their own worst critics. (Looking in the mirror a bit here )

I've also come to the conclusion that there is a maturation process for a GUE diver. In the beginning, there is a tremendous amount of performance anxiety -- this will recrudesce before each class, or sometimes with any dive with a new-to-you teammate. But as diving experience increases and the distance from class does as well, the diver relaxes into his new skills and becomes far more confident that they are reproducible. Focus is once again on what's important -- having a safe, and fun dive. The diver can now recognize that the extremely tight tolerances of class have to do with demonstrating that you CAN meet that standard, and not an implication that one always MUST. NOBODY dives shoulder-to-shoulder at one arm's length all the time, and the world does not end if you are 20 degrees out of trim on an ascent. You know that, when you need to be perfectly flat, you can be. And you also know that, if you always allow yourself to be sloppy, someday that perfect trim won't be there when you want it, so from time to time, you practice, video one another, and agonize a bit

 

[mike_s]

with all this debate.... I can't believe that no one has pondered this thought?


hmmmmmmm.............

Spoiler

What would Wormil do? ​

 

[DaMaDo]

I was in the January class with Bob and Errol and I never really felt any tension or anxiety from anyone in that class. We were a lot smaller (3 people with a 4th thrown in on the check dive) so maybe that made a difference. I went in with the mindset that I'm just going to learn and if I pass, it's a bonus.

I'm sure there was some level of anxiety in everyone but it didn't really come out at all. At least I didn't see it. Each day, no matter where we screwed up, we were joking and laughing at lunch and dinner.

We were just either all laid back or hid things really well. Maybe a mixture of both. Compartmentalization is important.

We all ended up with provisionals out of silly mistakes on the check dive for which Bob offered a third dive to pass us all, but I was shivering, had a fever, and blown sinus from the first dive so we waited until the feb fundies to just do the check dive and we all passed. For this one, we students talked about the dive thoroughly beforehand with the main goal being not to let each other make stupid mistakes. As an example, while shooting the bag, my teammate reminded me to look up before letting it go...which I was about to forget.

This made us feel like we really had each other's backs rather than being anxious that we were alone or that one's screw ups were going to mess someone else up. It really felt like a team and what a feeling that was! I've never felt such support on a dive. It made it more relaxing and exciting at the same time. It's not just you doing the skill, it's you doing the skill with the support of 2 or 3 others watching you and making sure you're not losing trim or floating up or sinking, etc.

 

[TSandM]

DaMaDo, you guys looked GREAT in the water!

What you are describing is how it works . . . it's not that nobody ever makes a mistake, it's that you help one another avoid them and correct them.

As I said, temperament plays a big role in these classes.