Natural divers and unnatural divers?

[Scuba gnome]

Scuba diving has a very high dropout rate.

I suspect those that you call "unnatural divers" drop out of the sport after only a few dives.

I'm curious to know the stats or reasons behind this. Is it because of something to do with cost or do most people just not like the sensation of being underwater?

 

[ozzydamo]

I'm curious to know the stats or reasons behind this. Is it because of something to do with cost or do most people just not like the sensation of being underwater?

At a guess-
I think breathing underwater would be the biggest reason- Its against every human instinct. That first breath thru a reg underwater I will never forget, the greatest fear and biggest joy....... like being born almost!
I was a hold breath/skin diver for a longtime before scuba- my main reason was to catch a feed after alongtime doing it, spearfishing with scuba gear is illegal Australia wide, so there was no real logic to get into it for me(then). Costs too, it is a sport for people who have a fair wack of disposable income really. Prices for gear have improved, but fuel and legals for dive charters continue to grow steadily. If you are keen and don't have a lot of money to play with you be lucky to do 20dives a year, which doesn't make it absolutely absorbing- people generally want repetition in their lives and instant gratification- so diving has to many variable factors for the average punter to be able to get those things out of it.

Now, that I have a seaworthy boat and enough money for quality gear, I can't get enough dives in a week(now I want my own petrol powered compressor, so I can fill on saturday nite and do 3 dives Sunday- 3 more tanks is cheaper and is probably what I will do!!!!).

So having enough opportunity to dive regularly and make it a technical discipline, as well as a healthy exercise(can be very strenuous and fearful, swimming against tidal surges, swell and currents!) and also a relaxingly, beautiful voyeurism, which can entrance your mind and make you feel inane, passing off all your worries and stress of your professional existence.
I am glad it's not more popular really.

 

[CamG]

It should also be mentioned that a great initial student might someday be surpassed by a student who struggled at first. Natural ability helps, but continued dedication, training, experience and practice is what makes a great diver over the long haul.

Greetings Kaz Trace and Dumpster are hitting the nail squarely on this topic!
There are a few "naturals" when it comes to diving but many divers have to strive and struggle to reach their goals.
It does not mean either appreciate the certification any less but in many cases I have witnessed the more determined and or effort put into something the greater the reward!

When it comes to training divers some of the greatest challenges I have witnessed in students who overcame mountainous obstacles at the time is the attitude change it provokes in them personally.
People say it all the time but diving is not just an activity for some it really does become a way of life!
I have watched individuals who were transformed by the struggle into confident, empowered personalities who literally come out of a shell to emerge changed forever!
The greatest reward for an instructor or assistant is to be a part of this and at the end of the day you can relax and know all the struggle, time, effort was really worth it!

Many on this board are assisting and instructing because of this transformation that took place in our own lives.
We try to pass it on or give back to SCUBA, the instructors, DM's who toiled endlessly and were cheerleaders, mentors, and friends.
Give me all the tough students and I will bust my AXX to get them up to speed on skills.
If it takes all day then we will be back tomorrow as well but one thing is certain you either build solid students or they simply decide to give up on the training.
In my short time I have seen very sew give up but there have been a few and to be honest I am not really sure why they were training in the first place.
The pressure of a loved one or best friend to dive is not a reason to start training!
That is another thread!

The greatest compliment to any dive professional from any agency is being invited to dive with students after certification and witnessing them growing evolving into competent divers who are continuing to hone and master their skills.
I have grown several buddies from this mentality who I love to dive with and they have challenged me to aspire for greater dive goals.
People change? Yes they do and for some once it begins there is no end!

Safe diving everyone,

CamG Keep Diving....Keep Training....Keep Learning!

 

[TSandM]

Cam, that is a truly wonderful post.

I am, these days, the DM who gets the "difficult" students to take off to the corner and keep trying with . . . and although I get frustrated at times, I really do enjoy doing that, because I remember the patient, kind people who got to do it with me. So long as someone will keep trying, I will keep trying to help.

And it is really a deep joy to dive with one's students and watch them grow. I now know why Bob kept diving with me, even if I wouldn't give him enough room to kick . . .

 

[Walter]

My instructor tells people I was the worst student he ever taught. Over 2,000 dives later I think I've overcome my somewhat rocky start.

 

[Downing]

IMHO, for many that could or should, the first experiences is the make or break.

If you are not inspired by the underwater realm, diving will not be a high enough priority for most to become proficient.

A proficient breath hold diver only needs a smidge of motivation to become a proficient scuba diver, yet many of them will not.

That reminded me of my very first breath underwater. I put the reg in my mouth, sank beneath the surface as I exhaled, took a breath and immediately thought, "Oh baby, where have you been all my life?". :gondolalove:

 

[Token]

That reminded me of my very first breath underwater. I put the reg in my mouth, sank beneath the surface as I exhaled, took a breath and immediately thought, "Oh baby, where have you been all my life?".

Ha-ha...ditto! MY first scuba experience was doing a few laps around a pool in Mexico. After the first couple of breaths I knew I HAD to do a lot more of this...

OTOH, I've seen a number of divers who were in it only because their spouse was enthusiastic. My wife was one of these...her ex-husband got her into it, but now for a variety of reasons she doesn't want to do more than snorkel...:depressed:

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Hey folks I work in a totally unrelated feild to diving. In my feild you can see pretty quickly the naturals at it,they make it look easy from the moment they get started. Theres those that just need to chill and they will be fine, The constant word used is relax.
Those that with work could make it and those that really should NEVER attempt this sport.
(Actually the last group I'd actually say try again in a few years because people do change.)
More the latter group. Have you instructors met divers like this? Where you know that without dramatic changes they are going to kill themselves and possibly others?
If so how do you deal with it?

This is really a generic kinda question out of interest.

I asked my OW instructor pretty much the same question shortly after I started the class ... mostly because I was worried I'd end up being that student. He told me that some people who really struggle in OW class go on to become great divers ... but that sometimes they just need more work. I've found that to be true.

But one should really distinguish between the student who struggles, but sincerely tries vs the one who comes to class with a lousy attitude or expecting to cruise through class and collect a C-card. The first group are fixable ... the second group are not.

Scuba diving has a very high dropout rate.

I suspect those that you call "unnatural divers" drop out of the sport after only a few dives.

In some respects I think you're right ... but one has to question why. I think it's because the majority of those people need more time in the water before they're turned loose with a C-card. They walk out of class thinking "is that all there is?" ... and then go on a dive and scare the crap outta themselves. People drop out when they're not having fun ...

From what I have seen, those divers your referring to realize in a very short time that they are not cut out for the sport, so in essence the likelihood of them injuring themselves or others is limited. Either they're not comfortable in the water, claustrophobic, don't care or whatever.

but as instructors, we are obligated to help get them over those concerns to at least be a competent diver upon certification, whether they choose to dive again remains their decision.

I talk with folks all the time who got certified, and have not dove since. It happens

Yes it does ... but I have found a correlation between retention rate and quality initial instruction. Within my local dive community, the better instructors tend to develop a higher percentage of active divers.

I don't know. I'm really not 'natural' at anything physical -- I'm hopelessly uncoordinated. And, while it's still too early to tell, I don't see myself dropping out of diving after just a few more dives. I'm enjoying it far too much.

I don't think I'll ever have the best buoyancy skills or the most grace underwater, but the basics don't seem too terribly hard if you put in a little bit of work. My buoyancy's already 'alright' -- I manage to keep myself off the bottom, don't unexpectedly float rapidly towards the surface and mostly manage to keep out of the way of other divers. I'm sure it'll improve with time and practice. I'm happy with aiming for my personal goal of not being a danger or a nuisance underwater and improving as much as I'm able to.

Don't sell yourself short. One of the most inspiring divers I've ever met was a complete mess when I met her ... but she was determined to improve. I told her, during one of her "down" moments to hang in there ... within two years she'd be teaching me things.

It didn't even take that long.

Attitude is the key. Those who really want something and are willing to put the time and effort into it will often overcome their weaknesses and everything begins to click for them.

That's the key point .... people achieve what they truly want to achieve. Aptitude will make the job easier or more difficult, but it truly does fall back on desire. I've known many divers who seemed "natural" at first, but who never really progressed once they started diving. In many cases they were eventually surpassed by a classmate who initially struggled to learn anything, but who was determined to get good at it.

Read the journal in my sig line.

On the bell-shaped curve of native aptitude for this sport, I'm so far to the negative end that it would have been a kindness for my OW instructors to have told me to consider golf.

Meet the inspring diver I referred to earlier ...

I am absolutely sure my technical instructors have contemplated doing that . . . but six years of dedicated effort have brought me a technical cert and a Full Cave certification, where I'm certain that none of my early instructors would even have predicted I would continue to dive.

Most of your instructors probably figured they couldn't possibly beat you up any worse than you did to yourself ...

What puts me off students in OW classes is fear. I was clumsy and stupid and sometimes downright dangerous, but I wasn't scared. The students who can't get past their anxiety, or who are using ALL of their bandwidth just to make themselves get into and stay in the water, are the people I think probably ought to give up. Being clumsy or awkward or making skill mistakes is something you can fix with enough time and determination (and a wonderful set of inhumanly patient dive buddies). But I don't like being in the water with people who are scared.

This is usually fixable with more pool time ... which most OW students don't get. But I agree with you ... taking someone to OW while they're still wide-eyed is just asking for failure.

Thing is, we all have hard-wired responses to being immersed in water ... it's our brain telling us we don't belong there, and it's one of those evolved responses that allowed us to survive as a species. We have to "rewire" ourselves to become divers ... and for some that comes easier than for others. It is often the case that people who are "slow learners" aren't overcoming physical inadequacies at all ... but are those who have to struggle harder with the mental aspects of diving.

If you are not inspired by the underwater realm, diving will not be a high enough priority for most to become proficient.

That is very true.

I'm curious to know the stats or reasons behind this. Is it because of something to do with cost or do most people just not like the sensation of being underwater?

I don't know if anyone really keeps stats on dropout rate ... but it is quite high. When I was taking my instructor training, the number that was commonly quoted was three out of every four divers taking OW this year won't be diving next year. I think cost is one significant reason ... I think struggling to convince yourself you're having fun is probably a more significant one, though.

And it is really a deep joy to dive with one's students and watch them grow. I now know why Bob kept diving with me, even if I wouldn't give him enough room to kick . . .

I was grooming a dive buddy ... worked out pretty much as I hoped it would ...

That reminded me of my very first breath underwater. I put the reg in my mouth, sank beneath the surface as I exhaled, took a breath and immediately thought, "Oh baby, where have you been all my life?". :gondolalove:

Boy howdy! I remember well that first breath underwater in the pool. My instructor gave the thumb and I returned it with an enthusiastic "OH YEAH, THIS IS SOOOO COOL!" ... and just kept kneeling there, breathing, and wondering why everyone else stood up ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Scuba gnome]

So having enough opportunity to dive regularly and make it a technical discipline, as well as a healthy exercise(can be very strenuous and fearful, swimming against tidal surges, swell and currents!) and also a relaxingly, beautiful voyeurism, which can entrance your mind and make you feel inane, passing off all your worries and stress of your professional existence.
I am glad it's not more popular really.

Yes, tell me about it! I faced my first strong current and surge on my last trip and it was amazing how nasty it could get. It's something else when you are holding onto a rock and watching fish just sort of sitting still in the current and not moving anywhere either.

I don't know if anyone really keeps stats on dropout rate ... but it is quite high. When I was taking my instructor training, the number that was commonly quoted was three out of every four divers taking OW this year won't be diving next year. I think cost is one significant reason ... I think struggling to convince yourself you're having fun is probably a more significant one, though.

I figured when all is said and done costs have a lot to do with it and probably location. A lot of people with the income to dive probably live in urban areas where they have to fly or drive far away to get to some place that's dive-able.

The not having fun thing is interesting too. I guess it's hard for me to fathom since I haven't had an activity that's managed to grab me like scuba has. I've had a ton of hobbies and engaged in all sorts of activities in my life and there hasn't been one that's dominated my daily thinking like this has. There are times I daydream about what I saw underwater.

There's just something really surreal with being 100 ft in the ocean that beats out anything else i've done.

I guess a close second in that rush is jumping out of a plane for the first time but even that thrill was very short in duration and not nearly as interesting.

 

[TSandM]

I think we are all different, and leisure time activities change for many people with their opportunities and their responsibilities.

I have spoken to a great many folks who got certified and never dove a single dive afterward. The majority of those folks took their class with a specific goal in mind -- a vacation or trip where they thought diving would be fun -- and perhaps never made that trip. Local diving had never been part of their vision.

It is not enough to say that poor skills or even lack of enjoyment lead to dropping out . . . one of our best friends is a totally natural diver. His skills at the end of his OW class were better than mine were at 150 dives (when I passed Fundies). He also really enjoys diving, and his one Puget Sound dive ended with him grinning from ear to ear. He has the money to dive any way and anywhere he wants . . . what he doesn't have is time. What little time off the CEO of a corporation gets, he has to divide among his interests, and diving just hasn't risen to the top of the queue.

I think another thing that is difficult for diving is that it's so common to have one spouse a diver and the other not . . . and it's hard to share diving with non-divers. The family can come watch a bicycle race, and enjoy the sunshine and cheering on their guy (or girl). It's expensive and more difficult to take the family out on a dive boat, when none of them dives, and perhaps some are still in strollers. And at least in Puget Sound, the weather is often good enough for diving, but not at all pleasant for onlookers (42 degree drizzle, anybody?)

But the bottom line is that this sport, like so many other activities, either grabs you or it doesn't. If you aren't inspired, the expense, work and discomforts involved in pursuing it are going to loom larger in your mind than the pleasure to be had from floating. (I figure I spend a MINIMUM of two hours packing and driving, for every hour I spend in the water -- and I live by Puget Sound!) Some people are content to ride a rental horse on trails on a very occasional vacation, and others rearrange their entire lives to manage to afford to keep and train a horse. Diving is no different.