Observations from my first Open Water Session

[kafkaland]

Must agree TS&M think he got an Instructor that's truly interested in producing good OW divers. Too many stories of "Pile on the Weights", "bury them on the bottom", "knock out the Skills...kinda" and hit them with a 2x4 and they are certified.

Listen to his guidance, sounds like a smart guy.

Yes, this seems like a good instructor. But what you say here seems a bit too bimodal to me here - the good instructors vs. the bad. I'm still very new to the sport, but my perception is how much you get out of your training and your instructor depends quite a bit on yourself, and your instructor's perception of you. If you take OW classroom and pool, with checkout dives in some tropical location, chances are that many instructors will do a solid job, enough that they can look into the mirror the next morning, and enough to satisfy agency standards, even if they never see you again. But there is little in it for them to go above and beyond. In particular if their perception is that you will be a vacation diver, following the DM like a sheep, so why spend extra time on, let's say, gas management.
Now contrast this with a situation where the instructor thinks that you are committed to the sport, will dive locally and become part of the community, and actually benefit from all the extras beyond agency standards. A whole different ballgame - the instructor actually has a motivation to do the best he or she can. Here locally the turning point seems to be when you take the drysuit course; that's the flag that you're serious about becoming part of the community and not just want to tag behind a DM on vacation.

 

[LowDrag]

Yes, this seems like a good instructor. But what you say here seems a bit too bimodal to me here - the good instructors vs. the bad. I'm still very new to the sport, but my perception is how much you get out of your training and your instructor depends quite a bit on yourself, and your instructor's perception of you. If you take OW classroom and pool, with checkout dives in some tropical location, chances are that many instructors will do a solid job, enough that they can look into the mirror the next morning, and enough to satisfy agency standards, even if they never see you again. But there is little in it for them to go above and beyond. In particular if their perception is that you will be a vacation diver, following the DM like a sheep, so why spend extra time on, let's say, gas management.
Now contrast this with a situation where the instructor thinks that you are committed to the sport, will dive locally and become part of the community, and actually benefit from all the extras beyond agency standards. A whole different ballgame - the instructor actually has a motivation to do the best he or she can. Here locally the turning point seems to be when you take the drysuit course; that's the flag that you're serious about becoming part of the community and not just want to tag behind a DM on vacation.

Maybe in a perfect world. I dive locally and in a dry suit now but during OW I was in a wet suit and my instructor put 50 lbs on me to keep me on the bottom. I have some body weight on me but not 50 lb's worth. He didn't teach us how to stay in trim, and we didn't do any kick other than the flutter kick. I wish I would have had an instructor like Marcos, maybe I would be farther ahead than I am right now. Between watching YouTube video's and reading what others here share I have really worked at getting my buoyancy down better and to use better propulsion techniques along with setting up my gear to be streamlined. It is hard for a student to know if they are getting a good instructor or not. The OP sounds like he got really lucky, keep listening to Marcos, I like what I am reading so far.

LowDrag

 

[TN-Steve]

I'm a professional Tech Trainer (computer programming), so I know a good trainer when I see one. He's not teaching us to frog kick, that's on me, but he's been super helpful. He's an independent trainer, and has made it clear that he wants his students to text, call or email him if they have any questions about stuff. I've picked his brains on gear, and as a result, feel like I've got a good 'kit' without breaking the bank.

He really seems like his goal is develop 'clients', people who come to him again and again, and become friends, as opposed to 'one and done customers'. I could imagine that at a resort situation, where the instructors won't see the same students again, more of a 'factory' mentality could develop. Get them in, get them trained, get them out. I'm not saying that the training would be sub-standard, it's just a case where that environment isn't as conductive to long term client (as opposed to 'customer') development.

That's just my .02,

Steve