Observed an OW class yesterday

[lv2dive]

Marie,

I'm glad you were not scared off from your thread by the few snarky comments! I agree with those who basically said observation is good, keep learning by any means!

Coming from a place where I probably looked like those students, I didn't take offense at your post.

The first time I realized I needed to make changes in my diving was in Australia of all places. I had been certified for a couple of years and was in Sydney for work, so I took a weekend and flew to Cairnes to dive the GBR. It was the first time I was diving without my then-husband and it was such a learning experience for me... i got buddied up with a couple one day and I could tell there was something different about how they dived - they were much more "smooth" in the water than me. By the end of the first dive I realized they didn't move their hands around. So I started to practice that. From then on, I watched good divers and tried to emulate them.

It may seem obvious to people who have had good training but for those of who had the minimum, and care about being solid divers, we figure it out on our own and/or eventually find training to help us. But I think I had been certified almost ten years before I found the right class to reallly take my diving to the next level. Unfortunately that was a lot of years to accumulate bad habits to break.

And to piggyback off Jim's comment about advertising...of course, the dive shop I observed (the one with the not-squared away divers) had a big sign out promoting the shop.

 

[Neilwood]

Marie,

I'm glad you were not scared off from your thread by the few snarky comments! I agree with those who basically said observation is good, keep learning by any means!

Coming from a place where I probably looked like those students, I didn't take offense at your post.

The first time I realized I needed to make changes in my diving was in Australia of all places. I had been certified for a couple of years and was in Sydney for work, so I took a weekend and flew to Cairnes to dive the GBR. It was the first time I was diving without my then-husband and it was such a learning experience for me... i got buddied up with a couple one day and I could tell there was something different about how they dived - they were much more "smooth" in the water than me. By the end of the first dive I realized they didn't move their hands around. So I started to practice that. From then on, I watched good divers and tried to emulate them.

It may seem obvious to people who have had good training but for those of who had the minimum, and care about being solid divers, we figure it out on our own and/or eventually find training to help us. But I think I had been certified almost ten years before I found the right class to reallly take my diving to the next level. Unfortunately that was a lot of years to accumulate bad habits to break.

One thing I take from your post is the attitude. If you truly want to be a better diver, you will take the steps to achieve it whether it is by instruction, observation, discussion, research (SB is a veritable goldmine of good info).

Some divers are happy not knowing how to do things better, others strive for "perfection" (whatever that is).

 

[boulderjohn]

Unfortunately that was a lot of years to accumulate bad habits to break.

That is true of all activities calling for individual skills. If you learn them badly to begin with and then practice and practice and practice that way, you may never fully recover.

For me, that is precisely what happened in my skiing. I moved to Colorado as a young adult who had hardly ever skied. I became an avid skier, but I could not afford lessons. I learned by imitating the people I saw who seemed to know what they were doing. Unfortunately, they didn't, and over the years I ingrained those bad habits deeply into my style. When I finally could afford lessons, I struggled to overcome those habits, and I mostly did. When I began citizen racing in my later years, I took racing lessons, but I could never get beyond the level of mediocrity because when things started to get hairy in the gates, I invariably reverted to those old bad habits. I could not help myself--my body just had to do what it had become accustomed to under those circumstances.

 

[Nianne]

Even a good instructor can make a lot of mistakes. Lack attention someday because he's tired or bored or had a bad day at home, or god knows what.
No human being will every be perfect and no course will ever be the same.

I hope my fellow buddies / instructors / drivers didn't judge me like that when I was working, because sometimes I feel already like a dumbass and then I debrief and try to be better the next time.

Observation is great, it's how we learn first. But then, reporting it seems unkind to me.

 

[Marie13]

That kind of attitude in regards to firearms is sickening.

Oh, boo hoo.

Observation is great, it's how we learn first. But then, reporting it seems unkind to me.

Your observation skills must be lacking because you should have noticed I did not name the dive shop or the dive site.

 

[Nianne]

You're commenting on a class you were not in. It's a report. Name or no name.
I just find it unkind. That's all.

But thanks for the attack.

 

[Bubblesong]

Jeez, Ladies, if we are going to be attacking each other, it is going to require a Wresting Ring and a lot of mud.

 

[Nianne]

Jeez, Ladies, if we are going to be attacking each other, it is going to require a Wresting Ring and a lot of mud.

It's risky, a lot could find it nicer to watch

 

[J_Rod]

It's funny...I have not logged in and read any threads for awhile...seems like not much has changed, as far as there being some pretty chilled out and some pretty high strung posters who come on here to...to....well, I'm not sure sometimes....I ALWAYS appreciate the time someone takes to type a constructive answer for me, or anyone else for that matter, on forums such as this. Even if I do not agree with their take on things...Generally, it takes the same amount of time as it does to type a smart-ace answer. I do not enjoy reading mean-spirited snark and find it rather useless, particularly when dealing with what could amount to life and death matters. When I DO feel like listening to a bunch of arrogant, blowhards bicker with each other, I watch FUX News. I can tolerate about 5 minutes of it....seriously....So Marie commented on something that bothered her, and she got a wide perspective of possible explanations from training technique, to more than one way to skin a cat, to the pros and the cons, to why do you even care?...here we are, 12 pages into the thread, so if ANYTHING positive can be taken away from this Marie....YOU started a lengthy conversation that prompted many to participate!! Be happy about that, decide which of the explanations make the most sense to you, and take that with you...DO NOT take any of this personally, though!! BTW....I choose to think that you were referring to your SPEAR gun. I wait till the rainy season and the catfish come up through the storm drains, before I pop a cap in them!!

 

[RainPilot]

Jeez, Ladies, if we are going to be attacking each other, it is going to require a Wresting Ring and a lot of mud.

In dry suits? Woohoo!