Observed an OW class yesterday
- Thread starter Marie13
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CT-Rich
Contributor
Wow, you've been diving how long? This is one of those things that bug heck out me. You had your training with an emphasis on what your instructor thought was important. Great, Good for you, now you are an instant expert, free to critique a class you were not in. You don't seem very sympathetic to people who are a few dives behind you.
You will end up one of those people talking loudly on the boat about the latest, greatest, piece of crap idea/technology.... blah, blah, blah.... and then promptly lose you weights on entry or get tangled.... simply by virtue of inexperience. Someone else will politely bail you out with a roll of their eyes. Been there....done that.
Judge not, lest ye be judged.
Caveeagle
Contributor
oh.. good grief! So, are you endorsing the practice of herding 15 students through OW training that should have never graduated from confined water drills?
And.. I try to follow up every dive by asking my buddy for a critique of my trim/technique. ..So I am all for "being judged" as long as its in a constructive tone.
Marie, I think your original post was just fine. And I thing that its great that a newer diver already recognizes a significant difference in how OW classes are conducted.
We have seen a few posts here of people defending low standards. And some very credible first hand accounts from instructors who have had good results training to higher standards.
I would hope threads like this might steer new students towards an instructor committed to high standards and not cranking out the highest # of divers in the shortest time.
Sorry if this offends anyone..
lermontov
Contributor
like hansel and gretel you mean ?
OP
Oh, I'll readily admit I have issues. My weighting issues alone are a f*cking pain. However, I'm not satisfied with being a middling diver and I am working my ass off, including getting in better shape. I'm doing a mile of laps 2-3 times a week. I'm diving every weekend the weather allows.
But since some posters here don't seem to like divers who actually try to improve their diving and think pool work is useless... I suppose you didn't have any issues at all when you started diving.
You'd prefer new divers with issues to just give up and leave the rest of you alone? Keep our mouths shut and if we see trouble, close our eyes and mouths and if someone gets hurt or dies, oh, well, not my problem? You want someone to notice if you're in trouble one day, then don't discourage people from paying attention.
And as for my instructors must suck because I have issues...instructors/teachers can be excellent, but if the student struggles, sometimes that falls on the student, not the teacher. They worked on the side over the winter with me when they did not have to. They are very caring people, which is more than I can say about a lot of people these days, who are often just sh*theads.
But since some posters here don't seem to like divers who actually try to improve their diving and think pool work is useless... I suppose you didn't have any issues at all when you started diving.
You'd prefer new divers with issues to just give up and leave the rest of you alone? Keep our mouths shut and if we see trouble, close our eyes and mouths and if someone gets hurt or dies, oh, well, not my problem? You want someone to notice if you're in trouble one day, then don't discourage people from paying attention.
And as for my instructors must suck because I have issues...instructors/teachers can be excellent, but if the student struggles, sometimes that falls on the student, not the teacher. They worked on the side over the winter with me when they did not have to. They are very caring people, which is more than I can say about a lot of people these days, who are often just sh*theads.
OP
Stick a fork in me. I'm done.
Just ignore the negativity - it's unfounded. I only have 50 dives and, while I am doing pretty well (and have gotten feedback to that extent), I still have a lot to learn and lots of room to improve my technique.
I just got back from a trip to Aruba last month and, having eyes that I can use to see, was horrified at the poor technique I saw from some divers - both newer and a few more experienced than me. For some, it was a hand sculling, vertical trim, bottom kicking silt fest - but those same folks were raving about how good the diving was back on the surface. Clearly they don't get it and also don't seem to care - but I suspect it all started with poor training and/or feedback...
I don't see where a new diver (like me) making those kind of observations about other divers is being judgmental as some here are suggesting - rather, it's just being honest and aware about what we see going on around us. I would hope that the "elitists" here would be happy that at least some new divers can recognize poor technique in others because it means they get it, are likely conscious of their own performance, and likely will strive to be better divers because of it.
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I think the problem stems from instructors caring more about the process of teaching diving than the results. As the saying goes, "All roads lead to Rome." If Rome is staying off the bottom, awesome!
You know what, let's just go with sawdust and planks....
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Chavodel8en
Contributor
I honestly dont know what it is about Marie13's posts that attracts alot of backlash. Maybe its just that she's a new diver that posts alot, and people think she hasn't "earned the right" to post.
Im reading her OP right now. It basically says that she saw students with alot of loose dangling gear, and loose tanks. And when some folks challenged her observations, she opined that it was sloppy.
This seems like a fairly non-controversial observation, even a brand spanking new diver can make that observation -- I think EVERYONE agrees that danglies are not good, and it is sloppy.
Even if she takes pride in not being that sloppy as a new diver ... whats wrong with that? If she claimed further that she was a dive goddess, then yeah, she should be taken to task, but I didn't read anything like that in this thread (didnt read the whole thread, however). Just that danglies are bad.
And since we're on the subject of danglies, I will say that I am fairly experienced, but, err ummm, last vacation dive I back-rolled off the side of the boat --- and my camera stayed, hooked on a post (luckily the lanyard had a breakaway I wasnt even aware of - no damage).
So it can happen to the best of us. I always secure my main gear, but I guess I overlooked the camera, since I planned to have it in my hand at all times - whoops
Im reading her OP right now. It basically says that she saw students with alot of loose dangling gear, and loose tanks. And when some folks challenged her observations, she opined that it was sloppy.
This seems like a fairly non-controversial observation, even a brand spanking new diver can make that observation -- I think EVERYONE agrees that danglies are not good, and it is sloppy.
Even if she takes pride in not being that sloppy as a new diver ... whats wrong with that? If she claimed further that she was a dive goddess, then yeah, she should be taken to task, but I didn't read anything like that in this thread (didnt read the whole thread, however). Just that danglies are bad.
And since we're on the subject of danglies, I will say that I am fairly experienced, but, err ummm, last vacation dive I back-rolled off the side of the boat --- and my camera stayed, hooked on a post (luckily the lanyard had a breakaway I wasnt even aware of - no damage).
So it can happen to the best of us. I always secure my main gear, but I guess I overlooked the camera, since I planned to have it in my hand at all times - whoops
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