One of the reasons I don't participate much in these boards is the number of people who are quick to label an instructor as incompetent or lazy based solely on a single comment without the full context. It's even more disappointing to see these judgments coming from other instructors, who should realize that different conditions warrant different teaching approaches. Unless there's evidence of something completely inappropriate or dangerous, is it too much to ask for a little professional courtesy instead of making disparaging comments that undermine another instructor's teaching efforts before their student has even finished their confined water training?
A key part of the OP's comment was "in the pool". Is it possible that the OW conditions are going to be done in completely different gear -- a drysuit or 7mm wetsuit -- such that a proper buoyancy check in the pool has limited applicability to real world conditions? Or maybe the instructor wants to emphasize the safety skills first to make sure the students are 100% comfortable with their masks off before moving on to buoyancy control in a later session.
Personally, I see a difference between a weight check and a buoyancy check. In a weight check, I want to make sure that students have enough weight to descend since it's a long swim back to shore if they can't. For a buoyancy check, I want to see the extent to which they're properly weighted. I can do part of this during the initial weight check based on the rate at which they sink, but it's more easily done at the end of each OW dive on an empty tank -- and even then, we only go in small increments.
And yes, I overweight my students but only by a couple pounds. While I'm sure some may think this makes me lazy and incompetent, the rationale is that it provides students with a safety margin in case they have trouble venting their drysuits without seriously impairing their ability to achieve neutral buoyancy. It's
not a tactic to plant them on the bottom for my own convenience, since all that ensures is that we'll be swimming through a silt cloud for the entire course. Being perfectly neutral in a drysuit requires you to be on top of bubble management at all times -- especially at the end of the dive in 15' of water with an empty tank -- and this is more than I expect from students during their first ocean dives. Buoyancy control takes time and practice, and if my students leave the course with knowledge of
how to perform a proper buoyancy check, then can perfect their weighting on their own as they gain experience.
To the OP: I'd encourage you to discuss this with your instructor before seeking opinions from others who know nothing about the environment in which you're training. Every skill has a purpose, and the instructor should be able to explain precisely why you're doing each skill -- and more importantly, why this skill appears to contradict what's in the book. If there's any criticism to be made based on the info that's been provided, it's the instructor's inability to provide you with sufficient information to understand
why you're not following the book. Push for an answer -- and post it here when you get a clear one that makes sense