PADI OW Passed - What next?

[Eric Sedletzky]

I would recommend taking GUE fundamentals as your next course as soon as possible. This course will give you a solid foundation for recreational skills. You can find instructors who will match the quality of instruction, but they are hard to come by.

Here's a list of GUE instructors in the UK that teach fundamentals. GUE Instructors

Why do you have to slam the guy into fundies right away? Can’t he just be a regular PADI recreational diver and go have fun?
What “bad habits” are you referring to?
Do you feel that any training by agencies other than GUE Fundamentals automatically creates bad habits?

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Why do you have to slam the guy into fundies right away? Can’t he just be a regular PADI recreational diver and go have fun?
What “bad habits” are you referring to?
Do you feel that any training by agencies other than GUE Fundamentals automatically creates bad habits?

Overweighted students on their knees creates bad habits.

 

[Wibble]

What you describe does not reflect my experience with fundies. I'm not a GUE instructor but that is the approach I take when teaching OW. Once I developed the program I teach, I believe this is achievable.

My experience of fundies was a horrible time fighting the buoyancy, struggling with finning, being task loaded. Had a thoroughly miserable time in the water. Spent the subsequent 6 months practising any time I could after which it was better.

What fundies did though was set me up, just as @johnkendall said, but my goodness it was a lot of work. Probably took well over a year to get it thoroughly sorted, especially all the finning techniques.

For a new diver it's probably just as important to simply go diving and build the enthusiasm for our sport. After a while you realise that things can be better, then at that point there's fundies to fix it -- of course that assumes you dive with some people who are "good" so you know what good looks like (the average DiveMaster doesn't have those skills).

I'm certain that if @johnkendall was to teach a raw beginner, the assessment would be much later, it is very unlikely to be at the end of 4 days.

As an aside, I never did convert the "provisional fail" into a pass. Way beyond that now, but really appreciate being able to see what good looks like and then achieving it (although not passing fundies!)

 

[AfterDark]

OP you took the course to do what? Go diving of course, well get at is what I recommend. Find someone with more experience than you and go dive and learn from that person. Don't worry about C-Cards go diving, you'll learn more and have fun! I waited 40 years before I took AWO I just didn't need it until then because I mostly shore dived and had a boat and friends with boats for many years.

When I got a chance to go to NC wreck diving I needed a AOW and nitrox C-Card so I went to LDS slept thru the AOW and nitrox classes, aced the tests, did the dives and got the C-cards. Nobody in NC asked me for the darn thing because the LDS I went with vouched for everyone. I still haven't shown it to anyone!

 

[Edward3c]

Overweighted students on their knees creates bad habits.

This is being addressed, maybe not a fast as we’d like.

The fundies isn’t the be all you claim, I’ve had GUE instructors struggle on our Buoyancy & Trim Workshop only getting the gold standard.

 

[TMHeimer]

I know nothing about fundies, as there is no place around here that I know of that teaches it.
I've been PADI only.
I was aught on knees, possibly overweighted (don't think so, but not sure).

Do the weight check to solve overweighted (I guess if you don't realize you are despite constantly adding/releasing air to the BC, you may not know you are overweighted. You may also be a mask protester in Congress.).
To solve taught on knees, figure out good buoyancy, as it may take up to 5 (?) dives.
Old discussions, I know.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Overweighted students on their knees creates bad habits.

I saw nothing in the OP that would indicate he was grossly overweighted or planted on his knees.
Not to say this wasn’t the case, only it wasn’t mentioned.
Regardless, even if this was the case, it’s not hard to start diving and fix that diving with the right people and be mentored and shown better ways to do things. Most of this stuff becomes natural. I was PADI trained and had a fantastic instructor who was a Navy diver and currently worked in the film and TV industry as a stunt double and a U/W set technician. My training was thorough and complete to the book and a little beyond. Whatever “bad habits” might have been not considered such as perfect trim, perfect finning techniques (according to DIR standards) were very minor compared to how we were prepared for the environment mentally. When we did skills in the pool yes we were in our knees. When we got to the ocean the bottom was covered in urchins in the cove where we did our open water dives so we were told to stay off the bottom and hover or we’d be picking urchin spines out of our knees, plus the owner of the dive shop would be pissed to see his rental wetsuits trashed. Everybody did it and had no problems.
When we left open water I was qualified to conduct an independent dive with another OW buddy on our own with no guidance from an instructor or divemaster, doing a shore dive in Northern California in 48 degree water with waves, currents, tides, and natural hazards.
If some one want’s to learn and get better they can pick up bouyancy and finning no problem on their own regardless of the training agency they used, but they have to want it. The big one is the mental part of it. There is no substitute for doing a lot of diving in all sort of conditions to build confidence.
I know a lot of very good divers that have been around for years who are not GUE trained.
And BTW, many of them still use poodle jackets and flutter kick too. They don’t kick the crap out of the bottom and they know how to weight themselves properly, and they know how to have just as much fun as everyone else.

 

[TMHeimer]

I saw nothing in the OP that would indicate he was grossly overweighted or planted on his knees.
Not to say this wasn’t the case, only it wasn’t mentioned.
Regardless, even if this was the case, it’s not hard to start diving and fix that diving with the right people and be mentored and shown better ways to do things. Most of this stuff becomes natural. I was PADI trained and had a fantastic instructor who was a Navy diver and currently worked in the film and TV industry as a stunt double and a U/W set technician. My training was thorough and complete to the book and a little beyond. Whatever “bad habits” might have been not considered such as perfect trim, perfect finning techniques (according to DIR standards) were very minor compared to how we were prepared for the environment mentally. When we did skills in the pool yes we were in our knees. When we got to the ocean the bottom was covered in urchins in the cove where we did our open water dives so we were told to stay off the bottom and hover or we’d be picking urchin spines out of our knees, plus the owner of the dive shop would be pissed to see his rental wetsuits trashed. Everybody did it and had no problems.
When we left open water I was qualified to conduct an independent dive with another OW buddy on our own with no guidance from an instructor or divemaster, doing a shore dive in Northern California in 48 degree water with waves, currents, tides, and natural hazards.
If some one want’s to learn and get better they can pick up bouyancy and finning no problem on their own regardless of the training agency they used, but they have to want it. The big one is the mental part of it. There is no substitute for doing a lot of diving in all sort of conditions to build confidence.
I know a lot of very good divers that have been around for years who are not GUE trained.
And BTW, many of them still use poodle jackets and flutter kick too. They don’t kick the crap out of the bottom and they know how to weight themselves properly, and they know how to have just as much fun as everyone else.

Outstanding post. It points to my "comfortability" before OW rant. I particularly like the "Everybody did it and had no problems". I assume everyone was comfortable in water to begin with, but I obviously don't know.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Outstanding post. It points to my "comfortability" before OW rant. I particularly like the "Everybody did it and had no problems". I assume everyone was comfortable in water to begin with, but I obviously don't know.

A few of us were already abalone freedivers (me included) so we kind of knew what it was like down there already. The rest were new and first time in the ocean. I think we had six total students, the instructor and two DM’s in training. The instructor spent time towards the end of the pool weekend getting everyone to be able to hover beyond just the fin pivot, (actually off the bottom). He reiterated the fact that even though we did the skills at the bottom of the pool (that’s just how it was done then) we needed to work on and get used to being neutral in the water column because according to him hard hat divers were the only ones that should be walking on the ocean floor, not scuba divers”.
He also told us not to be “elevator divers”.

 

[TMHeimer]

A few of us were already abalone freedivers (me included) so we kind of knew what it was like down there already. The rest were new and first time in the ocean. I think we had six total students, the instructor and two DM’s in training. The instructor spent time towards the end of the pool weekend getting everyone to be able to hover beyond just the fin pivot, (actually off the bottom). He reiterated the fact that even though we did the skills at the bottom of the pool (that’s just how it was done then) we needed to work on and get used to being neutral in the water column because according to him hard hat divers were the only ones that should be walking on the ocean floor, not scuba divers”.
He also told us not to be “elevator divers”.

Gee I dunno. I heard that the fin pivot is just a horrible useless thing to do and creates more problems than it solves......I guess we survived it OK.