Private vs regular group lessons

[kaylee_ann]

I’m wondering if you think the extra money for a private open water session would be worth it. I feel like I’d compare myself to others and feel stressed if I’m not learning as fast, plus I’ve heard in private sessions you can work more at your own pace. What do you think? Is it worth the extra money or should I just do the small group one?

 

[Marie13]

If you learn better with small classes/private group, absolutely go for it. I’ve had some one on one instruction/small classes for more advanced diving certs and it is very nice.

 

[Wibble]

Chat with your instructor and make sure they understand your concerns.

Diving is a group sport, working together is an important part of the training. Honestly nobody's out to undermine your confidence; we all struggled with silly things on the first course

However, if it really is a concern, then there's nothing stopping you from, for example, hiring the instructor to run through the skills in advance of the course so that you can then be prepared -- and be confident that you can achieve the tasks.


Good luck. It's really worth it.

 

[ginti]

Diving comprises two different sets of skills:
- individual skills (buoyancy, trim, propulsion, safety skills)
- team skills (team awareness, communication)
If you go on an individual session, you will obviously lose the possibility to work on team skills. However, you can refine your individual skills at a very high pace. If you believe that your difficulties are more related to individual skills than team ones, you can certainly benefit from a private session. But here on internet, we cannot tell you if it's worth it or not; you should speak with your instructor to understand how much you would benefit, and ultimately it's a decision of you

 

[boulderjohn]

Typical group classes have a mix of people who learn at different rates, but they all get to where they want to be within the time allotted for instruction. That is a result of decades of teaching such classes. If you are a student within that typical range, you will be fine in a group class.

Occasionally--and only occasionally--students are outside of that range at either end. The exceptionally fast learners are usually patient as they wait out the slower learners. The ones who are outside the normal range on the slow side are where a problem lies. In that case, you may have 7 students waiting on the one who is struggling to learn, and the one struggling to learn will know that, feel self-conscious, and struggle even more. The instructor may have an assistant work individually with that student, which will increase the anxiety.

Any student will BENEFIT from private instruction, but most won't NEED it. a very few will need it and possibly not even make it without it.

 

[kaylee_ann]

Typical group classes have a mix of people who learn at different rates, but they all get to where they want to be within the time allotted for instruction. That is a result of decades of teaching such classes. If you are a student within that typical range, you will be fine in a group class.

Occasionally--and only occasionally--students are outside of that range at either end. The exceptionally fast learners are usually patient as they wait out the slower learners. The ones who are outside the normal range on the slow side are where a problem lies. In that case, you may have 7 students waiting on the one who is struggling to learn, and the one struggling to learn will know that, feel self-conscious, and struggle even more. The instructor may have an assistant work individually with that student, which will increase the anxiety.

Any student will BENEFIT from private instruction, but most won't NEED it. a very few will need it and possibly not even make it without it.

I’m nervous that I’ll take longer to learn and the instructor won’t have time to help me more because everyone else has moved on.

 

[kaylee_ann]

Diving comprises two different sets of skills:
- individual skills (buoyancy, trim, propulsion, safety skills)
- team skills (team awareness, communication)
If you go on an individual session, you will obviously lose the possibility to work on team skills. However, you can refine your individual skills at a very high pace. If you believe that your difficulties are more related to individual skills than team ones, you can certainly benefit from a private session. But here on internet, we cannot tell you if it's worth it or not; you should speak with your instructor to understand how much you would benefit, and ultimately it's a decision of you

My concern is that I will take longer to learn and the instructor won’t have time to help me catch up because everyone else has moved on.

 

[1isNone]

Worth it. Did private lessons and enjoyed them immensely. No background chatter, more focused and did learn proper communication from a very skilled diver. Teacher was also very patient on a couple of skills that took more that 3-4 tries to mimic.

 

[kaylee_ann]

Worth it. Did private lessons and enjoyed them immensely. No background chatter, more focused and did learn proper communication skills from a very skilled diver.

Sounds exactly what I’m looking for.

 

[VikingDives]

@kay_ann, you should talk to @Jim Lapenta and see if he can accommodate you. If nothing else, read his first book. The money you spend with Jim learning to dive in neutral buoyancy will be money well spent.

If you aren't going to do that, find out what the maximum group size is for the class. Most agencies will allow an instructor to teach up to 10 people without assistance. There (generally) won't be any individual attention for you. You'll get a demonstration and when the instructor gets to you, if you can't do the skill after the second time, they'll move on to the next person. There just isn't time to spend with any one student.

Lots of shops and instructors like large classes because it maximizes profit for them.