Deviating from what's normal isn't always a bad thing ... it's also a logical progression to growth. The trick is understanding what's defined as "normal" ... and why it's defined that way.
When we teach people the "rules" in OW class, we sometimes fail to make it clear why those rules exist, and under what circumstances they apply. Without that knowledge, people can become stunted in terms of progressing as a diver. Or they can ... because they don't understand the "why" behind them ... fail to take them seriously enough or misapply them in a way that leads to bad habits. And what we really need to make clear is that "rules" in this case is shorthand for "rules of thumb" ... easy to remember slogans to help the student learn habits that are appropriate for their level of diving.
Diving is very circumstantial ... every dive is different, and presents you with new stimuli for making decisions. The "rules" don't exist to be followed rigidly ... they're there to give you a foundation for making good decisions. Understanding why they exist helps you know when to apply them, why it matters, and when it's appropriate to make decisions that deviate ... either because the circumstances dictate deviation or because you've grown as a diver to the point where they no longer serve a useful purpose.
I always make it clear to my students not just what the "rules" are ... but why they exist, and under what circumstances it may not be prudent to adhere to them rigidly. In OW class, we are entering a new world ... one we were never designed to be in ... and everything we do requires some measure of mental bandwidth. The purpose of the "rules" is to help keep us safe while we develop our skills and learn to apply our mental capacity in more adaptive ways. As we adapt, some rules no longer make sense ... so we adopt new rules that apply more to the progression of our diving circumstances and goals. "End the dive with 500 psi" is an example ... as we progress to deeper or more aggressive dives, that rule becomes less and less applicable, and we adopt new and better ways to calculate how much reserves we need, and why we need them at that level. It is often the people who never really comprehend why that "rule" existed in the first place who deviate in ways that can become self-destructive.
Comprehension of why the rules matter is key ... because we are constantly deviating, and what matters is deviating in a way that mitigates the additional risks we assume as our diving progresses to new and more aggressive levels.
I'm curious how an instructor can evaluate what their student is doing when they're "leading" in that manner ... when you're up front, you can't even see them. This sounds like a "trust me" approach, where the instructor is relying on you to deal with any problems that might arise with the students. In which case, he's abrogating his responsibility as the instructor to maintain control of the students at all times.
It makes way more sense for the instructor to bring up the rear ... where he or she can keep an eye on what the students are doing. This not only helps the instructor maintain control of the class from a position of constantly monitoring what the students are doing, but it also makes it possible to evaluate the student's progress in real time and pick up on any potential mistakes or bad habits (like hand-waving or kicking their fins into the bottom) that the students may be developing. It's always best to catch those early, so the student can correct them now, rather than having to "unlearn" bad technique at some later point.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
