Skilled diver vs good diver

[MXGratefulDiver]

Are a skilled diver and a good diver the same thing?

I'd like to keep the topic pretty open-ended, and just get your thoughts. At some point in the conversation, I'll post my own ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[The Kraken]

In my opinion, a good diver is a diver who has all the requisite skills of scubadiving, but actively practices using those skills properly in a diving environment.

Just because one possess the skills to be a good diver doesn't necessarily mandate that the diver uses those skills properly.

the K

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I think it gets more interesting if you contrast a skilled diver vs. a good dive buddy since they can be independent of each other to some degree.

 

[seaducer]

I think you have to be a skilled diver to be a good diver, however possesing skills alone does not make you a "good diver". You also need to be aware of your surroundings, your buddies, and make good decisions.

I suppose I pretty much agree with the K...

 

[Ber Rabbit]

I compare the concept of skilled diver to that of skilled tradesman. You can be a good diver and not be a skilled diver just as you can be a decent self-taught mechanic but not be considered a skilled mechanic because you don't have certain aspects of mechanic training. A skilled diver has sought to improve their practical and academic skills and gain personal growth in their diving. The divers generally need to be good just to pass the classes that turn them into skilled divers. Skilled divers have invested time and effort to become masters of their craft and a good diver who is willing to make that investment can move into the realm of skilled diver.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Meng_Tze]

In my book a good diver is always skilled but a skilled diver is not per se a good diver.


(but it is totally dependent on your definition and differences between good and skilled)

 

[jimdiverman]

Are a skilled diver and a good diver the same thing?

I'd like to keep the topic pretty open-ended, and just get your thoughts. At some point in the conversation, I'll post my own ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I think a good diver encompasses more than just being a skilled diver. Awareness and the ability to think and solve problems can be more important than some skills. You can rank skills, but a thinking diver is bred by training and experience.

In some of the courses I have taken in the corporate world over the years, we talk about the learning environment. The learning environment is one in which the community realizes it has a need to continually seek knowledge to grow and adapt to changes, be those changes philosophical, technological, structural, situational, and/or a host of others. In the diving world, continuous learning is a necessity, and obsolescence is a direct result of failure to learn. Obsolescence leads to tragic mistakes. We are never too old to learn new tricks. When we think we know it all, we have stopped learning and have started to become obsolete. For whatever reasons, the dinosaurs could not adapt quickly enough to their changing environment, and they are no more. On differing levels, good divers continually seek knowledge and the have the ability to adapt and change as technology and processes are refined.

For these reasons, I believe a good diver is a skilled diver, but a skilled diver is not necessarily a good diver, because a good diver is also a thinking diver.

 

[David P]

A skilled diver is not necessarily good, but a good diver doesn't necessarily have to be skilled either. A buddy of mine recently purchased a drysuit, he considers himself a new diver. We went out and put him through the paces with the drysuit. He complained he felt wobbly and out of control, I could not tell that he has not been diving dry for years. About a week or two later he ends up in doubles. We do a nice easy dive, he's pretty task loaded just dealing with all the new equipment, I throw him an ooa, he is so cool headed, he donates air and I swear his buoyancy didn't change more than 2 feet. We attempted to do a beach dive in less than ideal conditions, he was a good enough diver to know his limitations and thumb the dive before we got suited up. He is getting ready for fundies, and has not learned a proper frog kick, proper or other wise back kick, and only shot a bag once (I reeled it back in), yet I consider him one of the best divers I have dove with. I think he will be awe inspiring once he gets past 100 dives!

 

[diver 85]

Almost IMO, a good diver has the qualities of a skilled diver PLUS common sense, ie a skilled diver in 'the heat of battle' may go brain dead & not show his skills....

 

[captain]

People have different degrees of both athletic and mental abilities. How anyone performs at a task is related to those abilities. You can teach someone all the so called skills but if they don't have the athletic or mental abilities for that tast they will never be good at it. By the same token someone who has the athletic and mental abilites for a task will have a have an easier time becomming skilled at the task. The question is wheather the person who was taught the skills but doesn't have the abilities will be better at a task the the person who has the abilities but was not taught the skills.