Thanks for the responses.
I wouldn't be considering this at this point without the encouragement of people who do know what they're doing! So, I am told the buoyancy, trim and propulsion are all more than sufficient to start tech. But I practice this too, on every dive. I learned my first day out that I didn't like the feeling of bouncing around and not being in control of my depth, direction and speed. With that in mind, I made the conscious decision to practice at least half of every dive on basics. As a result, my trim is as horizontal as I want it to be without thinking too much about it, my finning is ok (other than back-finning which still gives me fits), and I can hold my position in the water column (+ or - a foot) for 15 or more minutes, launch a DSMB without flailing about.
I am not familiar with gear configuration. So I guess that is the question. Is there some course that will concentrate on learning how to dive with twinsets so that I have those mechanics down and integrated with the basics before adding in the additional tasks involved in the "tech" part of technical diving?
If it helps, I won't start this until May or June. Which will mean that I'll probably have an additional 60 to 80 dives under my belt before tech starts.
The really important things are the ones you say to already doing: buoyancy, trim, many different kicking techniques to be adapted to the necessity. I would add control of your breathing.
Using a twin tank is a very trivial thing: when I started, we did use twin tanks as the basic scuba system, and the usage of single tank arrived later. It was a bit MORE DIFFICULT to use a single tank than a twin tank, so I really do not understand how people can think that using a twin tank requires special additional skills. Twin tanks are more compact, more streamlined, give you better balance ad cause less risk of hitting obstacles than a single tank of the same capacity.
So if this is the only thing missing, I would say that a specific intro course just for using twin tanks is not needed in your case. Just try renting a compact twin tank instead of the standard single tank during your next dives, and you will discover how easy is to dive with them.
Said that, I think that, particularly for what nowadays is called "tech" (and which was standard rec diving at my time) it is better to train for much longer periods than what currently planned by most agencies, which concentrate the course in a few dives, not giving time to the student to assimilate all the new techniques.
So, having some "intro" course can still be very useful, not for learning additional skills, but simply for diluting in more time the transition from rec to tech.
Not all people have the same speed (I am a slow one), so if you are like me, having more time means getting a much better understanding.
Of course you could get the same result arranging for a "longer than normal" standard tech course, if your instructor agrees in "diluting" it on several months, instead of a couple of weekends...
