TDI's Technical Course progression

[uncfnp]

If you are comfortable in the water with good core skills and you do elect to pursue the TDI course, do AN/DP together as others have suggested. Intro to Tech is not required. Then if still interested you can pursue GUE as the opportunity allows.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I was in the process of . . . practising the skills included in the GUE Fundamentals course package . . .

If you haven't read this article, you may find it interesting: Secrets of Fundamentals: the top mistakes people make

In a nutshell, over-preparing can be just as detrimental to success in Fundies as under-preparing. In my case, I arrived at Fundies somewhat under-prepared. But I also can see how over-preparing could do more harm than good. There is no expectation when you arrive for class that you will know anything--the class is to teach you. Gareth puts it so well in his article above:

"Do not try to learn what you will be taught on the course. Just become familiar with your GUE compliant gear. Practice holding stops using your wing for buoyancy control. Practice descending under control, holding a stop, and ascending again. This is far and away the best preparation you can do and the course of action most likely to lead you to a pass."

Just to tie this back into the main question you asked, when I was first thinking about what courses I could take to improve my diving, I considered TDI Intro To Tech. But I ultimately chose Fundies instead, and I did it in a single tank and wetsuit rather than doubles and drysuit. There is plenty of stuff to learn from Fundies that is of benefit to recreational diving. Fundies teaches the fundamentals applicable to all types of diving. I figured if I ever wanted to get into tech diving, the option is there, after getting some experience, to return for a so-called Fundies "tech upgrade." Learning to dive WELL should be the first order of business for a diver who wants to advance, irrespective of rec or tech.

 

[boulderjohn]

With my last two tech students, I wanted them to take Intro to Tech because they did not have a good background in buoyancy, trim, and propulsion, which are the most important parts of the class. One really hasn't started yet, but the other got those skills down pretty solidly before we went on the AN/DP. Because of that, he had no trouble hold decompression stops in trim, etc. If he had not had the itnro to tech, I would have had to spend a lot more time working with him on those skills. In summary, it was important that he take Intro to Tech before AN/DP because those are not skills you pick up overnight.

The student I had before that came to me with full cave certification. I figured she must have had good preparation in those skills already. Since Intro to Tech is NOT required for AN/DP, we skipped it, and she was just fine.

 

[Michael Guerrero]

I had about 40 dives in doubles before I got a tech cert, and just took AN/DP. If you're familiar with the configuration, system, understand why things are done they way they are and your buoyancy/trim/propulsion is squared away then I would say intro to tech is not money well spent.

Some instructors really want you to go down a certain path, regardless of how knowledgeable you are, comfortable you feel, or well you perform in the water. If you find that I would consider a different instructor.