Teaching it Neutral Style... a paradigm shift in Scuba instruction

[dumpsterDiver]

Nope...I am not the "diver", I am the diver shooting the video from behind. This diver had 12 logged dives at the time. This is a good example of how not to teach someone to dive IMO.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwFMugOZR2k


These guys were nice guys but the newer "diver" of the two just was not taught properly from the start. I felt bad for him because he was really struggling thru this dive. The second diver is an instructor but yet you still see him standing on the bottom. Luckily it was only seaweed for the most part.

I would be more disappointed with the instructor. He was a spaz too, kicking up the bottom. If your trim is bad and you are over-weighted.. at least stand motionless on the bottom!

 

[LowDrag]

I would be more disappointed with the instructor. He was a spaz too, kicking up the bottom. If your trim is bad and you are over-weighted.. at least stand motionless on the bottom!

I was hoping the newer of the two would continue to come to our shop or join our dive club so we get him into better diving shape but that did not happen. Might have been a good thing, unless he comes back we will never know. Funny thing is, the newer guy had a great time "diving".

My only intention of posting the video is to show that not all instructors get the same results and not all divers get the same result either. I had to go to an instructor that specialized in skills instruction to get on the road to where I want to be. Still on that road but doing much better than I was last year.

 

[macado]

Great post! Just a couple comments....
Here is a suggestion. I have students start off in the shallow end ("stand up water") just swimming on the surface, BCDs inflated. Then I have them dump air and swim on the bottom, still in the shallow end, adding short bursts of air until they are swimming in mid water. This allows me to correct weighting, kicking skills, etc. Most importantly, it gets them comfortable. You will see in post #79 that NetDoc does something similar to achieve the same thing. We then go to what I call the instructional position (and, IIRC, NetDoc calls the "scuba position") and just stay there, looking at each other and getting comfortable for a minute or too. All of that extra time pays off in their comfort and ability to do the skills in that state of comfort. I mention this because I feel there is no skill that is more completely different between kneeling and being horizontal then regulatory recovery. Leaning to the right for the sweep method is a completely different skill. Reaching easily behind the ear to hook a hose that is inches away is completely different from reaching back with the left hand to push up a tank that is falling away from your back because of gravity before reaching for that still distant hose.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will try this in the next OW class I teach in pool. Probably won't be until next month. Finishing up some OW checkout dives this Sunday if weather holds.

 

[Mermaid Stacy]

NetDoc and Mselenaous are my instructors. I remember taking my open water course with NetDoc with tons of emphasis and practice of getting and staying neutral. Yes he caught me every time I tried to touch the bottom of the pool, even with my pinky! I did several boats dives after getting my open water cert and I remember feeling anxious because of my inexperience when it came the number of dives I had, but confident with my fundamentals and neutral buoyancy I had learned and achieved in my training.

Perhaps my most eye opening experience occurred when I went traveling a year ago. I did a week diving in Truk Lagoon. My first dives were some intense, 20-30 minute long engine room penetrations on deep wrecks. As a fairly amateur diver, I learned a lot about myself and how thankful I was for my training with NetDoc and Mselenaous. Without their training of neutral buoyancy, I would have been completely out of my element, and frankly, in danger, deep, inside a dark wreck. I could have silted the place up with a few rogue fin kicks putting myself and my buddy in danger. I enjoyed my dives in Truk Lagoon immensely, mostly because I felt super comfortable and could stay neutral! I could see and enjoy the many incredible scenes inside the wrecks without silting them up and get out before other divers got inside and had their way with them.

I spent some time Fiji diving daily on Rainbow Reef. I saw far to many divers splash in with gear dangling every which way only to end up ragging their gear across the reef due to poor buoyancy. Most infuriating was seeing divers, from all over the world, stand on the reef, without a clue how to maintain their buoyancy.

I wish to extend my thanks to NetDoc and Mselenaous for their thorough teachings and emphasis on neutral buoyancy, from my very first class. These skills helped me to become a better diver, capable of controlling my buoyancy and enjoying the marine environments in which I find myself, not depending on them as a crutch to stay off the bottom.

 

[The Chairman]

MP was a true joy to teach. Once we got her in some real fins and in a fitting BC, she completely got it. She came down a month or two ago to do her rescue and start on Master Diver. You simply make me proud and you reinforce that we are teaching in a manner that produces a superior diver.

 

[ScubaInChicago]

Also for the skills that involve taking the reg out of the mouth, I've been taught that PADI requires constantly blowing small bubbles out of the mouth as a critical component of those skills, to prevent breath holding. How well does that go with doing mid-water skills since you obviously lose buoyancy while doing so?

First, I think that's pretty universal among all agencies. That being said, the bubbles should be small enough not to affect buoyancy that much. IOW, it hasn't been a problem for my students yet.

I I know at least one agency who teaches that holding ones breath is OK. There's a time and a place for everything and treating students like they're too stupid to think for themselves isn't the answer.

 

[The Chairman]

I teach my student's to pause in their breathing cycle, but to never occlude their airway. Sometimes you pause after the inhale (normal), sometimes on the exhale (harder) and sometimes on a super breath (fairly easy). Still, I want to see something when the reg is out of their mouths. It shows that they are thinking about it.

 

[TMHeimer]

I I know at least one agency who teaches that holding ones breath is OK. There's a time and a place for everything and treating students like they're too stupid to think for themselves isn't the answer.

Yeah, we don't want to mention stuff like just keeping the airway open (as opposed to blowing bubbles or "ahh" during CESA) because we may think the majority of students are stupid, and/or there are some who really CAN'T keep their airway open without blowing bubbles. That of course, is puzzling. It may create an accident if you told someone to hold their breath while hovering motionless over a flounder to be speared. Better not mention that.

 

[mhattenhauer]

I was certified back in June and our class was taught on our knees. I hadn't really thought about the difference until seeing this thread. Last week while diving I thought about what has been said here and decided that I needed to know if I could do some of the skills while neutral. To me it seemed easier to take the mask off and replace it neutral than it was on my knees. Someone else had mentioned not fighting the water while on your knees , and I think that was what made it easier while neutral. You can't really fight the water being neutral because you don't feel like your being knocked over. I am glad there is a place like this where seasoned divers and instructors are willing to share ideas and experience with us new divers instead of just relying on those who certified us. A big thank you to all of you who contribute to this board!! I know I have learned a lot from here.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[boulderjohn]

Perhaps my most eye opening experience occurred when I went traveling a year ago. I did a week diving in Truk Lagoon. My first dives were some intense, 20-30 minute long engine room penetrations on deep wrecks. As a fairly amateur diver, I learned a lot about myself and how thankful I was for my training with NetDoc and Mselenaous. Without their training of neutral buoyancy, I would have been completely out of my element, and frankly, in danger, deep, inside a dark wreck. I could have silted the place up with a few rogue fin kicks putting myself and my buddy in danger. I enjoyed my dives in Truk Lagoon immensely, mostly because I felt super comfortable and could stay neutral! I could see and enjoy the many incredible scenes inside the wrecks without silting them up and get out before other divers got inside and had their way with them.

I went to Truk Lagoon on an organized trip from our dive shop, and the trip included a number of instructors plus some trip regulars. Two of the regulars were a couple who were very well liked before and after dives. They probably never realized that most people learned very quickly to avoid being with them on the dives if you wanted decent visibility inside the wrecks.