Teaching nothing

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I'm placing this is basic scuba instead of instructor-to-instructor for the reason that I'd like feedback from divers of all levels, from not even certified yet to experienced instructors. This absolutely belongs here in basic scuba as we are talking about open water courses, and there is nothing more basic than that.

Now I do take open water instruction seriously, but still make sure it is fun, and convey concepts in a way that students will remember them.

In my opinion, the most important thing a diver must be able to do is to remain motionless at a fairly constant depth (depending on the length of their breath cycle, they will ascend and descend slightly). But when you really think about it, it is important for a student to do what exactly? That's right! Nothing!


It is my job to first weight my students properly, which as I have said many times includes weight distribution so that the student can float horizontal effortlessly with little change in depth. Second, it is my job to teach my students how to do this (and I'm in the process of ways to improve that).

For students that saw Seinfeld when it aired (US, Gen X and later), I think they'll remember this. What about the idea of doing nothing as to understand what buoyancy control is all about?

 

[KatieMac]

I'm not an instructor, and I won't split hairs about it being "most" important.

It takes a lot to appear to do nothing. But that's just it - appearance of nothing rather than actually nothing. You need to do a lot to appear to do nothing. The better metaphor is the duck.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

The better metaphor is the duck.

What do you mean? I'm open to any idea on how to improve.

 

[KatieMac]

What do you mean? I'm open to any idea on how to improve.

Well, how do you do nothing?

You're an instructor ... You probably dive with extra weight in case a student needs some during a dive. You compensate for being overweighted how? BCD? Breathing?

Then you give weight to a student and still you remain motionless. What did you do to compensate? Someone who has done 1000 dives will compensate differently than someone who has done 20 dives. Newbies will compensate with their BCD - but not seasoned divers. But you're still doing a lot - thinking, planning, breathing, using equipment differently - all to remain motionless. The simple fact that newbies deal with that situation differently proves that you are NOT doing nothing to appear to do nothing.

And what about if you give off a bit more for another student so you're actually underweighted. This doesn't kill the dive for you. What do you do then? I've dove underweighted and it's harder but you manage. How do you accommodate?

part equipment, part skill/technique

The key is that it's not doing nothing that makes you motionless. That trivializes what they need to learn.

 

[Eric802]

When you see a duck on the surface of the water, it looks like they're doing nothing - just sitting there. What you don't see is their legs and feet paddling away below the surface. With diving, I think KatieMac is saying it takes a lot of skill and practice to look like you're doing nothing - much like the duck, at the end of the day it might look like nothing, but there's a lot going on to make it look like that.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

The most important skill is returning alive.

 

[Eric802]

To the point of the thread, I don't know if I'd characterize the ability to "do nothing" as the most important skill. However, I'd call it a crucial building block. If we want to get away from the "do everything on your knees" mentality, people have to be able to execute any other skill while neutrally buoyant. Being able to get there and maintain that attitude is a foundational skill that lets you do other things well.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Well, how do you do nothing?

You're an instructor ... You probably dive with extra weight in case a student needs some during a dive. You compensate for being overweighted how? BCD? Breathing?

Then you give weight to a student and still you remain motionless. What did you do to compensate? Someone who has done 1000 dives will compensate differently than someone who has done 20 dives. Newbies will compensate with their BCD - but not seasoned divers. But you're still doing a lot - thinking, planning, breathing, using equipment differently - all to remain motionless. The simple fact that newbies deal with that situation differently proves that you are doing nothing to appear to do nothing.

And what about if you give off a bit more for another student so you're actually underweighted. This doesn't kill the dive for you. What do you do then? I've dove underweighted and it's harder but you manage. How do you accommodate?

part equipment, part skill/technique

The key is that it's not doing nothing that makes you motionless. That trivializes what they need to learn.

I actually never have carried extra weight to give the student, and I have never needed to. I didn't for the sake of length of the original post get into how I weight, but using the method that I won't describe, my students will be slightly overweighted, typically by about 2 pounds. We do weight checks at the end of the first couple dives to dial it in.

Being slightly underweighted is worse than being overweighted as having students struggle to not cork is bad.

I'm sorry if I came across as trivilalizing proper weighting and relaxed breathing. That wasn't my intention. But if an instructor properly weights the students (including distribution so that the difference between the center of mass and center of displacement then match, and they have just enough weight to hold a safety stop with a nearly empty cylinder) AND they ensure their students are not overwhelmed, but rather relaxed (and enjoying themselves which are the conditions for the most learning), then hovering motionless becomes trivially easy.

It amazed me when I first started teaching neutrally buoyant and trimmed, in CW1, I'd have students do the float and then swim. As students finished swimming, I'd have them put on their scuba kit without any weight. I'd slowly give them weight to hold with their hands where the integrated weight pockets were. Now once their feet started to sag, I'd put a little bit in trim pockets (this is when I taught for a shop using shop supplied BCDs - I always brought my own weight pockets as not all BCDs had spots for trim pockets).

Because we were in the shallows, and my student got my undivided attention (assistants were watching the others), they became relaxed and they would just float horizontally in the shallow with relaxed breathing. The shop manager was amazed as well as he thought some students would be "problems" (his words). OT: no such thing of a "problem student", but an instructor unable to adapt.

Now I've changed things up when I teach. Comfort in the water is a foundation of "doing nothing", as is proper weighting.

So, do you think I'm addressing "part equipment, part skill/technique" with what I have written here? I'd like to reach convergence with you and I appreciate you challenging me to explain further in a constructive way.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

To the point of the thread, I don't know if I'd characterize the ability to "do nothing" as the most important skill. However, I'd call it a crucial building block. If we want to get away from the "do everything on your knees" mentality, people have to be able to execute any other skill while neutrally buoyant. Being able to get there and maintain that attitude is a foundational skill that lets you do other things well.

I do think it is a foundation to ascending/descending and also finning. If you are not trim, and you are swimming around, you have to be negatively buoyant so that you don't fin back towards the surface.

I hope that no one is interpreting all of this that divers have to be horizontal at all times. Absolutely not! However, they need to have the capability of being horizontal effortlessly. I hope everyone can agree on that.

I'll remember early in diving, I was on a night dive and there was this one guy who had lived on Vancouver Island who had over 1000 dives. While all of us were darting around looking at stuff, he was moving so slowly. "Doing nothing" most of the time. He had so much air when the rest of us ran out. I haven't forgotten that.

There's another discussion I have with students which is "what does a good diver look like?" Invariably, it leads to one that moves slowly, is in control, very efficient with movements, has great gas consumption. That's the direction I want to put my students, and it is possible in 4 open water dives.

 

[Vicko]

Ok, since I already wrote what i think in the locked thread, here's a reason why.
When you get a student who never dove before, you put him in a wing, put up trim weights and get him 100% properly adjusted, train him how to stay trim and still (which you won't in 5 days, or 10 but never mind that) you just made a trim and streamlined owd diver. Congrats.

Next thing he does is goes on another vacation, rents his gear and get's stuck with a crappy bcd and a 2 kg overweighted belt because he's a new diver and that dive op will treat him like a new diver. Congratulations ladies and gentleman, now he's frustrated and uncomfortable.
And still a newb who has no use for being trim in the water, but his graduation dive pictures do look great.