The 20 Skills Broken Down

[lishen]

8. 5 Point Ascent

• Signal to ascend, buddy acknowledges
• Check time
• Right hand over head
• Left hand on deflator, ready to deflate if necessary
• Start ascending by inhaling or a gentle kick
• Control ascent by letting air out of BC
• Ascend slowly while looking at buddy and above
• Inflate when you reach the surface

 

[lishen]

9. Snorkel/Regulator Exchange

• Face only in water breathing from snorkel
• Switch to regulator, visibly clearing
• Take two breaths
• Switch to snorkel
• Blast clear snorkel
• Take two breaths
• Repeat

 

[Joe-Diver]

7. Fin Pivot

• Make yourself negatively buoyant on the bottom (dramatically dump air)
• Spread legs for balance
• Inhale – you should NOT go up
• Add a small burst of air into the BC (point to your inflator), let go of inflator
• Inhale – you should go up (if you do not, repeat small burst of air)
• Go up to a 45 degree angle, start exhaling
• Go down, stopping before crashing into the buttom
• Repeat several times

In addition to this, I maintain my hold on the LPI, and with my right hand I extend it out and draw it toward my mouth to show the students I'm inhaling, then move it away to show the exhale. This is beneficial to demonstrate the rhythm of moving up and down using breathe control.

 

[lishen]

10. Remove and Replace Scuba Unit Underwater

• Kneel on bottom
• Dump all air out of BC
• Show left hand
• Take left arm out of BC
• Let BC swing to the right
• Remove right arm
• Grab tank valve and seat tank in front of you
• Put right arm in BC
• Immediately grab tank bottom (turn to show this)
• Move tank around to center of back
• Put left arm in BC
• Buckle
• Check that all gauges/hoses are in place

 

[lishen]

11. Hovering

• Adjust for neutral buoyancy (using fin pivot)
• When neutral, push off gently 2-3 feet
• Use lungs to maintain a stationary position
• Pick a position in the water and maintain it (ex. legs crossed, seated position, etc.)
• If you begin to rise, decrease buoyancy by breathing with your lungs less full
• If you begin to sink, increase buoyancy by breathing in a deep breath
• Use a visual reference to maintain position

 

[AndyNZ]

Remove Andy's wet blanket by making sure you post what is important to Demonstration Quality Skills: Slow, deliberate, fluid, exaggerating the Critical Attributes.

I'm not listening, I'm not listening, I'm not listening!!

This thread wasn't meant to be the definitive, "this is the only way/right way/best way/etc..." of how to demonstrate a skill. Rather, it was meant to help out DMCs and DM's improve their skills as a teacher/assistant.

OK, fair enough - but think about what your role might be as a DM. Depending on the group, I may get a DM to demonstrate certain skills. It doesn't help if I brief a skill one way and you then demonstrate it another. In training DMTs, I've simulated training situations before and briefed a skill in a slightly different way - then watched the DMT do it the way they always do it. Ah, I know, I'm cruel and heartless.


There are so many factors that influence how one does a skill - for example in your hover description, you say to do a fin pivot first. Nothing wrong with that, but try doing that in a relatively shallow pool and you end up with much less of the water column to play with - which makes the hover much harder.

 

[ReefHound]

OK, fair enough - but think about what your role might be as a DM. Depending on the group, I may get a DM to demonstrate certain skills. It doesn't help if I brief a skill one way and you then demonstrate it another. In training DMTs, I've simulated training situations before and briefed a skill in a slightly different way - then watched the DMT do it the way they always do it. Ah, I know, I'm cruel and heartless.

Sounds like that is an issue of communication with your DM. You need to talk with your DM before the class to let them know how you brief it and how you want it demonstrated. If they still don't do it your way, then don't have them as your DM.

And what's the problem if they demo in a different manner as long as the demo is consistent with the "performance criteria"? You were saying the DM should not "get hung up on the details of the skill". You were the one getting bothered by this thread because there is not "one right way of doing a skill". Now you demand it be done one particular way?

 

[AndyNZ]

And what's the problem if they demo in a different manner as long as the demo is consistent with the "performance criteria"? You were saying the DM should not "get hung up on the details of the skill". You were the one getting bothered by this thread because there is not "one right way of doing a skill". Now you demand it be done one particular way?

In a particular context, yes. For example, if I brief regulator recovery using the sweep method, and a DM demonstrates it using the reach method - how confused are the students likely to be? In a given class, it's about consistency - not what is right or wrong.

Introducing a skill to a group of students involves a lot of reinforcement and repetition - without that consistency it is harder for a student to learn a skill.

If a particular student struggles to complete a performance requirement using one method, then it's fine to introduce an alternative approach.

There's a huge difference between being consistent in a class, and insisting that there is only one way to doing a skill.

 

[ReefHound]

Like I said, it all boils down to communication between instructor and DM. It's like the old lawyer axiom "never ask a question you don't already know the answer to". Don't ask a DM to demo a skill if you have no idea how he is going to do it.

If you specifically tell the DM to demo as you briefed and he does it another way then tell your shop not to assign that DM to you anymore.

 

[Thalassamania]

As far as closing the tank valve 1/4 or a 1/2 turn. This prevents the valve from locking up in the open position. I've been told that this is not required with new valves, but I do it out of habit.