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Cause they're not elitists.
The State of Diving
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caseybird
Contributor
It's just so g-damn annoying. Maybe I'll start the "Let's just not suck at diving agency".
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I'll join.
caseybird
Contributor
Oh man, coolest agency EVER.
I doubt that anybody WANTS to be awkward or unstable in the water. My guess is that the divers in that video have at some point wished they could stop and look at something, instead of having to swim circles around it (at least I did, when I was new).
But many divers have never seen anybody who was stable and relaxed, except the professionals who guide them. And the natural response to that is that those are professions with thousands of dives, and therefore that's a level of skill that the "average diver" can't aspire to.
When I took my Fundamentals class, I looked at the instructor with my jaw dropped . . . I had NEVER seen anybody so quiet in the water, and so able to do so many things without changing depth or losing stability or (to my chagrin) losing awareness of everything his students were doing. But the wonderful thing about my instructor, and the ones I have had since then, is that, although he knew the gulf between his skills and mine, his job and his intent was to bring me up to meet him.
He had to teach, but I had to work. And for me, it took a LOT of work and a long, long time, and a lot of dives, to start to look like my instructor. Many people don't have the role model to begin with, and even if they did, they don't have their own pool, their own gear, or six pretty decent dive sites within a half hour of their house. Or an LDS with a yearly membership that makes fills a non-issue.
I do think that the level of comfort and stability in the water could be improved very quickly for a lot of people, with a good look at their gear and a couple of dives to work on their balance. But truly elegant diving is a product of repeated and focused practice for most people, and if you don't have the opportunities for that, what you can do is limited.
But many divers have never seen anybody who was stable and relaxed, except the professionals who guide them. And the natural response to that is that those are professions with thousands of dives, and therefore that's a level of skill that the "average diver" can't aspire to.
When I took my Fundamentals class, I looked at the instructor with my jaw dropped . . . I had NEVER seen anybody so quiet in the water, and so able to do so many things without changing depth or losing stability or (to my chagrin) losing awareness of everything his students were doing. But the wonderful thing about my instructor, and the ones I have had since then, is that, although he knew the gulf between his skills and mine, his job and his intent was to bring me up to meet him.
He had to teach, but I had to work. And for me, it took a LOT of work and a long, long time, and a lot of dives, to start to look like my instructor. Many people don't have the role model to begin with, and even if they did, they don't have their own pool, their own gear, or six pretty decent dive sites within a half hour of their house. Or an LDS with a yearly membership that makes fills a non-issue.
I do think that the level of comfort and stability in the water could be improved very quickly for a lot of people, with a good look at their gear and a couple of dives to work on their balance. But truly elegant diving is a product of repeated and focused practice for most people, and if you don't have the opportunities for that, what you can do is limited.
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That's why I'm so glad to hear that more and more instructors are teaching skills neutral. When all of the Instructors, AIs, DMs, Safety Divers, etc. are up of the bottom and in trim it changes from something that the smart aspire to and the others despair of ever doing, to what the student just naturally (with a little help) falls into doing.
Never forget:
"... if you believe something is hard, or unnecessary to learn, you won't learn it ... even if it's completely within your capability" - Bob (Grateful Diver)
DaleC
Contributor
I also think that the motivation of the diver plays into it.
Some people just want the bucket list/water cooler moment. Just like people who go tandem jumping instead of really learning how to skydive.
It's not really their fault that the dive industry has made it so easy for them to fulfill their desires without any concern for the effects on the sport/hobby/pastime. For every lousy diver there's an instructor, charter boat and DM willing to take their money. Diving will only get worse, not better, until someone risks the bottom line by saying "No, you can't go out today. You need some remedial training first!" or, until every diver has to wear a T shirt that says "I was trained to dive and certified by (insert instructors name here)".
Some people just want the bucket list/water cooler moment. Just like people who go tandem jumping instead of really learning how to skydive.
It's not really their fault that the dive industry has made it so easy for them to fulfill their desires without any concern for the effects on the sport/hobby/pastime. For every lousy diver there's an instructor, charter boat and DM willing to take their money. Diving will only get worse, not better, until someone risks the bottom line by saying "No, you can't go out today. You need some remedial training first!" or, until every diver has to wear a T shirt that says "I was trained to dive and certified by (insert instructors name here)".
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There's no reason that such folks can't do a discover diving kinda thing.
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I heard a radio commercial from our local scuba chain store yesterday ...
"Learn to scuba dive for only $129".
Wanna know why people dive like they do in that video ... ???
... because like everything else in life, you get what you pay for ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
"Learn to scuba dive for only $129".
Wanna know why people dive like they do in that video ... ???
... because like everything else in life, you get what you pay for ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
Off topic, but not necessarily, I see women wear them all of the time when their hair is long enough to get in the way if left to drift around, but too short to put back in a pony tail. Maybe dude has a luxurious mane that he needs to control.
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