Unhappy with my training

[Jim Lapenta]

I don't understand a drysuit course with no actual OW dives. The drysuit course I offer is 2 classroom sessions totalling 4-6 hours, 4 hours pool, and a min of 2 OW dives where we would go over skills as well as just swim and work on managing the bubble. The classroom would cover use, a review of basic physics dealing with buoyancy, emergency procedures, and maintenance of the suit. Pool sessions would cover venting an inflating, recovery from feet up condition, and all basic skills in the suit.

A refresher would be tailored to the student and could take anywhere from 2 hours to 2 pool sessions and could also include OW dives.

I don't do "by the book" refreshers as in a number of cases they do not address the issues the diver really needs to work on. I prefer to do a knowledge review type asessment and then an in water look at where the diver is. Then we start working on skills. The first are proper weighting and buoyancy. After that I work on getting the diver doing skills neutral, in trim, and in midwater.

Any time a student feels they did not get what they felt they should it is their responsibility to make that known to the instructor. The more I research the more I see that a number of deficiencies in training are because the students themselves don't know what to ask for. If they did the instructor would have to address those concerns. It behooves the student to do as much research as possible before putting any money down. Know what to expect. Ask to see the standards for the course and if they do not meet your expectations find one whose requirements do meet them.

 

[The Chairman]

As an instructor, I always evaluate my student through casual conversation. I regards to a refresher course, I really want to figure out WHAT they want. Then, before I begin any training, I explain what we are going to do and why. Any establishment that misses this part of the teacher/student relationship, will never consistently meet the desires of their clients and that's a problem.

Some of my students want a very detailed and thorough class. Some of them want to visit pretty fishies with the least amount of hassle. If we don't talk about your goals and desires, I can only guess as to what you really want. As a student, it's important that if they DON'T take the lead in this that you do. After all: It's YOUR class.

Another great way of getting some experience is to find and participate in any of the myriad of outings that are planned by the peeps right here on ScubaBoard. You'll usually find a number of experienced divers willing to give you pointers and help. You might even find a mentor!

Our mega events, like the one in my signature, are wonderful ways to have a lot of fun and know that there are any number of peeps (including myself) willing to give you a hand.

Lastly, ScubaBoard is an amazing resource for technique and gear ideas. Don't by shy: ask as many questions as you can think of. Don't be surprised if you get lots of opinions that differ. I promise that there will be at least one that is right... at least for you!

 

[diver 85]

Theory's still the same-review your manuel(s) as you said you did--plus you said "I felt good with my skills"---so, I bet you're good to go.......I'd just 'take it a little easy' the 1st time down & start diving ---again....good luck....

 

[TSandM]

Where are you in BC? If you are not happy with the depth and breadth of the training you are getting, there are some excellent options in the Vancouver and Vancouver Island areas.

BTW, I agree that, assuming you are near somewhere that you can dive at this time of year, a dry suit class should include open water time. However, the typical scuba refresher I know of does not include classroom work. The student's understanding is simply evaluated in discussion during the pool session.

 

[Skarn]

Bingo to what Jim said. The PADI course I know of has actual dives. Is SSI diferent?

 

[2 Big 2 Fail]

What would I want from a refresher or update? I suppose I would want to hear about any revised wisdom since I took my last course. And, if I reread the book and any part is no longer clear or comfortable, I want to cover that. And I want the instructor to catch any bad habits that have crept in or anything that need practice to bring back up to par. I would expect an instructor to ask if I had gone back over the book and if I felt like we needed to talk about something, but I wouldn't expect them to reteach the OW course or to go through the book point by point. I don't think the refresher can be much more than an escorted reentry with an eye out for trouble spots. If it needs to be more than that, resitting the OW course would be appropriate, or hiring a pro to DM me on a more substantial open water dive. If you're not confident you're aware of all the things you're shaky about, maybe that's the way to go.

How did you feel at the finish of your OW course? It's not a "refresher" if it never felt fresh to start with.

 

[hypertech]

I'd give SSI a call about the drysuit class and inquire as to whether the standards require an open water dive or two. I would be surprised if it didn't.

While I don't know what Jim does with all that classroom time, etc, I'd expect a drysuit class to include an hour or two of classroom, maybe some pool time, and most importantly a couple open water dives moving between depths to get used to managing bouyancy in the suit.

The refresher sounds pretty typical. If you want a more thorough refresher, ask a lot of questions and get the answers you want.

 

[BoltSnap]

What would I want from a refresher or update? I suppose I would want to hear about any revised wisdom since I took my last course. And, if I reread the book and any part is no longer clear or comfortable, I want to cover that. And I want the instructor to catch any bad habits that have crept in or anything that need practice to bring back up to par. I would expect an instructor to ask if I had gone back over the book and if I felt like we needed to talk about something, but I wouldn't expect them to reteach the OW course or to go through the book point by point. I don't think the refresher can be much more than an escorted reentry with an eye out for trouble spots. If it needs to be more than that, resitting the OW course would be appropriate, or hiring a pro to DM me on a more substantial open water dive. If you're not confident you're aware of all the things you're shaky about, maybe that's the way to go.

How did you feel at the finish of your OW course? It's not a "refresher" if it never felt fresh to start with.

I agree with the idea that if the diver needed more training/refresher than what is presented in a single session program and if his skill and knowledge retention requires more than 4 - 6 hours of work, he/she is better off taking a complete entry level course all over again. If it is apparent that the client doesn't remember much about diving requiring more "refresher" time, I'd start to doubt his/her skills and knowledge for the entire skill/knowledge range required for the entry level course graduate. If a client hadn't dove for more than 5 years since their last dive, I'd look into their taking the entire entry level course and skip the refresher anyways. No one can still remember the finer skills and knowledge if they haven't used them for that long. Sometimes I had divers who hadn't dove for a considerable time (more than 5 years and approaching 10 or more years) insist that they are OK and only need one session in the pool and argue against my advice, I'd tell them OK one session maybe enough if you pass the entry level exam from first try and you do the entire skill set for the course without second chances. I spend the first refresher session on the in-class and pool exam. Most of these folks don't do so well and end up agreeing on their own to take the whole course all over.

 

[BoltSnap]

I'd give SSI a call about the drysuit class and inquire as to whether the standards require an open water dive or two. I would be surprised if it didn't.

While I don't know what Jim does with all that classroom time, etc, I'd expect a drysuit class to include an hour or two of classroom, maybe some pool time, and most importantly a couple open water dives moving between depths to get used to managing bouyancy in the suit.
.

Perhaps a "Dry Suit Card" wasn't issued and thus OW dives are not really required. The dive shop/instructor in this case are not violating any standards.

 

[iguana751]

Thanks to everyone for all the advice. In my original post I missed stating that my dry suit course (speciality card issued) required two dives. The dives were not with an instructor, just with a buddy.

I checked out SSI’s website and the refresher I received was much less than what is listed on the site. I expect that a shop will provide at least what is listed on the organization’s website. I know that I should have inquired beforehand what my refresher course would consist of. However, the instructors always talk about how through their (ssi) courses are compared to other diving associations and I believed them.

I was visiting a buddy about two months ago and went to his dive shop (padi) because he wanted a refresher course. The refresher course at his shop was; classroom, pool and two open water dives with an instructor. I expected something similar from my shop but it is my fault for not finding out what I was getting for my money. If I had found out the kind of refresher I was getting I would have gone to my buddy’s shop instead.