Where to start technical diving

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Another controversial question: are instructor trainers better instructors themselves on average?

Where do you think the clown instructors come from? I'd bet most good instructors are good despite their CD/IT. They learned by themselves, found mentors, etc.. The key was their desire to improve.

 

[Wibble]

Sometimes I think that having small workshops to prepare for fundies may be helpful. I.e., spend a day just working on weighting (amount and distribution) to get a diver to just float motionless in the water column at shallow depth (but deep enough to not use the bottom as a crutch).

No one considers hiring a fundies instructor for a day of informal training. I think this would go a long way as the instructor would tailor the training to the needs of the student.

One of the things I've noticed with the GUE crowd is how they do lots of training on 6m/20ft platforms. That's the hard depth where things change quickly and the platform is always there to reveal any deficiencies. If you know the GUE people, am sure they'd be more than happy to help.

But as they say, train hard, dive easy

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

One of the things I've noticed with the GUE crowd is how they do lots of training on 6m/20ft platforms. That's the hard depth where things change quickly and the platform is always there to reveal any deficiencies. If you know the GUE people, am sure they'd be more than happy to help.

But as they say, train hard, dive easy

I saw this video recently where an instructor had his student backfinning with unwinding/stopping with a reel. I thought that was a better way to teach backfinning that holding onto something. If you are unstable, it will show! Need to try that soon on my rebreather as I am NOT stable yet on it.

 

[ginti]

Sometimes I think that having small workshops to prepare for fundies may be helpful. I.e., spend a day just working on weighting (amount and distribution) to get a diver to just float motionless in the water column at shallow depth (but deep enough to not use the bottom as a crutch).

They exist: doubles and drysuit primers

No one considers hiring a fundies instructor for a day of informal training. I think this would go a long way as the instructor would tailor the training to the needs of the student.

I know several people who hired instructors for private coaching...

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

They exist: doubles and drysuit primers


I know several people who hired instructors for private coaching...

I've done the same, private coaching. My point is, this should be more common.

I don't that dry suit primers and doubles primers are the same as private coaching as those have specific goals, while a student getting private coaching gets their training tailored to their needs.

 

[Wibble]

Need to try that soon on my rebreather as I am NOT stable yet on it.

Ah, then more time to practice is required

The time to practice is when you're at 6m/20ft during decompression. Let go of the SMB reel and let it bounce in front of you to give a nice reference, then you've a decent time to practice holding that stop, helicopter turns, backfinning. Two birds, one stone, what's not to like.

 

[BlueTrin]

One of the things I've noticed with the GUE crowd is how they do lots of training on 6m/20ft platforms. That's the hard depth where things change quickly and the platform is always there to reveal any deficiencies. If you know the GUE people, am sure they'd be more than happy to help.

But as they say, train hard, dive easy

They tend to have quite a few people willing to do skills, you’ll always find buddies to refresh skills on the 6m platform on the GUE FB group.

It’s very practical when you need to practice and get useful feedback to have so many people willing to help (at least where I live)

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Ah, then more time to practice is required

The time to practice is when you're at 6m/20ft during decompression. Let go of the SMB reel and let it bounce in front of you to give a nice reference, then you've a decent time to practice holding that stop, helicopter turns, backfinning. Two birds, one stone, what's not to like.

Working at it.


My weekly training dives are at a lake where the bottom is mostly silt. But there are some spots that have a lot of gravel, so I should set something up there for practicing. @Andrew Dawson

 

[ginti]

I don't that dry suit primers and doubles primers are the same as private coaching as those have specific goals, while a student getting private coaching gets their training tailored to their needs.

I meant that these two workshops can help you in preparing fundies, not that they are better than private coaching.

The reason why these workshops and private coaching are not that common is probably the cost - people take the money factor into account.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I meant that these two workshops can help you in preparing fundies, not that they are better than private coaching.

The reason why these workshops and private coaching are not that common is probably the cost - people take the money factor into account.

This was years ago, but I paid $180 for private coaching from a fundies instructor after I took fundies (different from the course). It was money well spent. Far better than some 2-dive Con Ed specialty.

People get too hung up on price and they don't consider value. The value/price ratio for GUE instructors is so much higher than the average. I got very little value in most of the con ed I've taken.