Why aren't more people taking up scuba diving?

[dmoore19]

How does one explain Colorado? 6th in divers per Capita. (old article but there is still a bunch of us) Unless of course the person who doesn't dive 50+ dives a year isn't a real diver. There is a lot of divers here in CO and there isn't much for "local" diving.

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-118453830.html

 

[Wookie]

Who convinced Black Americans they are afraid of the water? First I've ever heard even that they as a whole WERE afraid of it. How many white people from Ferguson get to the ocean?

Maybe they just don't like my boat, but I can count on one hand the number of black divers I've had on the boat in the past 15 years. And I carry about 500 divers a year.

 

[TMHeimer]

Maybe they just don't like my boat, but I can count on one hand the number of black divers I've had on the boat in the past 15 years. And I carry about 500 divers a year.

Yes, that obviously says something re Blacks in scuba. I've been on quite a few charters in the South and can't recall any Black divers. I only recall one Black OW student we've had here in NS since I started assisting. I do recall going to Jones Beach on Long Island growing up (and later) and seeing quite a few Blacks there & in the water. Maybe that's what I'm thinking about.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

How does one explain Colorado? 6th in divers per Capita. (old article but there is still a bunch of us) Unless of course the person who doesn't dive 50+ dives a year isn't a real diver. There is a lot of divers here in CO and there isn't much for "local" diving.

Who's 1-5?

 

[dmoore19]

I didn't look that up, I had read the article a couple of years back. My comment was merely to show that there are parts of the country that don't have much, or very little water to dive and still have a fairly large number of divers.

Who's 1-5?

---------- Post added December 15th, 2014 at 08:34 PM ----------

I also think that there are a number of great dive shops in the state of CO. Diving is one of the things a lot of us do. Of course CO is also a state that people enjoy a lot of sports such as rock climbing, skiing and other outdoor activities.

---------- Post added December 15th, 2014 at 08:52 PM ----------

Another link to some numbers. Interesting that other states such as Washington aren't in the top 5, I am slightly surprised by that. Even some of the other states on the Atlantic side I thought would have greater numbers of divers aren't in the list. It does seem odd that the states listed are the top 6 instead of just the top 5.



http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.dema.org/resource/resmgr/imported/Diving Fast Facts-2013.pdf

 

[KevinNM]

Yes, that obviously says something re Blacks in scuba. I've been on quite a few charters in the South and can't recall any Black divers. I only recall one Black OW student we've had here in NS since I started assisting. I do recall going to Jones Beach on Long Island growing up (and later) and seeing quite a few Blacks there & in the water. Maybe that's what I'm thinking about.

There is a big difference between people willing to sit on the beach and/or splash around in the shallows and feeling confident about swimming. There appears, from my casual poking around bing, to be relatively few African-americans who surf. I suspect there is a high degree of correlation between the reasons for this and for the lack of interest in scuba.

Oh, here's an interesting statistic: 6% of the participants 6 y/o and older in ALL outdoor activities are african-american. P7 http://www.outdoorfoundation.org/pdf/ResearchParticipation2012.pdf The same doc says that surfing and scuba have a first time participant rate of 23%, with a median age of 24 for surfing and 28 for scuba.

 

[RJP]

Now, how is it that I should teach that to my students, and why should it be required of all students?

Not that it should be done as part of a scuba class... but ANYONE who can't swim can be taught to swim well in a matter of minutes.

The problem is that most people were never taught to swim well. Most swim lessons teach people how to get from one side of the pool to the other without drowning. That's not swimming. That's merely surviving. And creates woefully inefficient swimmers.

People who don't know how to swim are far easier to teach to swim than someone who "knows" how to swim but really doesn't.

Given the choice, I'd rather have a student with NO swimming experience as a scuba student. I can turn them into decent swimmers in 15-30min. It would take weeks of lessons to get a crappy swimmer to unlearn bad form that has been ingrained over a lifetime.

 

[TMHeimer]

Not that it should be done as part of a scuba class... but ANYONE who can't swim can be taught to swim well in a matter of minutes.

The problem is that most people were never taught to swim well. Most swim lessons teach people how to get from one side of the pool to the other without drowning. That's not swimming. That's merely surviving. And creates woefully inefficient swimmers.

People who don't know how to swim are far easier to teach to swim than someone who "knows" how to swim but really doesn't.

Given the choice, I'd rather have a student with NO swimming experience as a scuba student. I can turn them into decent swimmers in 15-30min. It would take weeks of lessons to get a crappy swimmer to unlearn bad form that has been ingrained over a lifetime.

I have no experience teaching swimming but I can easily believe what you say. On the OW swim tests I've just seen way too many people swinging their heads out of the water side to side with each arm stroke. And as you say "surviving" the 200 yard test. You can skip a breath regularly by keeping your head face down and face in the water, or vary your breathing other ways, but head out, side to side and breathing all the time -- well, I can see how it would be hard to break someone of that habbit.

 

[RJP]

I have no experience teaching swimming but I can easily believe what you say. On the OW swim tests I've just seen way too many people swinging their heads out of the water side to side with each arm stroke. And as you say "surviving" the 200 yard test. You can skip a breat regularly by keeping your head face down and face in the water, or vary your breathing other ways, but head out, side to side and breathing all the time -- well, I can see how it would be hard to break someone of that habbit.

At the risk of hijacking... (Can you even "hijack" your own thread? Much less one that has 589 replies...)

I have the benefit of having been a competitive swimmer in my youth. a lifelong distance swimmer, working with coaches, etc. The key to real swimming (vs merely "staying at the surface" swimming) is that the goal is to push water behind you. Any and every motion you make in swimming should do NOTHING but push water behind you. Doing so will propel you forward. Propelling yourself forward will keep you at the surface. When that simple idea clicks... it becomes fairly obvious and intuitive what to do... and not do... in terms of swimming technique.

Any thing that pushes water DOWN or even worse IN FRONT OF YOU will tire you out and not propel you forward. This will cause you to move slowly, feel like you're sinking, so you work harder, get more tired, move even slower and feel even MORE like you're sinking, so you try harder... It's a vicious cycle.

Check out the SwimSmooth website for Swimming Technique: Animations & Articles From Experts Swim Smooth for some great illustrations and animations about proper technique.

If I have a student who is not a decent/capable swimmer I spend 10-15min showing them proper technique, coaching/critiquing, etc. Then I send them to the SwimSmooth website, and by the end of the class they are also better, more confident swimmers. Which of course makes for better, more confident divers. So, to a certain extent I think it is incumbent upon instructors to give some swim instruction if needed.

Here's a question, though. How many instructors get in the water and do the swim and float/tread WITH their students? I can't imagine NOT doing so. We demo every other skill before asking a student to perform it... why not swimming? And shouldn't an instructor be able to show students a "demonstration quality" stroke?

 

[scubadada]

Not that it should be done as part of a scuba class... but ANYONE who can't swim can be taught to swim well in a matter of minutes.

The problem is that most people were never taught to swim well. Most swim lessons teach people how to get from one side of the pool to the other without drowning. That's not swimming. That's merely surviving. And creates woefully inefficient swimmers.

People who don't know how to swim are far easier to teach to swim than someone who "knows" how to swim but really doesn't.

Given the choice, I'd rather have a student with NO swimming experience as a scuba student. I can turn them into decent swimmers in 15-30min. It would take weeks of lessons to get a crappy swimmer to unlearn bad form that has been ingrained over a lifetime.

At the risk of hijacking... (Can you even "hijack" your own thread? Much less one that has 589 replies...)

I have the benefit of having been a competitive swimmer in my youth. a lifelong distance swimmer, working with coaches, etc. The key to real swimming (vs merely "staying at the surface" swimming) is that the goal is to push water behind you. Any and every motion you make in swimming should do NOTHING but push water behind you. Doing so will propel you forward. Propelling yourself forward will keep you at the surface. When that simple idea clicks... it becomes fairly obvious and intuitive what to do... and not do... in terms of swimming technique.

Any thing that pushes water DOWN or even worse IN FRONT OF YOU will tire you out and not propel you forward. This will cause you to move slowly, feel like you're sinking, so you work harder, get more tired, move even slower and feel even MORE like you're sinking, so you try harder... It's a vicious cycle.

Check out the SwimSmooth website for Swimming Technique: Animations & Articles From Experts Swim Smooth for some great illustrations and animations about proper technique.

If I have a student who is not a decent/capable swimmer I spend 10-15min showing them proper technique, coaching/critiquing, etc. Then I send them to the SwimSmooth website, and by the end of the class they are also better, more confident swimmers. Which of course makes for better, more confident divers. So, to a certain extent I think it is incumbent upon instructors to give some swim instruction if needed.

Here's a question, though. How many instructors get in the water and do the swim and float/tread WITH their students? I can't imagine NOT doing so. We demo every other skill before asking a student to perform it... why not swimming? And shouldn't an instructor be able to show students a "demonstration quality" stroke?

Hi RJP,

I have the utmost respect for your scuba skills, teaching ability, and judgment. I grew up in Southern California and was also a competitive swimmer from the age of 4 and an accomplished water polo player. I am extremely skeptical that you can take a non-swimmer and have them swimming "well" in a matter of minutes. They may be able to survive in the water but will not be good, confident swimmers. I would have no confidence in these individuals having the ability to assist me underwater or on the surface. Under ideal circumstance, they may be able to take care of themselves but I really doubt they would be able to take care of themselves under pressing circumstances or assist another diver. Someone who knows how to swim can certainly be improved with quality instruction. Even this would require practice to become applicable. As I would expect of you, I assume you have data to back up statements, and not just opinion.

Sorry, I have no desire to dive with non-swimmers, I guess that is your job as an instructor. It is also your responsibility to certify them as competent, independent divers. Good luck to you. I could assist you diving if you had a medical or equipment problem, could one of your newly taught swimmers? Could you also teach someone to play baseball, football, basketball, soccer, tennis....in just a few minutes, that would be dazzling. They may understand what they're supposed to do, but they would not be able to do it with any skill, strength, or stamina.

Good diving, Craig