Worth still doing Peak Performance Buoyancy after AOW?

[Pearlman]

1. RAID has the Performance Diver course which I think is a serious step up from PADI/SSI PPB and less intense than GUE Fundies/UTI Essentials/IANTD Essentials etc. Shop for instructor, and you should get a better deal doing a "scuba clinic" with them without getting certed (so you'd still go through the same course with a high quality instructor, but you don't need to pay the agency for the certificate).

   I took a look at the RAID training sylllabus and there is no mention of “balanced rig” or doing weight calculations. How does one become a “performant diver” without ever dipping his toes into this topic?

 

[Fishhy]

I took PPB as one of my dives during my AOW. I took my AOW about a year after my OW and about 25 dives later. While I took the course at a reputable shop in Key Largo, I found the whole AOW course to be boring and not at all challenging. The PPB is basically just swimming through some submerged hoops off the bottom and touching your nose to a knife stabbed in the sand w/out using your hands. Like others have said, watching some videos on buoyancy on YouTube and getting a friend to take a video of you are a good start. If you have access to a pool, play around w/your trim weights - your weighting / weight distribution and not being overweighted makes a huge difference.

 

[Wibble]

I took PPB as one of my dives during my AOW.

One of my dives?

Not picking on you here, just the point that core skills take an awful lot of effort to perfect.

"Peak Performance Buoyancy" in this context appears to be about as in-depth as the "putting up an SMB speciality". You enter the "course" with mediocre skills and you leave it with mediocre skills.

 

[Joneill]

One of my dives?

Not picking on you here, just the point that core skills take an awful lot of effort to perfect.

"Peak Performance Buoyancy" in this context appears to be about as in-depth as the "putting up an SMB speciality". You enter the "course" with mediocre skills and you leave it with mediocre skills.

If you take the actual PPB course (vs 1 dive as part of AOW), it’s much better.

Doing it as a the full course included some online e-learning in advance, then about 60 minutes of in person learning, followed by ~2 hours of pool work and then 2 dives at Dutch Springs. I did it shortly after I finished OW. It was an excellent course (and instructor) that really foucused in-depth on proper weighting, buoyancy and finning techniques!

 

[Fishhy]

Not offended here- I realize the PPB mini-course will have hopefully have more depth than the elective in the AOW course. The most challenging part of my AOW was probably navigation, the rest felt like filler. If money isn't a big deal, and you want to take the PPB specialty course, go for it. I had a good instructor for my OW who went over weighting and helped me get my correct weighting/trim at the beginning. I realize many people come out of OW with no concept of weighting and trim. I think with some pool time with a buddy, anyone could get it dialed in pretty quickly and they don't necessarily need pay for a course.

 

[Wibble]

In the beginning there’s so much to learn. Everything is new and exciting. The environment is wonderful and fascinating. You tend to be lead around the sites with your buddies, often too quickly.

After a while you start to get used to the equipment and can then focus on the task at hand.

If you’re lucky you might have some people around you in the water who just look so sorted. They move effortlessly and can hover motionless whilst looking at things, hardly consuming any gas. There’s no flailing of their arms, no kicking up the silt nor crashing into things.

That should be you.

It takes a while and needs a mentor, but it’s perfectly achievable by most people who put the effort in.

I did and my diving is now so much easier as a result. I think back to my early dives and cringe with embarrassment.