Worth still doing Peak Performance Buoyancy after AOW?

[Eric Sedletzky]

One thing nobody is mentioning or even asked the OP about is what gear he is using?
Do all the math you want about which course is cheaper, but does fundies still mean needing all the compliant gear?
If so add that on.

 

[rddvet]

Says you - I found PPB a super valuable course!

It can be valuable if done with the right instructor. But you've never taken fundies, so have no clue how much more is covered and how much higher than the average the instruction is.

 

[Hojo in SC]

I both enjoyed and benefited from my PPB Class, but it was one-on-one with my instructor and he was very good.

 

[jonhall]

The trainer wasn't....great......and the entire AOW course was really rushed as they didn't manage dive times and falling light well (eg we butchered the navigation....well, I insist my buddy butchered it......but they still okayed it). It was a quick look at the breath-hold buoyancy check at the start of the dive, a very quick look at my trim, then good to go. I think we might have had to do a brief hover,

Sounds like the AOW course I took, but I was on the other side of this story - I was hoping to get rushed through. I had ~100 dives in before taking AOW and was a water person before getting into scuba. Took it at a dive resort, so fully expected to go through it quickly with little real instruction - got more out of reading the manual. I also have no doubt that had I taken AOW at my LDS, I would have gotten more out of the course, like actual instruction/feedback.

Whether you take PPB or not, or any other options being offered in this thread, diving more and experimenting with some different tips being offered earlier, is the best thing you can do, IMO. Just my own self evaluation here, but I feel like I became better at being where I wanted to be in the water, just by getting more dives in, even though those dives only came when I went on vacations. I started carrying a small camera on my 7th dive - being able to stay in a good position and stay there was a concern at that point, but it wasn't long when I felt I was in position to take a picture, able to move in or back away without disturbing anything or anyone around me, without even thinking about it. Same with swim throughs. Just came with doing more dives.

Don't always like analogies, but after the required 6 hours of driving time in a driver ed course (in Indiana) and the classroom time, it doesn't make someone a great driver even though they may have had a great instructor. What the individual does afterwards when not in the class is going to make the difference how successful they become.That's true with driving or diving.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Sounds like the AOW course I took, but I was on the other side of this story - I was hoping to get rushed through. I had ~100 dives in before taking AOW and was a water person before getting into scuba. Took it at a dive resort, so fully expected to go through it quickly with little real instruction - got more out of reading the manual. I also have no doubt that had I taken AOW at my LDS, I would have gotten more out of the course, like actual instruction/feedback.

Whether you take PPB or not, or any other options being offered in this thread, diving more and experimenting with some different tips being offered earlier, is the best thing you can do, IMO. Just my own self evaluation here, but I feel like I became better at being where I wanted to be in the water, just by getting more dives in, even though those dives only came when I went on vacations. I started carrying a small camera on my 7th dive - being able to stay in a good position and stay there was a concern at that point, but it wasn't long when I felt I was in position to take a picture, able to move in or back away without disturbing anything or anyone around me, without even thinking about it. Same with swim throughs. Just came with doing more dives.

Don't always like analogies, but after the required 6 hours of driving time in a driver ed course (in Indiana) and the classroom time, it doesn't make someone a great driver even though they may have had a great instructor. What the individual does afterwards when not in the class is going to make the difference how successful they become.That's true with driving or diving.

With those driver/diver analogies,
A person can get a drivers license and have a great instructor, but chooses to drive like an idiot, cutting people off, speeding, driving drunk, etc.
Just like a diver can ignore their training and crash reefs, drag their console, dive too deep, ride their computer to the max (or ignore it completely), constantly abandon their buddy, never check their air and run out, etc.
It’s the conscious decision to want to be better and follow the rules that separates the idiots form the rest. No amount of excellent training can fix an idiot if they don’t know they need to be fixed.
At least with bad drivers there are legal consequences. Not that there isn’t with diving, but there really isn’t any scuba police or getting tickets and eventually getting all your gear impounded.

 

[RobPNW]

With those driver/diver analogies,
A person can get a drivers license and have a great instructor, but chooses to drive like an idiot, cutting people off, speeding, driving drunk, etc.
Just like a diver can ignore their training and crash reefs, drag their console, dive too deep, ride their computer to the max (or ignore it completely), constantly abandon their buddy, never check their air and run out, etc.
It’s the conscious decision to want to be better and follow the rules that separates the idiots form the rest. No amount of excellent training can fix an idiot if they don’t know they need to be fixed.
At least with bad drivers there are legal consequences. Not that there isn’t with diving, but there really isn’t any scuba police or getting tickets and eventually getting all your gear impounded.

For me, when I'm driving, anyone in front of me is a pain in the azz, and anyone behind me is a maniac

 

[306dive306]

G'day all!
I'm only about 45 dives in, and completed my PADI AOW last year. For one of the modules I did the Peak Performance buoyancy....but honesty, I got very little out of this. The trainer wasn't....great......and the entire AOW course was really rushed as they didn't manage dive times and falling light well (eg we butchered the navigation....well, I insist my buddy butchered it......but they still okayed it). It was a quick look at the breath-hold buoyancy check at the start of the dive, a very quick look at my trim, then good to go. I think we might have had to do a brief hover, but I'm pretty sure you're supposed to do a few positions that we didn't do.

Anyway, buoyancy and control are still something I feel quite weak in. Maybe I'm my own harshest critic, but I'm not comfortable with it. And even diving last year, still ended up with, say, struggling to hover the one position when surrounding something interesting, just things like that. I've also had trouble controlling myself in current (probably why you don't do Komodo National Park with only 20 dives under your belt....haha)

So, I'm wondering - would doing a separate buoyancy performance course (either PADI or SSI) be of any benefit? Has anybody done these? I'm just wondering if there's any benefit above and beyond what I would likely have covered already?

that's completely normal so don't feel bad about it.

I took the PPB and learned NOTHING out of it. The instructor actually told me "there is nothing else I can teach you" after the last dive even though I knew I was crap underwater.

Then, I realized that if I remained in the "recreational diving world" I was never going to learn how to dive properly so I put "big boy pants" on and took a Tec sidemount course. After that, I practiced nonstop. Then, I went for the full cave.

You do not need to go all out and do Fundies or anything similar (i.e. TDI Intro to Tech) but, if you can afford it, contact a GOOD Tec instructor and tell him/her that you want to spend 3 days leaning buoyancy, trim, and propulsion.

You are not going to receive a c-card but this is going to change you (for the better) as a diver for the rest of your life.

MAKE SURE you select a Tec instructor who teaches others in horizontal position. Not one of those who teach advanced nitrox and deco procedures in SeaHorse trim or even KNEELING on the bottom.


If you want suggestions regarding instructors, PM me.

 

[jmcgilroy]

After 6 pages of replies...I think the #2 post is the one with the best angle on it. "Bob DBF" is spot on (my opinion, of course)

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Hooley dooley this took off. Well, I'm in Australia, where there is very little GUE and none in my state

Oy!

Well, good luck to you. As mentioned there is BSAC (a very good route to go, I wish it was available to those of us in the US). Or interview the heck out of prospective instructors. I'd suggest a workshop (as the certification is meaningless) where you pay for the instructor's time.

 

[Wibble]

The great challenge with good diving skills is being able to witness good diving skills.

When driving you are surrounded with vehicles and can see good and bad examples every day. Often the best is in close-quarters driving, such as reversing into parking spots, handling narrow lanes, etc.

Diving's harder in that you see far less of these skills simply because of the reduced visibility and few divers in the water, frequently of the same skill level as yourself. This makes it hard to observe great skills in action. If you only ever see mediocre, that becomes "good enough".