PADI Peak Perfomance Buoyancy

[Marlinspike]

I took the class a while ago in conjunction with Advanced Open Water. One of the more usefull skills was passing through hula-hoops placed at different depths using lung volume to control our depth. The instructor made a circular route with the hula-hoops . Half were placed at different depths on the roof of a submerged bus, the rest were beside the bus. I figure depth range was somewhere from 30 to 18 feet or so. Great excercise, made even better by cold quarry water with about 10-12 feet of vis.

Padi-bashers take note. This was a Padi course. Instructors make all the difference.

~Marlinspike

 

[MikeFerrara]

Originally posted by Arduous
BINGO Walter.....................................

I'm not sure of your teaching background but be careful not to over simplify.

If a diver masters everything in diving in the OW class there is no reason to every take any other class. This will never happen in OW. In our OW class we spend much time on trim, buoyancy control, proper weighting and propulsion techniques. For most not all of this is not mastered. I would like you to show me someone with a new C card who has "mastered" this stuff. In fact I see few divers who wouldnt be helped by such a class. From what I see every day in the water, unless you took this course from a really good instructor and/or are a skilled cave/wreck diver andd/or have taken GUE training and practiced, you don't even know what you are saying.

 

[Lost Yooper]

I agree with Mike, but will go further and say that most agencies/instructors don't even touch on proper trim and buoyancy control in any part of their curriculum. In fact, I don't think they even know what proper trim is much less know how to teach it. They'll call their divers "masters", but about all they have mastered is a bunch of bad habits and misinformation.

Do yourself a favor and avoid the bad habit agencies/instructors like the plague. Find an instructor that actually knows what they're talking about and learn from them (like Mike). If you want a real lesson in buoyancy control and trim, find a DIRF class and go out of your way to take it.

Good luck,

Mike

 

[tombiowami]

To spinoff of Mike's response....

I have not seen the Padi manuals, but the Naui manuals are full of people in horrible buoyancy/trim with all sorts of gear hovering around, reading to take out the coral and get gunked up.

They also teach feet first descents and head first ascents last I saw.

From what I have heard Andrew G. and company teach all OW classes with students hovering, in proper buoyancy/trim from the get go. The upcoming GUE OW class of course will have this incorporated.

Are they masters, na, but they have the tools to get there.

Tommy

 

[MartiniTime]

the way the course flows for open water you dont always get a very good chance to check your weight.

It is a good class for novice divers. Any time you just practice buoyancy is time well spent.

Any time I travel anywhere knew, the first thing I do is a 30 foot dive, and do nothing but check my buoyancy / gear setup for the area.

 

[landlocked]

Originally posted by MikeFerrara
If a diver masters everything in diving in the OW class there is no reason to every take any other class...... I would like you to show me someone with a new C card who has "mastered" this stuff. In fact I see few divers who wouldnt be helped by such a class....

Originally posted by Butch103
But wouldn't you agree that in most cases this is not a high priority skill taught to new divers....although IMHO is is probably the most (or close to the #1) skill involved in diving......by mastering (if ever possible to master) bouyancy it makes the rest of the skills easier...eg navigation, photography .......

Personally, I feel very strongly both ways.

 

[MNScuba]

I'll be doing the Peak Performance Buoyancy course during my Advanced Open Water class this coming weekend... I'll post what I think if it varies from anyone here...

 

[O-ring]

Any time you just practice buoyancy is time well spent.

Just go to a quarry, don't go below 20', and spend a few tanks working on trim, buoyancy, and hovering. You should be able to get really long practice sessions by staying shallow.

 

[ronrosa]

IMHO, you should be able to decide on your own if a buoyancy class is necessary. Do you have problems getting and maintaining neutral buoyancy ? How is your trim, horizontal, slanted or vertical ?

I took the PADI buoyancy class prior to talking PADI underwater videographer. I bought my video housing from a dive shop. I decided the video class would be worth it because the video instructor has the same exact housing and camcorder as I. She strongly advised I take the buoyancy class 1st because I had less than 30 dives.

Even though I thought the buoyancy class was unecessary (I had NO problems with buoyancy or trim), I took the class at the video instructor's urging.

What a waste of time. I did not learn anything that I didn't already know. I am not being conceited, but it really was a waste. The buoyancy instructor (different from video instr.) constantly bragged how good his buoyancy was, blah, blah, blah.

Be honest with yourself and review your previous dives. You should be able to answer whether or not to take the class.

 

[SubMariner]

You've already pointed out how much you enjoyed your Video course. But NOT the PPB course.

The main thing that came across is that you really "clicked" with that first Instructor, but not with the second. Basically, THAT is what you are complaining about.

As with any course, it's the INSTRUCTOR that really makes the difference.

~SubMariner~