Teaching Question

[AnotherDiverHere]

I would like to get back into teaching.

Unfortunately there is not any place for me to conduct Open Water Certifications in my area. I am thinking about conducting Discover Scuba Dives. There are very nice pools in the area. A great place to conduct safe Discover/Try dives, whatever you want to call it.

When I can get back to teaching my goal is to not train OW classes with students kneeling. Obviously my goal is to conduct smaller class sizes (2-3 max) and train buoyancy before skills are conducted. I am pushing for skills to be trained while neutrally buoyant.

My question:

While conducting Discover/Try dives in a POOL to introduce people to SCUBA diving, should there be a big push for neutral buoyancy or should this come during the OW course?

NOTE:
Any Discover/Try dive I conduct will be in a POOL ONLY. Not in open water

I understand and am fully aware of what the standards say. I believe a Discover/Try dive should be introduced to see if the person is ok with the sensation of breathing underwater.

 

[VikingDives]

I would like to get back into teaching.

Unfortunately there is not any place for me to conduct Open Water Certifications in my area. I am thinking about conducting Discover Scuba Dives. There are very nice pools in the area. A great place to conduct safe Discover/Try dives, whatever you want to call it.

When I can get back to teaching my goal is to not train OW classes with students kneeling. Obviously my goal is to conduct smaller class sizes (2-3 max) and train buoyancy before skills are conducted. I am pushing for skills to be trained while neutrally buoyant.

My question:

While conducting Discover/Try dives in a POOL to introduce people to SCUBA diving, should there be a big push for neutral buoyancy or should this come during the OW course?

NOTE:
Any Discover/Try dive I conduct will be in a POOL ONLY. Not in open water

I understand and am fully aware of what the standards say. I believe a Discover/Try dive should be introduced to see if the person is ok with the sensation of breathing underwater.

I think you'll find that teaching discover type classes in NB/T is easier, and more fun for everyone involved. It really doesn't take longer, and every student who continues on to OW will have a head start.

 

[Angelo Farina]

My personal experience with this king of introductory activity, conducted in the pool of holidays resort, is that it is better to keep equipment as simple as possible:
Just fins, mask and a small tank with backpack, soft harness and no BCD.
No suit, no snorkel, no second reg hanging around, no pressure gauge, no depth meter, no computer.
No problem can arise from not-existent things.
Most peopke will not even need weights, a small steel tank (10 liters) is heavy enough.
The customers will start swimming at the surface (like smorkeling), and after a while, after relaxing and breathing with better exhalation, they will naturally tend to descend and swim midwater.
When stopping their kick, they go down to the bottom, where most of them stay prone, with their belly on the floor of the pool.
Some one instead will stay bell up, almost seated, with the lower end of the tank on the floor.
They will not kneel: kneeling is already a task requiring some equilibrium, and people diving for the first time will struggle to keep the position.
The real problem and risk is to teach them how to equalise ears and mask.
This can be a problem if the pool is deep.
I used to propose this for free to all the new guests of the resort.
Someone did enjoy this experience enough for subscribing to the OW course.
Most others did not, albeit liking the experience of breathing underwater.
The idea of giving them a BCD and having them controlling buoyancy is way beyond the scope of this kind of experience.
Possibly 9 of 10 participants will never follow an OW course.

 

[AnotherDiverHere]

From previous experience I have seen it go both ways. Some people need more time to adjust to breathing underwater, while some take to it like a fish underwater.

My fear is that if too much is presented early, it becomes a turn off. I have seen people walk away when things become overwhelming. I do believe this is a sport that most people can enjoy, and if approached correctly, it could become a life long hobby for people that thought "it would not be for them"

@VikingDives
I do like the idea of introducing NB/T (I am assuming this is neutral buoyancy and trim) but as it is a Discover/Try dive (my thought is) keeping it 2-3 hours max. Start to finish. I feel this is insufficient time to properly teach NB/T.

@Angelo Farina
My idea is to keep it simple. I want to teach student in a BP/W setup. No extra frills. I do believe there should be a standard "Reg" setup. (One) 1st Stage, (Two) Second Stages, and a Pressure Gauge. I firmly believe that reading your pressure gauge should be a very high priority in the early stages of learning.

I am still debating whether to have a "long hose" set-up or "recreational" set-up for the alternate. I feel a long hose might add additional "complications" for an introductory Discovery/Try dive.

 

[boulderjohn]

I am the principle author of the 2011 PADI article on teaching students while neutrally buoyant. I formed a group of other such professionals to share ideas and experiences, and then they gave comments on my drafts.

Before I started, I experimented with it on my own for a year or two. One of the places I experimented was with discover Scuba classes. That is where I discovered something that you evidently don't know yet: It is easier for students to learn basic skills while neutral and horizontal than it is while they are on the knees.

I had them lying face forward on the pool floor, fin tips and maybe knees lightly touching the floor. It is important that they are close to horizontal--not a 45° angle. All the beginning skills are easier for them then. You can have the same size classes--no need to cut down on the number of students.

My discover scuba classes were all pool only, and I made buoyancy a focus because the goal was to have them have fun and want to come in for full certification. It was this work in Discover Scuba that truly made me focus on neutral buoyancy for regular classes, because after a short Discover Scuba session, those students looked more like seasoned divers than the OW students I was teaching on the knees.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

@AnotherDiverHere

I wrote a 3-part blog series for SDI on how I teach neutrally buoyant and trimmed.

Teaching Neutrally Buoyant and Trimmed - International Training - SDI | TDI | ERDI | PFI

Teaching Neutrally Buoyant and Trimmed: Pt2 - Mask, Snorkel & Fin Skills - International Training - SDI | TDI | ERDI | PFI

Teaching Neutrally Buoyant and Trimmed: How to weight properly, Part 3 - International Training - SDI | TDI | ERDI | PFI

You may want to use some of it for the DSDs you teach. If you have questions, let me know.

 

[AnotherDiverHere]

@boulderjohn

I agree with teaching students skills while neutrally buoyant. I believe I stated this in the initial post.

My goal for conducting Discover/Try dives is to give people the experience/sensation of breathing under water. I feel this is a big hurdle for some people. I understand and am aware of what the standards are.

I do not believe a 2-3 hour Discover/Try dive is an ample amount of time to fully comprehend and get comfortable with buoyancy. An hour to an hour and a half on the surface with an hour to an hour and a half in the water.

I agree that buoyancy should be introduced and practiced. My question was should the focus be on this or just giving the student a feel for being underwater and to see if they want to move forward.

 

[AnotherDiverHere]

@wetb4igetinthewater

Thank you, those are great articles and I will save them. I appreciate the link.
I think these are great tips for OW classes and I will utilize them in the future.

The article seemed to be geared towards people teaching OW courses. Students that enroll in an OW class are committed to the course outlined by the agency or instructor. They should have been informed of the time, costs, and standards before enrolling.

Most people that sign up for a Discover/Try dive are signing up for an experience, also to see if they want to move forward.

NOTE:
I am not speaking about Discover/Try dives in parts of the world where they bring you diving outside of the scope of standards.

My goal for Discover/Try dives is give people the experience of what it feels like to be underwater and also to give the student the knowledge of "yes I would like to move forward with this sport" or "nope this is not for me and I did not have to break the bank to find that out"

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

@wetb4igetinthewater

Thank you, those are great articles and I will save them. I appreciate the link.
I think these are great tips for OW classes and I will utilize them in the future.

The article seemed to be geared towards people teaching OW courses. Students that enroll in an OW class are committed to the course outlined by the agency or instructor. They should have been informed of the time, costs, and standards before enrolling.

Most people that sign up for a Discover/Try dive are signing up for an experience, also to see if they want to move forward.

NOTE:
I am not speaking about Discover/Try dives in parts of the world where they bring you diving outside of the scope of standards.

My goal for Discover/Try dives is give people the experience of what it feels like to be underwater and also to give the student the knowledge of "yes I would like to move forward with this sport" or "nope this is not for me and I did not have to break the bank to find that out"

Yes I wrote the series for open water courses as well as remedial training.

For DSDs, there is no reason why you cannot have your students not touch the bottom. Sure an errant fin or a stabilizing hand will happen. That's fine. But remember trim is about weight distribution. You mainly need to get the participants to relax.

You might findy blog post here useful on how I approached CW1. Never on the knees: Open Water Scuba Classes

 

[AnotherDiverHere]

@wetb4igetinthewater

Great Article. TBH I wanted to incorporate that UTD method in my OW course. I think its a great idea to give the student a great foundation.