New diver having a flap

[Moonfish17]

Hi all! Just signed up to this site as it seems like an excellent network for divers and I'm enjoying looking through some of the posts.

My name is Laura and I have started an OW course. I just had my 2nd session in the pool last night and I'm worrying because I feel so clumsy with everything! I love swimming underwater but I'm finding some of the skills a bit difficult - even simple things like clearing a regulator! After swallowing half the pool last night my instructor said the equipment wasn't very good although I suspect I may not have been blowing hard enough. I'm worried about having to do this 18m underwater! And it feels like we're being rushed through everything because there's so much to learn. Today my chest feels really uncomfortable which is nothing severe but I guess I just overexerted myself last night.

So I'm just having a bit of a flap really and maybe looking for some reassurance that everybody starts off like this! I'm so looking forward to getting in the sea but I want to make sure I'm ready for it.

Thank you so much for reading. Looking forward to learning even more about diving through this site.

Laura

 

[Wookie]

You probably feel rushed because you are. Tell your instructor that you'd like to take it slower. I'm guessing you are not taking a BSAC club training, but one of the for profit dive centers who rush them in, rush them out, and leave them unsatisfied. I know men like that. Anyway, I reckon it's all happening at greater than your comfort speed, and you need a bit of a slower class. Are you in the 2 weekend class? Try the 2 week version if your dive center offers it.

 

[Moonfish17]

Thanks Wookie! The class I am doing is 5 classroom and pool sessions, spread out over 5 weeks. I'm probably just really slow! :confused6: Don't think the dive centre offers anything different.

 

[Edward3c]

Hi Laura,

As Wookie has said. It sounds like your going through a commercial course offered by PADI, SSI or one of the other commercial operators in the UK. Talk to you instructor about how you feel and that the classes are going a bit too quick for you. They will have costed your course for 5 pool sessions and, in the small print, there might be a clause you have to pay for any additional pool time.

Depending on where you live non-profit clubs like BSAC, SAA and ScotSAC would also train you, but at your own pace.

Having said that, you will be learning a lot in the first few lessons, there's no getting round it. Breathing from a regulator, using mask and fins, controlling the mass of the cylinder on your back, remembering to clear your ears, etc.

Out of curiosity are you planning to dive in UK waters? They are fantastic by the way. I'm just outside Glasgow and run BSAC training once a month for all BSAC diver grade Open Water lessons.

Kind regards

Edward

 

[Wookie]

Thanks Wookie! The class I am doing is 5 classroom and pool sessions, spread out over 5 weeks. I'm probably just really slow! :confused6: Don't think the dive centre offers anything different.

The dive centre offers whatever it takes to make you feel comfortable. They are going to expect you to spend upwards of a thousand pounds or more to buy gear, go on holiday, get continuing education, etc. The worst thing I see in modern scuba instruction is to rush the student through and then make it seem like it's the student's fault they can't keep up. We all learn at different paces, and using different methods. I'm a reader. If I read it, I can do it. Others must be lectured to, and still others must be shown.

Most dive instructors are empathetic, but if you don't tell them, they won't get it. When you feel rushed, or get uncomfortable, or are just overwhelmed (don't let it go that far), pull the instructor aside and tell them. It is my opinion that more willing students are ruined by rushing them along than any other reason people never finish their scuba lessons.

Good luck to you, and I hope to dive with you someday.

 

[Moonfish17]

Thank you both for the advice. It is a PADI course that I am doing (perhaps I should be learning through BSAC!) and I will be doing my open water dives in Croatia. However I would also like to explore UK waters, particularly around Scotland. I bet there are some great fish up there.

I will see how my next lesson goes and have a word with my instructor if I still feel uncomfortable.

Thanks again! Hopefully I will see both of you at some point during my diving adventures. :fish:

 

[Edward3c]

Hi Laura,

All the best. and welcome to the great undersea world.

No agency is inherently better than any other. We just teach things at different levels. Like Nitrox and rescue skills are included in BSAC core training, but add ons with PADI.

Anyway enjoy you time in Croatia, and I look forward to seeing you here on the West coast of Scotland.

PS. I dive all year round.

 

[RJP]

Don't start second-guessing your choice of shop/instructor at this point. A five week, five session course is a pretty nice pace... so there's no reason to think anyone is rushing you because of commercial motivations. (Some shops will ram a course through in just 2-3 sessions.)

As has been stated above, there is a fair bit to absorb early on, but at this point the skills will be building on each other and combine with each other. (ie there's more new stuff in the beginning, less new stuff as you progress).

All that being said, some folks still feel a bit overwhelmed/rushed. But I wouldn't worry about that unless it's really to the point that you feel you don't know what you're doing or can't comprehend something you're being taught.

The simple fact is that most of US are idiots... and even we manage to dive all the time without harming ourselves or others.

:d

 

[KDAD]

my instructor said the equipment wasn't very good .... I'm worried about having to do this 18m underwater!

Laura,

Can you elaborate on this? Is this your gear or rental gear from the shop. Either way I would be concerned. If it is your gear, then the instructor may have a valid concern (or be trying to sell you something). If it is rental gear from the dive shop, well I would be worried about it especially using it in OW at depth.

Usually it is a skills problem not an equipment issue, but your instructor mentioning that the gear wasn't very good may warrant further inquiry by you. Ask her and let us know what she says.

 

[gearhound]

Hi Moonfish! I suspect that you are being too hard on yourself. You're learning new stuff, and from the very beginning. Whenever I have a student that's frustrated, I ask them "how many times have you done this?" When they answer that it's their first time, I answer " and you're not an expert yet???" That puts things back in perspective for them. Take your time. I'm assuming that they're giving you some free time at the end of each session to swim around and play. Take advantage of this time and practice those skills that you had the most difficulty with. Take a few moments before each skill and just take deep breaths off of your regulator to relax. You'll find that the skill will be easier to do.
And remember to take the pressure off of yourself. You're there to have FUN! There are no scouts in the stands looking to draft you onto their professional scuba diving team. You're learning these skills for yourself and for your own safety.