Buoyancy skills

[wetb4igetinthewater]

@Fires,

What I do is probably the same as many others (after all, I've been copying what others have done before me). First, there is a set of mask and snorkel exercises I received from @Peter Guy. This I have found helps people get comfortable in the water as it is done in a very controlled manner (standing in chest deep water). Now because my pool time is limited (2 3-hour sessions), I've decided to try doing this using buckets in the classroom. Sure, it will look funny and I will post on FB when I do it, but if it can save me 20 precious minutes of pool time, I'm all for it.

So after having students tread water and then do the 300-yard mask, snorkel, and fins swim (in that order), I then have the students put on their scuba kits, and lay face down in the water. They have no wait so they just sit there still. I hand them 2 lbs at a time, until they sink on full exhalation and stay midwater on normal inhalation/exhalation. If they their feet starts to drop, I put weights in their trim pockets. If necessary, I will attach 1 or 2 lb weights on their BCD shoulder straps to get them trim. Getting them horizontal and midwater is just so huge early in the process. I've found that they will just sit there and pay attention to me and not flop around. I haven't done this that long, so who knows, I could have some disasters, but in the last class I taught OW, I had some fairly "challenging" students.

Now when I spoke to PADI, they were okay with me doing this from the top down. If I had started on the bottom, they wouldn't have approved, as that would be a hover off the bottom. Instead, I have them hover midwater with and empty BCD.

I'm looking forward to my next class, with freeing up time with the mask/snorkel exercises using a bucket. It is useful for giving an indication how much a student may struggle in the pool before you even get there.

Others like boulderjohn, Diver0001, Peter Guy, have been at this a long time. They are some of the people I've read and tried to emulate. Not sure how different I do things, but so far, I like starting CW1 being midwater. I hope I've described my steps in sufficient detail. If not, let me know.

 

[boulderjohn]

not true - another agency started the trend ...

If other peop,le don't know you are doing it, then it does not start a trend.

I notice, by the way, that the fact that PADI is the only major agency that now openly advocates neutral buoyancy OW instruction and is putting it into its instructor training program that is currently being revised did not make it into your list of trends in that agency in the other thread.

By major agency, I am referring to agencies that certify more than a handful of OW students per year. Yes, there are some others that do that, but someone looking for OW training would have to look long and hard to find them.

 

[boulderjohn]

Is there a link to the PADI article somewhere?

It is a number of years old now--things have progressed quite a bit since then.

A note on the pictures....

I posed for pictures of most of the skills to show a comparison--once on the knees and once horizontal and neutral. I suggested captions to show the difference. They layout editor evidently missed all of that. He also included a random picture that totally contradicts the article. Layout editors are famous for that.

 

[RainPilot]

If other peop,le don't know you are doing it, then it does not start a trend.

I notice, by the way, that the fact that PADI is the only major agency that now openly advocates neutral buoyancy OW instruction and is putting it into its instructor training program that is currently being revised did not make it into your list of trends in that agency in the other thread.

By major agency, I am referring to agencies that certify more than a handful of OW students per year. Yes, there are some others that do that, but someone looking for OW training would have to look long and hard to find them.

RAID certifies more than a handful of students per year.

 

[sigxbill]

@boulderjohn - nice dig across threads - LOL! "the only major agency" part doesn't matter to me (they are all the same - remember ;-) ), BUT openly advocating neutral buoyancy in ow instruction is definitely a trend point for that agency. I will be interested to see how exactly it is implemented ...

 

[Fires]

@Fires,

What I do is probably the same as many others (after all, I've been copying what others have done before me). First, there is a set of mask and snorkel exercises I received from @Peter Guy. This I have found helps people get comfortable in the water as it is done in a very controlled manner (standing in chest deep water). Now because my pool time is limited (2 3-hour sessions), I've decided to try doing this using buckets in the classroom. Sure, it will look funny and I will post on FB when I do it, but if it can save me 20 precious minutes of pool time, I'm all for it.

So after having students tread water and then do the 300-yard mask, snorkel, and fins swim (in that order), I then have the students put on their scuba kits, and lay face down in the water. They have no wait so they just sit there still. I hand them 2 lbs at a time, until they sink on full exhalation and stay midwater on normal inhalation/exhalation. If they their feet starts to drop, I put weights in their trim pockets. If necessary, I will attach 1 or 2 lb weights on their BCD shoulder straps to get them trim. Getting them horizontal and midwater is just so huge early in the process. I've found that they will just sit there and pay attention to me and not flop around. I haven't done this that long, so who knows, I could have some disasters, but in the last class I taught OW, I had some fairly "challenging" students.

Now when I spoke to PADI, they were okay with me doing this from the top down. If I had started on the bottom, they wouldn't have approved, as that would be a hover off the bottom. Instead, I have them hover midwater with and empty BCD.

I'm looking forward to my next class, with freeing up time with the mask/snorkel exercises using a bucket. It is useful for giving an indication how much a student may struggle in the pool before you even get there.

Others like boulderjohn, Diver0001, Peter Guy, have been at this a long time. They are some of the people I've read and tried to emulate. Not sure how different I do things, but so far, I like starting CW1 being midwater. I hope I've described my steps in sufficient detail. If not, let me know.

Thanks for the extra info! I like the idea of just getting the kit on and doing the 2lbs at a time. Sounds like a good way to get them neutral from the beginning, AND they start understanding the breathing in and out. Will definitely use this! I need to make notes

The only thing I am confused about is the buckets? I am missing something here

Thanks!

 

[Fires]

It is a number of years old now--things have progressed quite a bit since then.

A note on the pictures....

I posed for pictures of most of the skills to show a comparison--once on the knees and once horizontal and neutral. I suggested captions to show the difference. They layout editor evidently missed all of that. He also included a random picture that totally contradicts the article. Layout editors are famous for that.

Thanks for posting this! Had a good read through. So this article was 2011...that was a year before I did my instructors...can't believe it has taken so long for things to progress. In out IDC we didn't even talk about Neutral yet.

Trust the layout guy to mess it up

 

[Patoux01]

The only thing I am confused about is the buckets? I am missing something here

You don't need a pool to use a snorkel and a mask, a bucket of water to put your face in is enough. At least that's what I understood.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Thanks for the extra info! I like the idea of just getting the kit on and doing the 2lbs at a time. Sounds like a good way to get them neutral from the beginning, AND they start understanding the breathing in and out. Will definitely use this! I need to make notes

The only thing I am confused about is the buckets? I am missing something here

Thanks!

Here is an outline of the exercises. I hope you find it useful. I have found that it helps people be comfortable underwater with the mask clearing skills, or it shows that they just cannot handle it and need to go at a much slower pace.

Snorkel skills - skills performed in shallow end and while holding the snorkel with their left hand to determine if students can effectively breath out of their mouth and nose
a. WITHOUT MASK
i. Students with only their snorkel, standing in shallow water bend over and breath in and out
THROUGH THE MOUTH for 10 breaths
ii. Students repeat but breath in through the mouth and OUT OF THE NOSE for 10 breaths
iii. Students take a deep breath, with the snorkel out of their mouths, bend over to put their faces and
snorkel mouth piece in the water, put snorkel in the mouth, clear. Repeat two more times.
b. WITH MASK
i. Repeat 3 skills above while wearing their mask and their snorkel attached to their mask
ii. Students bend over and fill their masks with water. They stand up and clear their mask. Repeat two more times.

It takes 15 minutes or so, but when you only have 6 hours, that's a good chunk of time. So, instead I will have buckets, one for each student, on a table and hand out rain ponchos so their clothes don't get wet. I'll also set the table up outside the shop, so when they clear their snorkels, they are not shooting water all over the place inside the shop. So @Patoux01's comment is exactly correct.

If a student is just struggling with this, you know to have them work with a CA as soon as they start struggling in the pool. The pace at which I have to teach is going to be too fast for such people, so I would want them to work with a CA as I work with the rest of the class. They'd have to join a later class. The shop manager calls it an "accelerated class", so it is sink or swim. I've gotten in trouble trying to some keep people's head above water when they were sinking due to the limited pool time. When I go independent, I will give my students more pool time (10 hours), but they'll have to drive a bit farther for a pool (20 miles/30 minutes) where it is $60/hour versus $140 an hour. And the class size will be 2-4. I'll always have an assistant as well who will be paid.

 

[Fires]

Here is an outline of the exercises. I hope you find it useful. I have found that it helps people be comfortable underwater with the mask clearing skills, or it shows that they just cannot handle it and need to go at a much slower pace.

Snorkel skills - skills performed in shallow end and while holding the snorkel with their left hand to determine if students can effectively breath out of their mouth and nose
a. WITHOUT MASK
i. Students with only their snorkel, standing in shallow water bend over and breath in and out
THROUGH THE MOUTH for 10 breaths
ii. Students repeat but breath in through the mouth and OUT OF THE NOSE for 10 breaths
iii. Students take a deep breath, with the snorkel out of their mouths, bend over to put their faces and
snorkel mouth piece in the water, put snorkel in the mouth, clear. Repeat two more times.
b. WITH MASK
i. Repeat 3 skills above while wearing their mask and their snorkel attached to their mask
ii. Students bend over and fill their masks with water. They stand up and clear their mask. Repeat two more times.

It takes 15 minutes or so, but when you only have 6 hours, that's a good chunk of time. So, instead I will have buckets, one for each student, on a table and hand out rain ponchos so their clothes don't get wet. I'll also set the table up outside the shop, so when they clear their snorkels, they are not shooting water all over the place inside the shop. So @Patoux01's comment is exactly correct.

If a student is just struggling with this, you know to have them work with a CA as soon as they start struggling in the pool. The pace at which I have to teach is going to be too fast for such people, so I would want them to work with a CA as I work with the rest of the class. They'd have to join a later class. The shop manager calls it an "accelerated class", so it is sink or swim. I've gotten in trouble trying to some keep people's head above water when they were sinking due to the limited pool time. When I go independent, I will give my students more pool time (10 hours), but they'll have to drive a bit farther for a pool (20 miles/30 minutes) where it is $60/hour versus $140 an hour. And the class size will be 2-4. I'll always have an assistant as well who will be paid.

Thanks a lot! Makes a lot more sense! Was trying to figure out how water would work inside.

I like the way you get them to do the breathing with mask and snorkel first, gives you a good headsup as you say, and let's them get comfortable early on.

Yeah I am also trying to plan with pool etc. I always used to work at a Dive centre and had time and assistants readily available. Now as an independent I have to try and make a plan. Their isn't really budget for any DM's.

We usually do evening sessions during the week for pool and class. If I need to do a weekend session for pool, then it will have to be at another pool. Also further and more expensive I imagine.