Stopping intentional skill development?

[northernone]

Posting the advanced forum.

Reflecting post dive today while I was enjoying photography I dedicated no conscious effort to improving my skills as a diver during the dive. Entirely happy with the mechanics of the dive in their imperfections as they allowed me the joy of being underwater safely and were 'good enough' to let me accomplish what I came for.

If I'm in a high silt SM cave, with a special needs student or testing a modification on a homebuilt rebreather I'm dive mechanics focused. But at the end of the day I love being underwater and if I didn't need to dive to accomplish that, I wouldn't dive.

With a rightful emphasis on increased safety and ongoing training do you still have 'fun' dives where the diving perfection becomes secondary? How or when did you decide your skills were good enough and at a level of maintained you were comfortable not refining them further for a few dives?

Avoiding deadly complacency,
Cameron

 

[JamesBon92007]

First of all I don't consider myself an "advanced" diver. Experienced, sure. But I haven't given much thought to improving my "skills" since shortly after I was certified. I dive because it is fun. I have the skills I need to get through the Southern California surf and back to the beach and find my way around the reefs so I never thought I needed to improve anything except for the quality of my cameras and some of my dive equipment, and of course, my skills as an underwater photographer. I don't ever expect to be satisfied with those skills. I never used a BC until about 2013 and I was very familiar with the principle and put a little air in it and let some out at the end and that was about it. When I began using a SPG I thought it took less skill than to anticipate my air consumption and use a watch and a depth gauge to keep track of my air supply. If someone enjoys learning about newer, more sophisticated equipment and special gas mixtures and all that then that's great but I have never felt a need to acquire any additional certifications unless it is required to go on a particular dive on a dive boat. So far they have let me do all the dives I have wanted to do.

I don't view competency as complacency.

 

[AdivingBel]

Welcome to the dark side...I liken it to enjoying the course, not playing "golf swing." Have fun & dive safely.

 

[Lorenzoid]

. . .
With a rightful emphasis on increased safety and ongoing training do you still have 'fun' dives where the diving perfection becomes secondary?

I don't think "diving perfection becomes secondary," I think it becomes ingrained enough that I still exercise the same skills on a 20-ft reef bimble without thinking too much about it. A thought that I have read other divers express on SB is that it's hard to break good habits. There I am on such a reef bimble, when I realize I am holding horizontal trim, etc., while the rest of the group has gone sort of vertical to more comfortably look at the wall, and then for a moment I feel silly and laugh at myself before "allowing" myself to go vertical.

How or when did you decide your skills were good enough and at a level of maintained you were comfortable not refining them further for a few dives? . . .

I think I have always interspersed training with just having fun. To me, that's what diving is about. Equal emphasis on training and chilling, more or less alternating between them.

 

[Kharon]

I guess I occasionally check things like trim etc. on every dive at home. It's a habit that is pretty automatic - not a concious effort.

Diving low-vis cold water all spring through fall I practice skills (still don't have finning backwards figured out yet), pick up junk off the bottom, and do a bit of milfoil remediation. There is not much to look at but mud and rocks (excitement) and few fish (big excitement).

When I hit Bonaire it's a totally different story. I get in the water and wander and get boggled by all the wonderful sights. I'm mostly not aware of anything but looking at all the amazing sights in every direction. My muscle memory takes over and it's only through habit that I check my depth and air. It's a good thing Bonaire is so benign.

 

[AdivingBel]

My muscle memory takes over and it's only through habit that I check my depth and air. It's a good thing Bonaire is so benign.

Yeah, another SB poster once posted, " If I could get someone to bring me a sandwich, I'd never come up."

 

[MikkelBC]

I have self-analyzed a bit about what I enjoy about diving and I have come to the conclusion that skills development IS the most fun part about diving for me. Much of my enjoyment comes from continuously challenging myself with things I am not yet capable of and then getting a kick when I achieve that capability.

 

[The Chairman]

With a rightful emphasis on increased safety and ongoing training do you still have 'fun' dives where the diving perfection becomes secondary?

All my dives are "fun" dives. I opt out if they feel like I'm working too hard. OK, that doesn't always include teaching dives, where I'm trying to impart skills and knowledge, but for the most part, I have fun with those as well. I often categorize divers into two groups: Those who dive for the skills and those who dive for the dive. We all fall somewhere between the two extremes. Me? I love to show off. I do and I'm horrible about it. Sometimes I will swim upside down using the surface as the bottom. It bends my mind to do it and I find that entertaining as I swim back to the boat. Am I doing this to perfect skills? Not sure. I'm having fun and I know that it does help those skills out.

 

[TMHeimer]

At somewhere around 15-20 dives years ago I was doing a shallow dive and stopped to look at something. I was surprised I was hovering without giving it any thought. I thought then that for my purposes I was "good enough" at that point.
Then 3 years later at 150+ dives I got the idea of taking the DM course. Of course I learned a lot and refined my skills to demonstration quality as they say. I don't really think my overall diving was much different than back 3 years.
I found I was able to do all that was necessary when assisting OW courses. Now all my dives are "fun" dives. Almost all are shallow (20-30') solo shore dives where I hunt shells, and for supper collect Deep Sea Scallops and poke spear stupid flounders. Though I do think of myself as a good safe buddy, buddy skills rarely are needed-- may buddy with someone 2-3 times a year. Very little of the knowledge I picked up as a DM or from the other courses I have taken comes into use. At times compass skills help, but mostly, I know the sites very well. Maybe once a year in Florida I will take a charter and have to get into that mindset--something many divers do regularly with far less total experience than I.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

At one point nearly every one of my dives ended with a skills session during deco stops. This went on for a few years. After a couple of times valve drills are like riding a bike. For the past decade I've concentrated on improving my photography. I don't even think about my dive gear underwater anymore.