Instructors: teaching neutrally buoyant

[boulderjohn]

I think the biggest reason students are overweighted and planted is that's just the way it was always done.

Yep. That was in the first draft of the article, courtesy of noted dive historian and co-author Dr. Sam Miller III. It was cut out because of length. Scuba instruction began before wetsuits were invented, let alone primitive BCDs. The instructional methods being advocated today were not possible until well after instructional processes had been well established.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

• the fact that agencies that have realized the significance of the difference at the highest level (as I know is true for PADI) have not done more to promote it, and

Can you imagine the loss of revenue by all agencies by raising the bar of new instructors to demonstrate/teach NB/T? Far fewer would be generated per year. And if teaching NB/T for the entire course was required, a lot of instructors would exit teaching (which would be a good thing IMO). More loss of revenue. There would likely be fewer OW certifications as well (which is fine as many I suspect would be one and done folks who check off diving from their bucket list).

From the agencies point of view (and pretty much all of them), it is purely about revenue. I've had discussions with ITs in different agencies about those agencies worried about the loss of revenue from making this change.

Here's the thing. Doing this at once is too much of a shock to the system. Start small, and just add incremental changes. It has been 10 years since you published that article. Only recently have steps been made, but Jesus these are small changes. Should have happened years ago with yearly steps towards the goal of NB/T being achieved.

• by the fact that on social media (like this) people who have not seen the difference for themselves keep saying that their powerful imaginations have told them that it does not make much difference.

Dunning-Kruger. It isn't a Sisyphean task. Or a Quixotic one. But it is an uphill battle.

 

[Angelo Farina]

I think the biggest reason students are overweighted and planted is that's just the way it was always done.

In reality it was not always done. In the seventies there was no BCD and the standard tank was a steel twin set. So having a carefully calibrated weighting was absolutely important...
The bad habit of overweighting students came later, when the BCD became part of the standard equipment.

 

[TMHeimer]

In reality it was not always done. In the seventies there was no BCD and the standard tank was a steel twin set. So having a carefully calibrated weighting was absolutely important...
The bad habit of overweighting students came later, when the BCD became part of the standard equipment.

I kind of figured that. I guess I really meant it was always done that way (overweightng, knees) since when things changed over those earlier times. Still, that's a long time ago and a lot of years it was done that way.
I suppose back when there were no BCs or flotation devices you couldn't overweight someone or they would sink and drown, no?

 

[boulderjohn]

Can you imagine the loss of revenue by all agencies by raising the bar of new instructors to demonstrate/teach NB/T? Far fewer would be generated per year.

It is not harder to teach an instructor to teach neutrally buoyant than to have them teach on the knees. It would have zero impact on that issue.

The problem is identical to the one I faced as a school district staff developer--the powers want the change, but they think that it can be done progressively, a little at a time, without pissing off the veterans. If you do a lot of reading in theories about making effective change, you will see that this is very common, but wrong, thinking on the part of management.

 

[Blackcrusader]

Maybe those UTD guys know a thing or two......

Yup see many claiming its not possible to train an OW diver to be in trim and master buoyancy. Seems it's not so.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

It is not harder to teach an instructor to teach neutrally buoyant than to have them teach on the knees. It would have zero impact on that issue.

The problem is identical to the one I faced as a school district staff developer--the powers want the change, but they think that it can be done progressively, a little at a time, without pissing off the veterans. If you do a lot of reading in theories about making effective change, you will see that this is very common, but wrong, thinking on the part of management.

I disagree. There is some effort to be able to weight properly and distribute weight as opposed to giving them a weight belt that is far too much. It screws up their ability to hover. So what? (their thought process), this is what I did, and I'm okay now.

I think that is the hurdle. Getting instructors to accept and expect of themselves to achieve quality results in less time. Err, so I guess I do agree. We are just saying it differently (I think).

 

[The Chairman]

Can you imagine the loss of revenue by all agencies by raising the bar of new instructors to demonstrate/teach NB/T?

Their revenue will increase. So many drop out because they aren't in control. They are scared throughout their dives and don't enjoy themselves at all. It's nothing like they imagined at all. In addition, getting trim and neutral just isn't that hard if you do them together.

Here's the thing. Doing this at once is too much of a shock to the system. Start small, and just add incremental changes. It has been 10 years since you published that article. Only recently have steps been made, but Jesus these are small changes.

I know of a few agencies who require trim and neutral buoyancy throughout the entire dive... not just 30secs. When they reinvented themselves, NASE came out with memes telling divers that there's no need to kneel for any man or agency. I also believe that RAID and SNSI have done something similar.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Their revenue will increase. So many drop out because they aren't in control. They are scared throughout their dives and don't enjoy themselves at all. It's nothing like they imagined at all. In addition, getting trim and neutral just isn't that hard if you do them together.

I agree that overall their revenue will increase by further retention, more con ed. That's my personal experience. Students I taught on the knees pretty much don't dive. Students I taught NB/T pretty much all do.

I know of a few agencies who require trim and neutral buoyancy throughout the entire dive... not just 30secs. When they reinvented themselves, NASE came out with memes telling divers that there's no need to kneel for any man or agency. I also believe that RAID and SNSI have done something similar.

Which agencies have banned placing students on their knees all together?

 

[boulderjohn]

Their revenue will increase. So many drop out because they aren't in control.

I absolutely agree.

I was doing my AI IDC dives in Key Largo. I saw a young woman trying to dive while grossly overweighted. She was nearly crawling on the bottom. Our eyes met briefly, and I saw her misery clearly. I swore that when I became an instructor, I would never, ever produce a diver that looked like that.