ScubaFeenD
Contributor
Training with Trace Malinowski, Learning to live by Preparing to Fail
In preparation for GUE fundamentals I happened to discover an instructor by the name of Trace Malinowski (TraceMalin on SB; Home). I made preparations with him to take TDI intro to tech/PDIC Tek Prep as a sort of primer to the GUE fundamentals since I would not be able to attend an official primer class; it turned out to be one to the greatest moves/decisions I have made in my dive training.
I started the 4 days of training with Trace not fully knowing what to expect. I had practiced with some local GUE trained divers for a bit trying to get into, what I hoped, was good trim. I had not been challenged at that point though. That was about to change as soon as Trace and I got into the water. Training started with a bit of overview about what we would do. Trace explained his desire to use failures based teaching as his method of challenging me and pushing me. This would help me learn equipment awareness and learn to respond to incidents appropriately boy was it the truth.
Our first dive was to be a navigation dive in blue water. The task was to maintain trim, and buoyancy within a 2ft window while navigating between marker lines. At first things didn't go well, but after a few pointers and encouraging words I was beginning to be able to navigate to objects with extreme precision--I would navigate directly into the 5/8 marker line that had hundreds of feet between them in blue water with only 30' of vis. I felt accomplished at this point, but I had no idea how much more intense it would get.
The failures started to come on as I learned more and the skill refinement that came along with it was absolutely remarkable. At first I would be slower to respond to a mock OOA emergency, but towards the end I was responding while maintaining buoyancy and trim--I was beginning to develop true control over myself, and I started to FINALLY feel confident in my abilities underwater.
Over the few days that I had training skills were slowly built up and compounded while skill weaknesses were focussed on until proficiency was achieved. For instance, my back kick we clearly a weakness or mine, so to develop my back kick Trace decided that an entire dive would be done backwards. This not only meant keeping my buoyancy within 2 ft, but also being able to navigate backwards, without visual references (still blue water swims) while sharing air. It was also a regular occurrence to do drills such as the basic five, s-drill, and v-drill while doing timed controlled ascents and descents, which were hard at first, but became easier as time went on. It was so valuable to be task loaded in that manner, which became apparent later in my training.
Even when task loaded Trace still required equipment awareness and the ability to respond to problems by remaining calm and thinking a task not easily accomplished when underwater, but nonetheless effectively developed by Trace. I would frequently have my mask removed while buddy breathing on ascent, or need to be completely aware of my surroundings while doing drills and maintaining my space in the water column.
The last day of diving came, and with it the evaluation dive, and without failures and task loading the evaluation was a breeze. One skill at a time and trim and buoyancy without anything going wrong almost seemed like a treat and were completely effortless. What I had developed over just four days was the ability to think and control myself in the water unlike anything I had experienced previously. I was more prepared than ever and the intense task loading that I was put under allowed me to develop as a diver in ways I could never imagine. Timed ascents (and descents) had become second nature, buoyancy was no longer something I thought about, but was instead something I just did--I was able to put myself where I wanted in the water.
The intensity of the task loading and "harassment" underwater was absolutely pivotal to my learning. I felt more confident than ever and was able to truly call myself an open water diver for the first time ever. I look forward to many years or training with Trace, and I would recommend Trace as the instructor of choice for anyone that wants to learn more than how to just breath underwater, but instead want to learn how to truly dive, survive, and enjoy every second of this amazing activity.
Thanks Trace for an amazing experience and amazing class.
In preparation for GUE fundamentals I happened to discover an instructor by the name of Trace Malinowski (TraceMalin on SB; Home). I made preparations with him to take TDI intro to tech/PDIC Tek Prep as a sort of primer to the GUE fundamentals since I would not be able to attend an official primer class; it turned out to be one to the greatest moves/decisions I have made in my dive training.
I started the 4 days of training with Trace not fully knowing what to expect. I had practiced with some local GUE trained divers for a bit trying to get into, what I hoped, was good trim. I had not been challenged at that point though. That was about to change as soon as Trace and I got into the water. Training started with a bit of overview about what we would do. Trace explained his desire to use failures based teaching as his method of challenging me and pushing me. This would help me learn equipment awareness and learn to respond to incidents appropriately boy was it the truth.
Our first dive was to be a navigation dive in blue water. The task was to maintain trim, and buoyancy within a 2ft window while navigating between marker lines. At first things didn't go well, but after a few pointers and encouraging words I was beginning to be able to navigate to objects with extreme precision--I would navigate directly into the 5/8 marker line that had hundreds of feet between them in blue water with only 30' of vis. I felt accomplished at this point, but I had no idea how much more intense it would get.
The failures started to come on as I learned more and the skill refinement that came along with it was absolutely remarkable. At first I would be slower to respond to a mock OOA emergency, but towards the end I was responding while maintaining buoyancy and trim--I was beginning to develop true control over myself, and I started to FINALLY feel confident in my abilities underwater.
Over the few days that I had training skills were slowly built up and compounded while skill weaknesses were focussed on until proficiency was achieved. For instance, my back kick we clearly a weakness or mine, so to develop my back kick Trace decided that an entire dive would be done backwards. This not only meant keeping my buoyancy within 2 ft, but also being able to navigate backwards, without visual references (still blue water swims) while sharing air. It was also a regular occurrence to do drills such as the basic five, s-drill, and v-drill while doing timed controlled ascents and descents, which were hard at first, but became easier as time went on. It was so valuable to be task loaded in that manner, which became apparent later in my training.
Even when task loaded Trace still required equipment awareness and the ability to respond to problems by remaining calm and thinking a task not easily accomplished when underwater, but nonetheless effectively developed by Trace. I would frequently have my mask removed while buddy breathing on ascent, or need to be completely aware of my surroundings while doing drills and maintaining my space in the water column.
The last day of diving came, and with it the evaluation dive, and without failures and task loading the evaluation was a breeze. One skill at a time and trim and buoyancy without anything going wrong almost seemed like a treat and were completely effortless. What I had developed over just four days was the ability to think and control myself in the water unlike anything I had experienced previously. I was more prepared than ever and the intense task loading that I was put under allowed me to develop as a diver in ways I could never imagine. Timed ascents (and descents) had become second nature, buoyancy was no longer something I thought about, but was instead something I just did--I was able to put myself where I wanted in the water.
The intensity of the task loading and "harassment" underwater was absolutely pivotal to my learning. I felt more confident than ever and was able to truly call myself an open water diver for the first time ever. I look forward to many years or training with Trace, and I would recommend Trace as the instructor of choice for anyone that wants to learn more than how to just breath underwater, but instead want to learn how to truly dive, survive, and enjoy every second of this amazing activity.
Thanks Trace for an amazing experience and amazing class.
