Are They Listening The post dive debrief?
As instructors we wonder if our students at times are listening. Regardless of age or experience it is said a person should try to learn something new at least once everyday. No one knows everything and there is always room for improvement and acquiring the skills to properly scuba dive is no different. So what if you have logged a thousand plus dives over the last few decades, so what if you can describe in detail the diving equipment of yesteryear and you claim to have seen it all. As a diver I feel that I really didnt start to learn until I pursued advancing my skills, a learning quest that really took off once I became an OW instructor. I can say today with all the dives I have logged and the few I forgot that I believe there are plenty of new skills to learn and that I continue to advance as a diver by doing so.
Can old dogs learn new tricks? Sure why not. While basic skills get you into the water, improving those skills and your diving knowledge are as important to better enjoying your diving as Boyles Law is to barotramatic injuries. Poorly trained skills at the start of learning to dive are no less effective then poorly maintained skills by a so called experienced diver. This makes it important to select the best instruction you can, an agency doesnt determine the quality of skill. Its easy to pick up bad habits. Peer pressure to do it one way or a lack of concentration can permit skill fade or lack of skill development. Proper training helps prevent bad skill learning and development in a new diver and can eliminate them in an experienced diver.
This doesnt mean that your dive buddy is a source of bad advise; quite the contrary in fact. Starting with a professional instructor, one who works to perfect their craft goes a long way during a post dive discussion. I have taken a few dive courses over the years, had the luxury of diving with many divers from different disciplines (commercial, military and recreational) and each prescribed to a different curriculum. One thing appeared fairly standard in each course; the post dive discussion or debrief. The format of most courses covers the basis of: Telling you what I want you to do, Telling and showing you how to do it, followed up by, Telling you what you did>
Its the Telling you what you did principle that varies from one course to another but the intent is the same; to improve the skills performance thus improving your diving. There are no secret scuba skills exclusive to one agency there are only secret handshakes. How we respond mentally and therefore physically to a range of situations varies diver by diver. Taking the approach of walking before running drives home the fact that you can better concentrate on a skill before you find yourself in a situation before you really need that skill. Keep in mind a skilled diver never put themselves in a position to be required to demonstrate exceptional skills but practice them none the less, all the same. There is no mystical black art in diving its really a series of practice and critique and that is best done by having a post dive discussion or debrief. I believe to be brutal during the post dive debrief, all participants are subject to critique (not criticism). We review the dive plan from surface to surface and if we are listening then we will get better. We also have a sense of humour .
As instructors we wonder if our students at times are listening. Regardless of age or experience it is said a person should try to learn something new at least once everyday. No one knows everything and there is always room for improvement and acquiring the skills to properly scuba dive is no different. So what if you have logged a thousand plus dives over the last few decades, so what if you can describe in detail the diving equipment of yesteryear and you claim to have seen it all. As a diver I feel that I really didnt start to learn until I pursued advancing my skills, a learning quest that really took off once I became an OW instructor. I can say today with all the dives I have logged and the few I forgot that I believe there are plenty of new skills to learn and that I continue to advance as a diver by doing so.
Can old dogs learn new tricks? Sure why not. While basic skills get you into the water, improving those skills and your diving knowledge are as important to better enjoying your diving as Boyles Law is to barotramatic injuries. Poorly trained skills at the start of learning to dive are no less effective then poorly maintained skills by a so called experienced diver. This makes it important to select the best instruction you can, an agency doesnt determine the quality of skill. Its easy to pick up bad habits. Peer pressure to do it one way or a lack of concentration can permit skill fade or lack of skill development. Proper training helps prevent bad skill learning and development in a new diver and can eliminate them in an experienced diver.
This doesnt mean that your dive buddy is a source of bad advise; quite the contrary in fact. Starting with a professional instructor, one who works to perfect their craft goes a long way during a post dive discussion. I have taken a few dive courses over the years, had the luxury of diving with many divers from different disciplines (commercial, military and recreational) and each prescribed to a different curriculum. One thing appeared fairly standard in each course; the post dive discussion or debrief. The format of most courses covers the basis of: Telling you what I want you to do, Telling and showing you how to do it, followed up by, Telling you what you did>
Its the Telling you what you did principle that varies from one course to another but the intent is the same; to improve the skills performance thus improving your diving. There are no secret scuba skills exclusive to one agency there are only secret handshakes. How we respond mentally and therefore physically to a range of situations varies diver by diver. Taking the approach of walking before running drives home the fact that you can better concentrate on a skill before you find yourself in a situation before you really need that skill. Keep in mind a skilled diver never put themselves in a position to be required to demonstrate exceptional skills but practice them none the less, all the same. There is no mystical black art in diving its really a series of practice and critique and that is best done by having a post dive discussion or debrief. I believe to be brutal during the post dive debrief, all participants are subject to critique (not criticism). We review the dive plan from surface to surface and if we are listening then we will get better. We also have a sense of humour .
