Failing the OW check out dives

[Upwelling]

Is it common for someone to pass the confined water dives but get flunked on the check out dives? I'm not talking about someone who gives up on their own and doesn't complete all the dives, but someone who tries and gets flunked anyways.

 

[LUBOLD8431]

If you cant complete the skills, or you dont look comfortable in the water. Then definitely, you would flunk. I would tell someone after the first dive if I feel they are not going to make it, so we dont waste any more of their or my time.

Then I would tell them they need more work in the pool, and to come back out again when they feel more comfortable...

 

[DeputyDan]

I asked my instructor about this and he said that they really try to let marginal students know ahead of time so that they won't be embarassed/or scared/etc.

He felt that about 1 in 8 did not pass the open water portion.

Alot of the time they are just flat scared.

 

[The Chairman]

they might not have made it on the first go around and that is "OK". They can always redo this with the next class. Usually by the time you have finished pool sessions with me, there is no way that the OW dives will surprise you. Only person to not -ever- make was just plain afraid of OW. It had nothing to do with her skills or feeling comfortable under the water.

 

[double125's]

Dont view it as a pass / fail test, look at it as an opportunity to show off to your instructor. If you aprroach it with a more positive attitude like that and you payed attention in class and pool then there should be no worries about passing. If after your checkouts you are certified but dont feel comfortable ask for more pool time or better yet make lots of shallow ow dives. The training should be taken very seriously and after you have mastered the basic skills relax and enjoy diving, however dont stop practicing. I practice 2 or 3 training items on every dive. you should be practicing buoancy on every dive, others you can do are: mask clearing, swimming without a mask, valve drills or even laying line, Basically anything relevant to the style diving you due.

 

[Scubamedicjoe]

hum I sure don't agree with this statement's at all as stated by
"LUBOLD8431
I would tell someone after the first dive if I feel they are not going to make it, so we don't waste any more of their or my time. "
personally I think allot of divers are so scared that they just need a little pushing and tender loving care !!!
the job of a instructor is to teach , not just show the skills and push them out the door !!!
sometime it requires some one on one training and practice skills few more time than others since it wasn't stated as to why they failed I can only assume they panicked !!!!!

 

[wreckchick]

I am of many minds when it comes to who should be awarded their OW certificate. Before I say anything else, I am a new diver, I am NOT an instructor, and I breezed right through all my skills for my PADI OW.

I have heard lots of stories about students who had lots of trouble during their check-out dives and the instructors who talked them back into the water, let them do the skill a million times before they got it right, went up when a student bolted and brought them back down again, etc, etc, etc. In the end the student got the card.

The reality is that in diving the skills you learn during your OW class are skills that you use, some of them frequently. I've had to do all kinds of stuff that's directly from the PADI OW manual. I've had to remove and replace my mask at depth, I clear my mask on every dive, sometimes I flood my mask on purpose then clear it, I've had to recover my regulator, mess with my weights, and the list goes on. Being proficient and comfortable with the skills required for an OW card is not something that I think should be fudged to give someone a card that doesn't deserve one. If the student can't do it, they should practice more and go back out and redo the dives.

I actually agree that if a student is destined to have to redo the dives, perhaps the student's time is better spent in the pool and the instructor's time is better spent paying attention to the students that will be getting their cards at the end of the day.

I wouldn't consider not completing the dives a failure, but a reason to get more practice and do it again. It's not about getting a card, it's about being able to do the things you should be able to do to enjoy diving to it's fullest.

My opinion...

Rachel

 

[Northeastwrecks]

junko once bubbled...
Is it common for someone to pass the confined water dives but get flunked on the check out dives? I'm not talking about someone who gives up on their own and doesn't complete all the dives, but someone who tries and gets flunked anyways.

We don't put people in the open water until we are fairly certain that they will pass.

I'm aware of one individual who failed during open water. He had insisted that we put him in the OW even though we told him that he wasn't ready. We assigned him to our most experienced AI.

He called it after one dive and returned to the pool for more training.

 

[Metalman]

...I was scared and my whole class was, too... I think that just belongs to it. If you just jumped in and did everything without thinking twice (and it was you're first experience in OW), it would probably be dangerous.

With my instructor(s) things were only really difficult on the first dive... During it, they kept eye contact with us, and after that we were all pretty comfortable.

Two ended up not doing it anyhow because it was November and we had poorly fitting wetsuits in 4 degree C water, but that's another story.

-MM

 

[LUBOLD8431]

medic13 once bubbled...
hum I sure don't agree with this statement's at all as stated by
"LUBOLD8431
I would tell someone after the first dive if I feel they are not going to make it, so we don't waste any more of their or my time. "
personally I think allot of divers are so scared that they just need a little pushing and tender loving care !!!
the job of a instructor is to teach , not just show the skills and push them out the door !!!
sometime it requires some one on one training and practice skills few more time than others since it wasn't stated as to why they failed I can only assume they panicked !!!!!

I dont care if you agree or not, but where I was coming from, and maybe you didnt understand, was that if someone is having trouble in the water on the first dive, cant complete a mask clear, cant control buoyancy, cant do a regulator retrieval, etc, etc, this is a evaluation of someone's skills. They are not good enough to be certified. When someone is ready for open water, they should be confident and comfortable with the skills. I have had plenty of people that have been nervous, or even very anxious on the first dive. I am not talking about them. I know how to handle nervous people, almost everyone is. Those people usually get thru the weekend, and can complete all the skills, and are ready to be a certified diver...

What I am talking about is the worst case scenario. SOmeone who is a mess in the water. Someone who I feel is a danger to himself (or herself) and to others. I carry the insurance. I make the call who dives and who doesnt. Period. These people need more work before they get certified. I dont know how they even made it to the Open Water. This is what happens when I, personally, did not see them in the pool. I just did the open water dives with this person. Yes, I know, bad idea. But sometimes, it happens...

Anyways, this person eventually got certified after about five more nights in the pool...

I didnt mean to say that we tell them to get lost. We keep working with people until they are certified. No matter how long it takes. One recent student did 17 pool sessions. That was a long hard road for her and me. But, she is now a certified diver, and I dont regret putting my name on her c-card.

I dont ever want to regret putting my name on someone's c-card. I would not be able to sleep at night. Everyone that I certify is a good diver, and SAFE, and COMFORTABLE.

That is why I dont feel that if someone cant complete one dive with me, and demonstrate the skills, that person should not be diving. He/she needs more work...