How to get rid of fear?

[sunnyboy]

As much as you love teaching, you can't teach what you don't know.

You need to have a commensurate amount of expertise and skill.

Some agencies set the bar exceedingly low in that respect.

What results is the 'blind leading the blind'.... enthusiastic instructors who can't do anything more than regurgitate the contents of the student manual, or spurious garbage they've heard on the grapevine... and can't demonstrate or role-model diving skills worth a damn.

Excellent point. In the same vein, you may be the most enthusiastic and wonderful teacher, but teaching scuba diving has an additional component: you are teaching skills in a very dangerous environment. Bad stuff does happen. The problem with "zero to hero" instructors is that it's doubtful that you have had enough underwater diving experience to really be able to anticipate things that can go wrong for students.

There is a HUGE difference IMO between dealing with a student emergency after it's started and preventing a student emergency because you have the experience to catch it before it unfolds.

 

[kafkaland]

Two points: mask skills are a never-ending journey. From clearing a partially flooded mask, which is something you'll have to do on many dives to the point where it becomes second student and you aren't even thinking about it, to more difficult mask replacements, which I'm still struggling with on occasion: deploying backup mask from tight drysuit pocket or back pouch with heavy dry gloves, with multiple sidemount tanks getting in the way of easy access, and getting around helmet, light cord, and long hose, all while maintaining good buoyancy (Any suggestions on this one?). Anyway, as pointed out above, take small steps, and increase difficulty as you go. To become a cometent instructor, you'll have to master this.

Second point: love of teaching is a great starting point, especially when combined with the love of diving. But as much as I love teaching and diving, I can never see myself becoming a scuba instructor. I imagine students at the bottom of the barrel. If something goes wrong with them in a typical instructional setting, all that happens is that they fail the class and perhaps file a complaint. But in the water it's a completely different situation: they may kill themselves and maybe even you because of their ineptitude. And as much as I'd like to think that a good instructor can prevent this under all circumstances, that just doesn't seem to be the case. So I'll stick with showing my dive buddies a trick or two that I've learned, but can't see myself instructing in a professional setting where I basically have to teach anyone the dive shop assigns to me.

 

[TMHeimer]

I also have often thought of that comparison-- school teacher vs. dive instructor. The former has to be more difficult due to class sizes, among other things. The latter does carry the possibility of fatality or injury, despite much smaller classes (the largest OW classes don't even approach the size of school classrooms). But, even as a DM, you always know the danger that always exists.

 

[Marie13]

I'm with Kafka, but in my case, it's with shooting. I enjoy taking 1-2 friends out at a time to the range, showing them the basics and how to safely shoot. I've been told I'm a good teacher and should go for my NRA Basic Pistol Instructor certification. Truth is, I have no desire to involve bureaucratic BS into something I enjoy. Plus, when you officially teach, you have to deal with stupid people. I have no patience with stupid people and don't suffer fools gladly. I can imagine it would even be worse teaching diving, when things can so easily go south.

 

[Alessandro Calello]

I would like to thank all of you for your support, since I wrote this post thanks to the help of my instructor I got rid of my fear and I just completed my Advance Open Water course and Dry Suit course and I'm moving towards the Deep, Nitrox, Rescue and then Dive Master where I will stop for the moment... the other day I went to 32 meters, thing that when I wrote this post I thought totally impossible!!!

 

[Storker]

Great! Congratulations!

 

[Neilwood]

Glad to hear you got over it and can fully enjoy the dives

 

[TMHeimer]

Glad to see things worked out. So many people have mask problems, and for numerous reasons. Take your time going toward DM. I did the course with 158 dives done, which seemed about right for me. At any rate, good luck with it.

 

[Scuba Legends]

Dear Alessandro.

I mostly agree with all what it has been said here.

First of all I would like to tell you that you are not Special. In the good meaning :-D You are just one more of many divers that struggle or panic when they have water in the nose. I never studied numbers but i am pretty sure tat it is the skill that most of my students struggle.

So, relax. You are having a normal problem on the process to become a Diver. One of the aims of the confined training is precisely to learn to calm yourself down when things go wrong instead of just letting the panic dominate you and swim up. Some things that help to my students (i don´t say there are not others) are:

1.- Relax. When you feel the panic coming, take control of your mind. You know that the option of swimming up to the surface will be always there, so give it a try. Stand the feeling as much as you can before going up, try to concentrate on breathing slowly and you will see that after a little while the panic starts slowing down until it disappear. If it doesn' t, you always will have the option to go up. So talk to yourself and remember that is the brain playing tricks with you.

2.Cheat: There is certain actions that you can do that at the begging will help you to stay down and recover your calm:

-Pinch your nose: When you feel panicking, pinch your nose so the water will disappear from it and while pinching your nose you can relax yourself and get ready to release it again. If the panick comes back, pinch your nose again.

-Exhale through your nose. While exhaling through your nose the water cannot go inside the nose. So i have students that in the beginning every time they have no mask they are exhaling though the nose// Pinching the nose when breathing in.

Those are little things you can do to start the path to master this skill. At the end you will have to be able to remain calm and comfortable without mask, but as said, at the end, sometimes this is a long path, sometimes it isn't.

So I hope this helps you. I wish you luck. Remember: Everything is in your head and you are not going to drawn because some water comes into your nose. So don't let your panick control you.

Happy bubbles

Gery

Diving tip of the week: Scuba Diving Tips: The Bad Habit of Overweighting

 

[Nianne]

Even though your problem is resolved, I agree with all the other suggestions, try baby steps and so on, but you can also try to swimm on your back the breaststroke and put your head underwater. This way, you have to learn how to block the water from entering your nose and it's a good exercise.

If you want to take the rescue it's also a good swim to learn, because it's the one you learn to be a lifeguard to tow someone.
You won't learn that with the rescue since it keeps its focus on underwater situation, but it helps to know more.


Done by a professionnal :


And by lifeguard training :