Isn't Bouyancy Control and Equalization taught in CW #1 / DSD Pool?

[MikeFerrara]

Ok....maybe I am splitting hairs here, but I don't think so...where exactly in the quote below from the standards does it say anything about "mastery?"

All the skills from each module muct be "mastered" prior to advancing to the next module. If you want direct quotes from the standards I'll get them for you but I'd rather you do it yourself.

The swim on the CW1 stays on the shallow end of the pool, maintains a single depth,

Who says so?

and is the student's first experience with bouyancy control.

Buoyancy control isn't mentioned in the CW 1 skills

You want mastery demonstrated at that point in time? I agree that students should be getting better training than they genearally are these days, but wouldn't you say you are being a bit on the demanding side there? I don't really care how good of an instructor you might be, if you expect mastery of anything after the first confined water dive, your expectations are way too high.

Again, it is the standards themselves that require mastery of the skills in one module before moving on to the next.

 

[gangrel441]

All the skills from each module muct be "mastered" prior to advancing to the next module. If you want direct quotes from the standards I'll get them for you but I'd rather you do it yourself.

Then, as you stated, performance requirement 7 states "...Swim underwater with scuba equipment while maintaining control of both direction and depth, properly equalizing the ears and mask to accommodate depth changes."

Mike - I am a DMC. I would love to look up the standards, but I can't as I do not yet have an instructor's manual. That is a story for a whole different discussion. However, I would not read the above statement to have anything to do with a mastery of anything. It was another poster who referred to referred to the catch-22 of CW dive 1. It seems to me that catch-22 is centered on the fact that the standards are looking for a mastery of bouyancy control before bouyancy control is taught.

Perhaps I take the word "mastery" a bit seriously, having been a martial arts instructor for 13 years, but I think many here probably view the word similarly. In my view, it is ludicrous to use the word "mastery" for something that a person has been doing for a couple of hours. Pehraps this is all an argument of semantics...

 

[MikeFerrara]

Mike - I am a DMC. I would love to look up the standards, but I can't as I do not yet have an instructor's manual. That is a story for a whole different discussion. However, I would not read the above statement to have anything to do with a mastery of anything. It was another poster who referred to referred to the catch-22 of CW dive 1. It seems to me that catch-22 is centered on the fact that the standards are looking for a mastery of bouyancy control before bouyancy control is taught.

Perhaps I take the word "mastery" a bit seriously, having been a martial arts instructor for 13 years, but I think many here probably view the word similarly. In my view, it is ludicrous to use the word "mastery" for something that a person has been doing for a couple of hours. Pehraps this is all an argument of semantics...

PADI standards apply the word "mastery" as they define it to all skills.

I don't see "mastering" buoyancy control before it's taught as being the issue with the CW 1 UW swimming skill. The issue is that buoyancy control has not been taught yet and it really isn't implied in this skill or any other CW 1 skill. Forget the word mastery for a minute and look at the specific preformance requirements. They are required to control depth and direction. Read mod 1 in the text and look at the CW 1 skills. What tools have been given to the student that we should expect that they can control depth?

But, they permit and encourage OW 1 to be conducted immediately after CW 1 so they toss in some swimming. The CW 1 underwater swimming skill is completely out of place in the sequence and so is permitting OW dive 1 immeiately after CW 1. Hey...I cut the damned thing three times and it's still too short.

It makes sense to teach UW swimming and buoyancy control at the same time (although I prefer to do some fin technique teaching and coaching on dry land) but if one has to come before the other, buoyancy control has to come first because you can't do anything but a lousy job of UW swimming unless you are neutral.

Having taught more than a few PADI classes and having had my nose stuck in their standards for some years I have to say that the more I look at it and the more experience I have with them the more they make my head hurt. I used to try to think and talk my way around it all (just like some of you) giving them way more than the benefit of the doubt but it just can't be done. If what you want to do is sell diving and get people as far into the water as possible as soon as possible, the PADI standards are great. On the other hand if you're wanting to teach people to dive, avoid bad habits and get right into good habits and techniques, the PADI standards just don't cut it. In fact, a quick read of the performance requirements for the OW dives (or any con-ed course for that matter) quickly reveals that the standards don't ever even ask for that.