I could not think of a good title for this thread, so please bear with me.
There was a brief exchange in another thread that I thought would make an interesting thread of its own. I did not want to hijack it, so I thought I would recreate the post here:
Lamont's observation is interesting to me, because I experienced exactly that with my with my UTD instruction as well.
My buddy and I were in a training scenario during which we were given just about every failure that would be remotely possible, including at least one that was not possible. (I was given a left post unfixable while OOA.) To cut to the chase, we ended the dive having lost 7 out of 8 regs, so we did two deco stops buddy breathing a deco bottle while I was maskless.
We handled it pretty well. One of the things that gave me the most trouble was holding on to the knot in the ascent line (so I could tell my depth) with my right hand while reaching back for the rear dump to establish buoyancy in perfect trim with my left hand and trying to buddy breathe (especially hand off the regulator) at the same time. In the debrief, the instructor briefly mentioned that the process might have been easier if we had gone out of trim.
It had never occurred to either of us that going out of trim was an option.
I thought about that while reading Lamont's comment. Throughout my training, I was never told that it was forbidden to go out of trim, but I was never told it was ever OK to do so, either. In fact, I would say that if there is one message I have gotten during my training, it is STAY IN TRIM! If we are looking at film of a diver doing a specific skill, say bottle passing, and that diver's knees drop 20°, you'd better believe that is going to be pointed out. Even if the knees are horizontal, the fin tips have to be up to avoid criticism.
Thus, if staying in trim is a consistent and persistent message in the curriculum, and if the fact that one may occasionally find reasons when it is OK to go out of trim is never mentioned, then it would not be surprising that it would not occur to students that there might be times it is OK to go out of trim. No one has actually said the words, "There is no situation where you are allowed to leave horizontal trim," but neither has anyone said, "There might be situations where horizontal trim is not appropriate."
If an organization wants to promote thinking divers, it might make an interesting discussion as a part of the instruction.
There was a brief exchange in another thread that I thought would make an interesting thread of its own. I did not want to hijack it, so I thought I would recreate the post here:
Its also a common mistake in GUE courses to try to remain neutral during the unconscious diver rescue drill -- even after students have been specifically instructed not to do that.Originally Posted by TSandM View Post
The one place where I did have to change was accepting that helping with students CAN require a willingness to be something other than horizontal, and sometimes even dropping fin tips in the silt (it doesn't work very well to try to adjust somebody's equipment underwater, if you are neutral and floating . . . )
Nowhere have I ever been told by a GUE instructor to always remain in trim and never ever break trim, but somehow that message seems to get received by students to the point that they'll avoid getting negative or grabbing something in situations when it is actually called for.
Lamont's observation is interesting to me, because I experienced exactly that with my with my UTD instruction as well.
My buddy and I were in a training scenario during which we were given just about every failure that would be remotely possible, including at least one that was not possible. (I was given a left post unfixable while OOA.) To cut to the chase, we ended the dive having lost 7 out of 8 regs, so we did two deco stops buddy breathing a deco bottle while I was maskless.
We handled it pretty well. One of the things that gave me the most trouble was holding on to the knot in the ascent line (so I could tell my depth) with my right hand while reaching back for the rear dump to establish buoyancy in perfect trim with my left hand and trying to buddy breathe (especially hand off the regulator) at the same time. In the debrief, the instructor briefly mentioned that the process might have been easier if we had gone out of trim.
It had never occurred to either of us that going out of trim was an option.
I thought about that while reading Lamont's comment. Throughout my training, I was never told that it was forbidden to go out of trim, but I was never told it was ever OK to do so, either. In fact, I would say that if there is one message I have gotten during my training, it is STAY IN TRIM! If we are looking at film of a diver doing a specific skill, say bottle passing, and that diver's knees drop 20°, you'd better believe that is going to be pointed out. Even if the knees are horizontal, the fin tips have to be up to avoid criticism.
Thus, if staying in trim is a consistent and persistent message in the curriculum, and if the fact that one may occasionally find reasons when it is OK to go out of trim is never mentioned, then it would not be surprising that it would not occur to students that there might be times it is OK to go out of trim. No one has actually said the words, "There is no situation where you are allowed to leave horizontal trim," but neither has anyone said, "There might be situations where horizontal trim is not appropriate."
If an organization wants to promote thinking divers, it might make an interesting discussion as a part of the instruction.