DevonDiver
N/A
Andy, are you really suggesting that because a student has successfully completed a skill in the pool, that student must be certified, even if they are unable to complete the same skill in OW? We do run into this, for example with mask skills, where the student can manage it in the pool but just can't deal with the cold water on the face in OW.
No...and apologies if that is how it came across. I meant merely that performance standards must be achieved with 'mastery' in CW before the relevant section of OW can begin (according to scheduling standards). The important point was simply that skills are assessed in CW and the same definition of 'mastery' applies there.
And I think it is quite deliberately ingenuous to fail to see the difference between hovering and swimming in neutral buoyancy. Many people can swim while neutral, but cannot remain perfectly still because their gear is not balanced for remaining in a horizontal position without moving.
People who can "swim when neutral, but not hover" tend to be supplementing their buoyancy with fin propulsion (downwards/at an angle). When they stop, they sink.
Hover (according to standards) doesn't have to be horizontal and/or 'stable'. It just has to demonstrate neutral buoyancy. Obviously, the more discerning dive pro aims for something more - a stable, horizontal hover.
Again... let's not 'redefine' the PADI standards. Hover is a hover... floating (in any position) with neither positive or negative buoyancy and without supplementing said buoyancy by arm or leg propulsion. It's not 'DIR' standards yet (or anytime soon). Again.... I am referencing performance standards....as laid out by PADI.
There is NO reference, not one, to horizontal hover in the PADI instructor manual. zilch. zero. nadda..
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS. They need to be read....
Again, again... I am not talking about what 'could' be done... or what 'should' be done. We're on the same page in that regards. I am talking about "mastery" as it is defined by PADI. That is what we must assess against....although we can train to a higher standard.
Analogy: A high-school tutor teaches students to a 90% pass mark. The exam pass mark is 75%. His goal is to train them beyond the pass mark. If the students get 80% in the exam... they still pass. The tutor cannot 'fail' them. So it is with performance standards and the definition of mastery. As instructors, we can train higher than performance standards - but if a student fails to meet our standards, but does meet PADI's standards, they still pass the skill... they achieve 'mastery' (according to PADI).