boulderjohn:;, Now, I wonder what I would do if a student said, "I have examined the PADI standards carefully. I have l read ScubaBoard, and people like DevonDiver and DCBC tell me I can insist on doing these skills anchored to the bottom rather than neutrally buoyant like my classmates. I insist that I be allowed to do this!" I suppose I will have to cross that bridge when I come to it. So far students just do what I tell them to do without any fuss.
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I was hoping someone more experienced than me would bring this up. Yes, I think this could happen but also agree that it probably never will. I don't know if that's good or not. DevonD asks "What's to stop me from adding higher requirements"? Probably very little, since as pointed out, students will probably just do whatever is asked of them. Good or bad? One old example: Students must either complete 200 meters swimming or 300 with m/f/s. Who chooses-instructor or student? I know, "the instructor does" was the consensus interpretation of the standard. But the instructor could say--"Do 200 meters using front crawl only and within a specific time". This would break 2 standards and the students wouldn't know. Has there ever been a student who found and read the exact PADI standards?
There is something that was implicit about adding skills in the posts I have made, especially the last one, but perhaps should be made as clear as possible.
I have never done anything that changes what I was taught to do in my original instruction without seeking official advice first.
When I first started experimenting with doing skills horizontally and while neutrally buoyant, I asked the Course Director associated with my shop if that was OK before I did it. I did the same thing before having students do skills like weight belt removal/replacement and scuba unit removal/replacement neutral. As things got more involved, I corresponded with officials at PADI headquarters directly.
I had similar conversation with PADI headquarters over the years related to things I did not like about both the Rescue Diver course and the way we teach the CESA. I was not given permission for changes in those examples, so I have not made those changes.
So, if I ever thought that the example Andy gave (teaching mask removal while deploying an SMB) were a good idea, I would contact PADI and ask if it is OK. I am pretty sure they would say it is not OK, and then I wouldn't do it.
People seem to think PADI is some sort of secret organization that operates in the shadows and keeps all of its standards and practices a mystery. It isn't. If you want to do something out of the ordinary and want to know if it is OK, just drop them a line and find out.
To repeat: we know it is OK with PADI to teach students while neutrally buoyant because they have said it is OK to do so; they have not said mask removal while deploying an SMB is OK, so we don't know if it is. (Believe me, it isn't.)