Posted by Wayne on June 18, 2001 at 13:33:18:
In Reply to: This weekend's observations from Casino Point posted by MHK on June 18, 2001 at 10:17:57:
I believe that newbie divers are not good divers. And I further believe that OW certification does not a "diver' make. So where does that leave us.
To get all the student divers up to speed on buoyancy and good finning style would take a long time since the students have a such a wide range of inexperience. So the OW course is setup to give enough knowledge to allow the student to begin to dive and develop the skills that take a long time to master. In the course they are told about the need and availibility of more training. And even then, the training does not make the proficient, it just gets them ready to practice on every dive from that day forward. Buoyancy control is a good example. It takes a long time to get to a point where you just stop swimming at any point in the dive and you stay there without thinking about it. It is not reasonable to expect a newbie to be able to do this at the end of 4 dives or 10 dives. It takes time and work.
As for planting students on the bottom, I think it is fine. I like the idea of divers learning to control themselves without a mask, but I do not believe that this is something I want taught in entry level classes. As the students gain experience and comfort, they can be taught to do many more things.
Clearing and replacing a mask under water is a critical skill to master. As divers get used to diving, they will be able to do this without thinking about where in the water they happen to be.
I do not have a solution to the problem, but I think the best option available right now it to have newbies pair up with experienced divers who will help them get good habits such as monitoring air, minimizing damage to the equipment and environment, and adjusting buoyancy on the fly. Then they need additional training to learn additional skils and then more dives to develop proficiency.
I am glad that new divers are continuing to join our sport. I hope they stick with it and become good divers. It will not happen overnight and NEVER will happen in their first course on diving.
Wayne