Posted by Neil on June 18, 2001 at 17:12:22:
In Reply to: Re: And Jeff... posted by MHK on June 18, 2001 at 15:07:43:
MHK,
"The proper way to do it" is really just YOUR opinion
based on the way YOU want divers trained. Having said that,
I will say that your opinion is well stated and supported.
I love to teach scuba, I'm good at it, and I don't
pass students who can't do the skills. If I taught the
course you and I both want, it would be 60 hours long.
Newbies just don't have to be as proficient as all that.
If they learn the basics and then go dive, they will
get better. IF we teach them the value of the skill
and IF we teach them the value of doing it at a higher
level. Here's my advice, given with respect and humor:
Don't swim behind these people: Don't expect them to
react in an emergency as you would: Don't ask them to
remove their mask in zero viz hovering, they'll hurt
you: Remember that just about every certified diver since the
fifties learned in more or less this fashion: Remember
that guys like me train open water divers, not cave
divers, not wreck divers, not divers who think 130 feet
is halfway there.
Here's a clue to the real problem: ask instructors
how they were trained (as instructors). There's a big
difference between, say, NAUI and PADI. ( I know, I
teach both). The recreational agencies' standards
CAN work. INSTRUCTORS need better training.
My final rambling thought is this: until GUE has a
training program for new divers, anything they say
about beginning training is moot in my opinion. Who
trains the divers that eventually go to them? Me, and
god help us, some of those guys and gals at
Casino Point!
Peace,
Neil