Ocean Diver Training

Over the past eight weeks I have had the honour and privilege of introducing new club members to scuba diving.

We have three new young scuba diving members: Becky, Ollie and Elliot.All three have taken to pool sessions really well. From my memory of Ocean Diver training (only ten years ago!) the first theory and pool lessons feels like an information overload. You want to impress your instructor and appear to be a natural, especially in the pool sessions where you sometimes only have an hour to kit up, get in, complete a series of exercises, exit the pool, de-kit and debrief... Besides, everyone else is making it look easy! I remember glazing over when our pool instructor started to explain regulator stages, high pressure hoses, A-clamps, DIN valves, ponies... for a first timer this is all too much to take in. Fortunately I realise now that I was not in the wrong. The delivery of information available for a lesson is ranked in order of importance. They are as follows:

Need to Know

Should Know

Could Know   

The first time you see diving equipment is in the classroom during the theory lesson. They can be annotated diagrams, or the instructor may even bring in some for a dry practical and let you play with the valves! Setting equipment up at the poolside is another level up from this - in the back of your mind you know that the wrong configuration could slow down the lesson, annoy your instructor or even worse fail completely while underwater - and it would be all your fault! For some anxious people this may compound any reservations they have about going diving at all. 

http://www.bsac.com

I try to keep in mind the Need/Should/Could hierarchy. I have had to stop myself a few times from waffling on and going off on a technical tangent, instead of emphasising the important information relevant to the lesson. I am still quite new to instructing and find that I sometimes have to double back on things I've said because I haven't thought them through. One example is the emergency controlled buoyant lift, and explaining very carefully why the rescuer should inflate their own jacket and not the casualty's, before realising it should be the other way round. That example I felt particularly unprofessional, but my mistake was made during safely contained training session and the only person who suffered was myself from my own mild embarrassment!

You also need to understand the needs of the student and the requirements of the lesson. You can never assume anything. All throughout history lives have been lost where people assume the wrong things. Last Thursday I was asked to run Elliot through a full kit lesson. This came at very short notice, it was in fact my wife who took the phone call just as I was leaving the house. I assumed that I had to use full kit as well, as a good instructor leads by example. On arrival, Elliot was ready in his semi-dry while I kitted myself up in my drysuit. The swimming pool is warm enough without having to sweat buckets in a full body neoprene outfit. Just as we were about to get in the water, Andy our training officer leaned in and whispered, "You do realise that only the student needs to wear full kit?"

I briefly considered getting out of it, but time was getting on. So I chose instead to make progress with the lesson, even if I did look like a sweaty tomato. Sometimes I think that my learning curve as an instructor is as steep as my students!

http://www.ndiver.com

Becky, Ollie and Elliot are very patient with me and I like to think that I am patient with them. Although some exercise drills need a couple of attempts to refine the skill all three seem comfortable and confident in the water.   It is a testament to Andy and Paul and their effective delivery of the theory lessons that all three passed their theory exam with flying colours, and with their pool training drawing to a close the next step will be sheltered open water training in our very own British waters.

As instructors with the British Sub Aqua Club we volunteer our time and do not get paid. The broad smiles after a fun pool session and the feeling that you just may have started someone on their life-long love of diving makes instructing an absolute pleasure. No amount of money can buy that.