Going Above the Standards: The Fallacy

Like many people, I like to waste my non-diving time by going on various scuba on-line forums and reading scuba diving blogs. As I try to evolve as a scuba diving instructor, I like to read about what other instructors are doing. You never know, someone may have some good ideas about how to run specific drills or how to handle students in a particular way. When I read through a lot of this, much of what people advertise about their classes is that they go above and beyond what the training agency standards say. Heck, I’ve even said this about my own classes and I’m sure it’s written somewhere on my web site. As I’ve grown as an instructor, one thing has become obviously clear, going above the training standards just isn’t enough.

Become a Great Scuba Instructor

To many people, the phrase “going above the standards”, is a marketing phrase. Some people think that just because they add a new topic or skill to their scuba diving classes, that they are “going above the standards”. The truth is that just because something gets added to a scuba diving class, doesn’t mean that the student will turn out to be a better diver.

Let’s take a look at PADI’s open water class for example. With a few small exceptions, I do think that PADI’s class is pretty comprehensive. So why does PADI get a bad rap in regards to churning out sub-par divers? It really boils down to the instructor.

I have learned that it doesn’t matter what you add to the class that makes a great instructor. What makes a scuba instructor truly great is that he or she holds the students to a higher standard of performance. You can take PADI’s open water class and follow the standards to the letter. If you ask your students to perform at a higher level, you can still create solid scuba divers.

My Real Life Example

I use my experiences as a student to help drive how I run my classes. During my technical diving student classes, I was barely able to perform the skills asked of me. During my first technical diving class, I did two deco bottle dives. During my basic trimix class, I did three bottle dives. Both of these skills were not explicitly stated in the course standards, but the instructors added them to go above the standards. After those classes, I took GUE Fundamentals. During this course, the instructors brought me back down. They forced me to do basic skills with much more refinement than I ever had previously. Even though I was already trimix certified, I didn’t earn my technical pass on the class (due to a back injury, it took me a year and a half to finally get my GUE-F tech pass). I still remember what my instructor told me during my final course assessment, “You have no business doing trimix dives at your current level of performance.” He was right.

Now, this isn’t an advertisement for GUE. Most GUE instructors are some of the best. However, you don’t have to be GUE instructor to churn out great divers. By slowing down classes, limiting class size, repetition of skills and asking students to perform skills at a higher level will create great divers. The training agency is mostly irrelevant.

Dive Safe,
Duane
Precision Diving