Getting the Most Out of Pool and Class

So you've decided to take open water. FUN FUN FUN! It can be a bit daunting at first, as you will be doing a TON of work in the pool, but it's also a blast - and super exciting. Here are some tips to get the most out of your pool and class time:

Show Up a Bit Early

Seriously. If your class starts at 6pm, don't roll in at 6pm and just start getting sorted. Show up at least fifteen minutes early to give yourself time to have your paperwork checked, get settled, make sure you have everything you need, and chat with your instructor a bit. It's always nice to be able to actually talk to your instructor before getting in the pool, especially if you have any questions!

Read Your Manual, and Do Your Knowledge Reviews.

Some folks just fly by the seat of their pants and do their knowledge reviews the day of during class. Folks, this holds up your fellow students, and takes away your opportunity to read ahead and start thinking of any questions you may have. Also, by reading your manual - you set yourself up to better absorb all the stuff your Instructor is trying to teach you, and you'll retain all that glorious information better. Take notes, scribble all over your manual, and come back to it from time to time if you haven't been diving in a while for a mental refresher. There is so much awesome info in there, all you have to do is eat it with your eyes. That sounds weird. You catch my drift.

Hold Off On Shopping Till Day 2

This one seems odd. Wouldn't you want to use your gear in the pool right away? Totally. But, you learn about gear in the course, and you have to spend time in the water in a BCD, using regs, using a mask and fins - and your instructor is typically quite perceptive to issues you might be having with your gear. Your instructor may be able to give you feedback on how well a mask was working for you, and other masks to consider when shopping for one. If you're doing a weekend pool and class session with us, you're in the pool Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. Do your shopping Saturday afternoon. Which leads us to....

Pick Up a Mask and Snorkel for Day 3. The brunt of the skills are day two. You should have a pretty good handle on the basics at that point, so that makes it a good time to start to look at your own mask and snorkel. By picking it up on the second day, you can plan on using it for the last day of pool. Why? You don't want to try brand new gear on your first open water dive, and discover it totally doesn't work for you. Not a good time. By using your mask for the last day of pool training, you start to get used to it, and start breaking it in ahead of your open water dives. That's one less thing you'll need to worry about come Open Water Dive time.

Practice While You Wait. Once you have performed a skill for your Instructor, practice it with your buddy! It's lovely that you cleared your mask once. Now, do it again. And again. And again. Why? The more you do it, the better you'll be at it. If you're ever stuck with me as an instructor, you get stuck doing this whether you want to or not. My Divemasters who assist me know that they're to make my students repeat skills over and over. Poor students. I'm a meanie. But, you'll be happy when you get to your Open Water dives and have an easier time of your skills! If your Instructor doesn't have a DM available to help, no biggie - practice with your buddy! Once you've performed a skill for your Instructor and they've given you the magical handshake saying you've completed the skill - you're free to practice it while the Instructor is evaluating the other students! Make sure, though, that you use your manners. No practicing when the instructor is demoing a skill, and please don't be getting in the way of your Instructor or fellow students. No hovers over people's heads while they're trying to do regulator sweeps in shallow water. That's just silly rude.

Ask Tons of Questions - Keep it Relevant Though!

Passionate Instructors and Divemasters are also passionate dive geeks, and they will either know the answer - or find you the answer. They are there not only to impart knowledge, but to help you understand diving and how to get into it. Ask questions! Get your curiosity satisfied! BUT - when I say keep it relevant, I mean that if you want to have a conversation with your Instructor about how cute your cats are, that's awesome - maybe do it before or after a class. Keep the flow going, that way you have more time to learn.

Do Everything S-L-O-W-W-W-W-W-W-L-Y!

When you're working on your skills, don't just whiz through them! Take your time to get settled, take a deep breath, and slowly work through the motions to perform the skill. People are just clumsy underwater. We're bipeds, we walk upright, our bodies like being firmly glued to the ground, they don't like being horizontal (slightly head down in fact) like we are when we dive. And, when you get asked to perform a skill, the first instinct is to firmly plant one's knees or feet to the bottom of the pool. Stop, breathe, think, then act. Stop, breathe and relax, think about the skill you're doing (including what position you'd be in if you were actually diving), then perform the skill. It will make the skill much easier, you'll become proficient at it faster, and speed will come with time. It'll also build good habits for your actual dives, as you want to do everything slowly - especially ascents and descents.

Try to Be Neutral in the Water.

This one takes practice, but it's important. Try and perform your skills neutrally buoyant, or just resting on your fin tips. Try not to have your knees slammed to the ground (there are maybe one or two skills where you need to be negatively buoyant, but your Instructor will tell you which ones those are). You can totally clear your mask and recover your regulator resting on your fin tips. You want to try and position yourself the way you would actually be positioned if you were diving: horizontally. When the time comes to do your dives, you'll already be pretty darn good at being neutrally buoyant - if you can hover on your fin tips in the shallow end of the pool, you're going to rock it in thirty feet of water.

Have Fun! Seriously!

Diving is a fun activity! Don't get too stressed! Just blow bubbles, laugh, crack jokes, and make friends with your classmates! For all you know, they'll be future dive buddies! Fun!

Happy Diving!

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