TRAINING: TEACHING TIPS Early Transition to NEUTRAL BUOY ANCY in Instruction Mastering neutral buoyancy: At the early-learning stage, allow students to maintain light contact with the pool bottom. TONY FERNANDEZTONY 54 THEUNDERSEAJOURNALSECONDQUARTER2011 55 THEUNDERSEAJOURNALSECONDQUARTER2011 TRAINING: TEACHING TIPS contact retains fractionized contact. It is learn they usually only need to do this more readily to many different orienta- not kneeling, but not having to focus on when vertical, as when kneeling upright. tions in the water. hovering (at first) that simplifies the skill. Mask clearing while horizontal is also When a skill and a position are fre- This minimal-contact-without-kneeling different. PADI’s Guide to Teaching Con- quently associated – like kneeling and approach enhances transfer because the fined Water Dive 1, Mask Clearing (p. 14), clearing a mask – the brain associates one transition from this buoyancy state to mid says, “Stress proper head positioning (look with the other, and students may feel a water neutral is a smaller step. up, or down with purge valve) and contin- need to get into that position to perform The difference in the two approaches uously exhaling through the nose.” The the skill. If it becomes a habit through becomes unmistakable when teaching purpose of looking up is to ensure that the repetition, it may take a lot of training to some skills, such as both methods of reg- contact between the bottom skirt of the undo that association. A better approach ulator recovery. With the sweep method, mask and the skin is at its lowest point, but is to avoid the association. Regardless of leaning to the right while horizontal kneeling students may not need to raise what position students initially learn a skill, requires a different body movement from their chins much at all because they’re nat- you enhance transfer by very soon – dur- leaning to the right while vertical. The urally in this position already. Students ing the same pool session – having them effect of gravity on the regulator position who can clear their masks while kneeling practice the skills in a variety of situations: also differs, so the hose and second stage may have difficulty doing it swimming if other positions, neutrally buoyant, swim- Mask clearing is another basic skill Discover end up in different places relative to the they never learned to tip their heads back. ming, hovering, etc. Scuba Diving participants will learn. diver’s center line. With the reach method, In contrast, a student who learns the skill the difference is even more apparent. In a in a horizontal position, or who transitions COMMON ObJECTIONS vertical position, gravity pulls the top of to doing it horizontally quickly, must mas- When instructors have discussed the prac- the cylinder down and away on the diver’s ter this technique to be successful. tice of teaching skills with students in a back, which does not happen when in a horizontal posture in online forums, they horizontal swimming position. Conversely, LAW OF EXERCISE have heard objections from people who when leaning forward in a horizontal posi- Thorndyke’s law of exercise states that have not experienced training done in tion, the second stage hose tends to end up rehearsal or repetitive practice when cou- this way and who have trouble imagin- behind the student’s right ear. Vertical stu- pled with positive feedback enhances skill ing it. They assume that it will take too dents (as when kneeling) often struggle to acquisition. The technique used when long to get students ready to learn, stu- After mastering mask removal and replacement find the regulator hose over their shoulder students develop skills can establish last- dents will be uncomfortable and unable to while kneeling, your students can progress to per- forming these skills while horizontal. and therefore need to lift and tilt the cylin- ing behavior patterns – favorable ones or concentrate on the task, the skills will be der. In a more natural swimming position, unfavorable ones. If training emphasizes more difficult to perform, and the instruc- the hose is usually easily reached. It’s still a upright body postures, that behavior pat- tor will not be in a position to control the good idea to teach lifting the cylinder with tern of performance will be favored. If student in case of a problem. n the June 2010 edition of Scuba in mid water while neutrally buoyant. One while kneeling should be able to remove the left hand, but students who practice training includes horizontal posture so the Those who teach this way, however, have Diving magazine, H. Kelly Leven- of the most common elements in their and replace that mask in the fourth con- the skill in a normal swimming position vertical isn’t favored, then skills transfer found that these concerns seldom mani- dorf argues “Our students should instruction is limiting – or even elimi- fined water dive while in the horizontal fest themselves in actual practice. Because clear their masks while they’re nating – the common practice of having position associated with normal diving they used to teach students on their knees, demonstrating neutral buoy- students learn and perform skills while practice. Doing so requires a series of steps they are in a good position to compare the ancy, just as they’ll ultimately do firmly planted on their knees, whether that wean the student from the need to processes and outcomes of both methods. Iwhile diving in the open water.” Although in confined water or open water training “go vertical.” In education terms, students They make these observations: some instructors strive for this goal and dives. need to transfer the skills they learned • Training takes about the same take careful steps to achieve it, some do The primary purpose of teaching in a vertical position to performance in amount of time whether kneeling not. If having students perform key skills students while on their knees is fraction- a horizontal position, and the instructor or neutrally buoyant with light bot- safely and confidently while neutrally alization. It allows them to focus on the ideally provides the opportunities for this tom contact. buoyant is a goal, instructors should be specific task at hand. Students learn basic to happen so this transfer happens more • Students become comfortable concerned with finding the best ways for skills more easily if they learn them with- efficiently. quickly with a neutrally buoyant, this to happen. out distracting complications. They also Going carefully from a vertical, neg- horizontal posture and do not need This article is the result of the collabo- learn better if they start simply and then atively buoyant posture to a neutral, a long adjustment period. ration of a number of scuba professionals move to more complicated scenarios that horizontal posture through a carefully • Many skills are easier for students from around the world – people who have combine skills already learned, with each planned sequence is, indeed, how some to perform while neutrally buoyant discussed this issue through online forums learning step allowing them to transfer instructors do it, but some instructors use and horizontal than if they are done and other means of communication and old learning to new situations. The stu- a different approach. These instructors kneeling and vertical. who have field tested instructional strat- dent who has learned skills effectively and have students neutrally buoyant from the • By staying close to the student, con- egies while conducting courses. The learned to swim neutrally and in hori- beginning, even in the first confined water trol while neutrally buoyant differs instructors involved use instructional zontal trim should be able to combine dive, with their legs resting lightly on the little compared to when kneeling. approaches that, though not identical to capabilities and perform key skills while floor of the pool. They are in a position sim- one another, all have the same goal: at in neutral horizontal trim. ilar to a fin pivot, with their upper bodies One misconception many people have the end of an open water course, the student Thus, a student who begins the first con- supported by the air in their BCDs. This when first hearing of this approach is that diver will be able to perform key diving skills fined water dive doing a partial mask flood doesn’t impede learning because the light MICHAEL ERIC OPPOSITE: FERNANDEZ: TONY it requires students to perform skills while 56 THEUNDERSEAJOURNALSECONDQUARTER2011 57 THEUNDERSEAJOURNALSECONDQUARTER2011 TRAINING: TEACHING TIPS TRAINING: GEAR students will still have the desired transfer if they practiced in a variety of positions during pool/confined water. Additionally, it is rare that over the course of all the training dives that all the skills must be done kneeling. INSTRUCtiONAL StANDARDS ARE MET During discussions on this topic, some instructors have the misconception that this approach violates PADI standards. This isn’t the case. Standards do not usually stipulate precisely how the perfor- mance requirements for each skill must be met; they state only what the student must achieve. Instructors are free to use the most effective means they know to meet the standard. Introducing skills with students neu- trally buoyant making light contact with the bottom does not violate PADI Stan- in a full hover throughout the training. Having seen skills performed this way, dards. Introducing skills with students As stated earlier, that’s not correct. It’s not students have a clear model against which kneeling initially, but then having them reasonable to expect the students to have to pattern their own behavior. They have move quickly into practice in other posi- mastered neutral trim at the early learn- an image of what the skill should look tion, while neutrally buoyant and while ing stages.