Unique Pool Training Ideas

[BottomDweller]

I'm looking for some fun and interesting ways to add a little pizzazz to my pool sessions. I'd like the ideas to work not only to add fun and interest but also give students a taste of what the various specialty courses have to offer. For example, I'm going to add some hula hoops to the pool for students to swim through for buoyancy practice, and I'm going to let them take pictures with a SeaLife camera to get them thinking about underwater photography. The buoyancy practice and photography complement each other, of course.

Any other ideas? What do you think of using a blacked-out mask and letting them hold a guide rope while swimming a simple back and forth search pattern to find an object on the bottom?

All this is, of course, only going to happen later in the class, once the students have gained some confidence and comfort with their equipment. Thoughts? Ideas? Things you've seen?

[SLIM]

Be carfull of tryong to do so much. Remember if there is a problem, then you have gone outside of the RSTC standardas and standards of the agency that you are teaching for. If you do not follow what they ahve already set in stone, you can be held liabel for any problems or accidents that could happen.

Instead of hulu hoops, take some PVC pipe and make scuares, diamonds, and triangels to let them swim through.

I wold stay away from blaking out masks, and the camera. Remember you are teaching outside of the perscribed standards. In a ADV I can see some of this being done but in a OW class, you are starting to puss the standards.

just my thought.

SLIM

[theskull]

Hula hoops are fun for the students. Also, hovering in positions such as upside down, horizontal, upside down horizontal. And swimming up and down the shallow/deep slope controlling buoyancy with just lungs.

They also enjoy the hand-eye coordination required for throwing toypedos and uw flying discs back and forth.

And I would reinforce mask remove/replace skills rather than go black-out. One fun trick is to remove the mask and attempt to get it to seal when replacing it upside down.

I like the camera idea.

theskull

[BottomDweller]

Thanks for the responses! We already use the toy torpedos, and they're a big hit. I like the hovering ideas and the one about moving up and down the deep end slope using your lungs. I remember doing that myself and thinking how cool it was.

I got the cameras idea from an article in Dive Training mag.

Good idea about reinforcing mask remove/replace.

All of these would be done at the completion of pool training, once the students are comfortable and they've got the opportunity to stick around and play a little. It would not be formal training, just a chance to get more comfortable in their equipment in the water.

[b1gcountry]

One thing our club instructor does is collect all the students' masks, and one of the divemasters takes them to the other side of the pool while they do their required no mask breathing. When they get up, the DM 'accidently' falls into the pool and drops all their masks in the deep end. The students need to swim underwater, find their mask, and swim back with it on.

Another game I like is playing checkers underwater. If you touch the bottom, the other person gets to move for you.

Tom

[skdvr]

Another game I like is playing checkers underwater. If you touch the bottom, the other person gets to move for you.

Tom

Pretty Slick... I like that...

Phil

[BottomDweller]

One thing our club instructor does is collect all the students' masks, and one of the divemasters takes them to the other side of the pool while they do their required no mask breathing. When they get up, the DM 'accidently' falls into the pool and drops all their masks in the deep end. The students need to swim underwater, find their mask, and swim back with it on.

Another game I like is playing checkers underwater. If you touch the bottom, the other person gets to move for you.

Tom

Good stuff! Thanks!

[scubado]

I agree that you need to be careful not to exceed the standards of your certification agency in order to limit liability. I like the chess suggestion, torpedoes and hovering suggestion. Another thing that I've seen done is to have the students swim circuits with the instructor giving an extra 2 or 4 pounds of weight. This can help the students to learn to control buoyancy with air in lungs or adding a small bit of air in BC (if necessary).

[BottomDweller]

Just for clarification, I'm very big on staying within the limits of the training standards. There is no way I'd ever go outside those standards, nor would my shop owner.

We're going to implement some of the buoyancy ideas here. I'm looking forward to using this stuff!