It’s Like Learning To Ride A Bike

The Wrong Way

Learning to dive is just like learning to ride a bike…. Meaning, all of us were taught the wrong way. 

We all know the old saying about something being, “like riding a bike.” It means that once you know how to do it, you’ll never forget. It’s so easy, it’s like riding a bike. 

But can you remember learning to ride a bike?

You were given a bike with training wheels. Maybe a helmet. Maybe knee and elbow pads if your parents really loved you. You we’re told to, “just pedal.” You spent months, years maybe, on a wobbly bicycle bouncing back and forth against training wheels to keep you upright while you tried to learn how to pedal up and down the driveway. 

That was wrong. 

When the day finally came for you to take the training wheels off, you still didn’t know how to ride a bike. You fell over. You had to relearn everything. Because riding a bike has nothing to do with pedaling, it has to do with balance. 

Years of practice. Years of waiting. Trying. Building up courage and confidence only to have it all come crashing down on you when you tried to go without the training wheels for the first time.  You fell. Bumped your head, hurt your elbows and knees, maybe you broke a wrist. Because you still didn’t know how to ride a bike.

The alternative to adding training wheels would be to simply remove the pedals. You would have learned to stand and hold the bike up with your feet. Take a few steps and glide. Then glide a little further and stay up a little longer. Step, step, step and then glide away on your bicycle until you got so good at gliding that adding the pedals allowed you to keep gliding around town. Going and going forever. 

That’s how you ride a bike. Balance. Control. Confidence. 

This is the problem with scuba instruction. The weekend class model that says if you buy enough fancy gear, diving is easy and anyone can do it. Let the equipment take care of everything. Underwater training wheels that tell you to keep breathing, never hold your breath, and you can always drop your weights and go to the surface. 

That is wrong.

Human proprioception, the sense we have of how to move and hold ourselves, is completely different underwater. It must be learned correctly. A new instinct and understanding of ourselves is Essential to become a Confident Diver. 

Of course if you want to wear training wheels forever underwater, there is plenty of equipment to buy. Scuba is full of gear fixes for you to purchase. 

Swimming is too hard, try split fins. Afraid you’ll run out of air? Get a Spare-Air Pony Bottle. Don’t like choking on salt water? Buy this dry snorkel.

Rarely do they get to the root of the problem, but there is always another gear fix. Mouth fatigue? You should have a custom molded mouthpiece. Too much gear? Get rid of a hose with this Alternate-Inflator regulator. Always losing your buddy? Try this underwater honker, banger, rattle, horn…. They are all training wheels.

The alternative would be to learn the building blocks of becoming a confident diver. Buoyancy, Balance, Trim, Propulsion, Body Mechanics, Awareness. 

That’s how you dive. Balance. Control. Confidence. 

The ESM (Extreme Scuba Makeover) has become one of my most successful and popular classes. This one day experience takes you back to the beginning. To relearn and break down all of the necessary underwater body mechanics and awareness that you need to be a real diver. To understand what your body is doing, and why. To show you what you really look like underwater. 

The ESM is for any diver in any equipment configuration. 

The Essentials is the way you fully immerse yourself into this new way of thinking. It is an intense, multi-day, complete reprogramming. It covers equipment configuration, gas planning, dive planning, team awareness, underwater skills, propulsion techniques, and everything you need to get started on becoming a new diver. 

To become a thinking diver. 

A comfortable, competent, and confident diver. 
Take a look at the training materials here at the UTD Scuba Diving site. 

Are you ready to make a change this diving season? Contact me for a free 30 minute zoom call to discuss any questions you have about your diving.