One of the more common requests that I receive is not for training itself, but for individual coaching session. I thought it might be a good idea to let you know what an individual technical diving coaching session is, what it’s for and what it’s not for.
It’s Not Training!
Technical diving coaching sessions are not training, they are coaching. This means you won’t get a certification at the end of it, although I will sign your log book to show proof of what you have done. If you are after training, even on a one to one level, then you need to complete a training course and / or qualification.
So If It’s Not Training, What Is It?
Performing a Gas Sharing Exercise (Screen Grab)
A coaching session is there to help you along with your technical diving. It provides a chance to ask questions and perform skills under the watchful eye of an instructor and get some valid feedback (with video where ever possible) once done.
One of the main reasons divers book individual coaching sessions is because they haven’t dived for a while, or haven’t dived at a technical level for a while. Technical diving skills (and all other diving skills for that matter) should be practised regularly. The more you practice, the easier you will be able to perform the skills without delays or mistakes. Remember, it’s the poorly learned survival skills that are lost first. In these cases, the coaching session is customised to match the divers current level, or the skills that they want to practise.
Practising Shut Downs (Shutting down a cylinder valve because of a faulty regulator)
Another reason for booking some technical diving individual coaching sessions might be that you are thinking about completing a course and want to make sure you are at the right level and ready to progress. In this case, we will normally conduct a couple of dives at your highest current level to check that you are ready. You don’t have to be an expert to complete the next course, but you should be able to dive happily (and safely) at your current level.
You may also have recently purchased some new kit and want some advice on putting it together and using it properly? The great thing about individual coaching sessions are that they are individual, tailored to what you want to get out of them.
