Sometimes small, seemingly insignificant or innocent training methods can have a persisting and insidious negative consequence for student divers. Learning scuba diving skills on your knees is one of those highly counter-productive teaching methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From my experience, teaching any <\/em>diving skills from kneeling or in a vertical position simply reinforces a future habitual response to resume that ‘knees\/feet down’ trim position when having to complete a task or becoming stationary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My definition of ‘teaching’ includes; role-modelling bad habits, instructing students to adopt certain positions or tolerating students adopting certain positions without giving corrective feedback about it. It also includes the content of agency training videos and illustrative photographs used in manuals. Even if the instructor allows it only once or twice, then it cannot be undone; it has been unequivocally advocated as acceptable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n