Teaching the Buoyancy
Control Pyramid

In this issue’s “Sales” article, we discuss the concept of Value-Added Instruction — things you can add to your beginning scuba courses (without including questionable skills, or making the courses longer or less convenient) that nevertheless increase their perceived value and, thus, help set them apart from the competition. This article provides a concrete example of the concept of value-added instruction.

At its center is a one-page handout on buoyancy control that goes beyond what may be covered in your students’ entry-level training materials. This is copyrighted material; however, full-service dive stores are granted blanket permission to print and distribute this handout to their students at no charge. The link to download this PDF file appears at the end of this article.

• The handout helps explain that proper weighting is more than just part of controlling buoyancy; it is, in fact, the very foundation upon which buoyancy control it based.
• It also introduces the concept of an end-of-dive weighting check, which may provide an even more accurate means of determining proper weighting than the initial “float at eye level” buoyancy check students conduct at the start of each dive.

Bonus information such as this, along with dive-computer seminars, travel videos and similar learning opportunities, can help you in promoting the fact your courses provide a better value than ones which merely meet minimum standards.

The balance of this article covers the information in the handout in greater depth. This is because, as instructors, you and your staff need to have a deeper understanding of the subject matter than just what you impart to students.

The concept behind the pyramid »

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