Training to build you into a Thinking Diver

DIR stands for "Doing It Right." It is a holistic dive approach and philosophy with roots in the original WKPP dive teams. It is much more than just an equipment configuration. It includes dive planning, gas planning, emergency procedures, skills, and techniques.

DIR is not "technical diving." Although many technical divers are also DIR divers. Instead, it is an approach that can be applied to all types of diving from recreational to technical to cave.

I chose UTD for their unique approach of providing a unified, consistent, scalable, and interchangeable dive training system. Here are two things UTD does differently:

1. The Course Content
When you buy UTD Scuba Diving materials as a student, you get access to this content for life. Whether you are learning to dive for the first time or taking an advanced diver course, we give you access to the latest and up to date course materials for every course we offer. This will automatically update it self as soon as we ad stuff or make changes. As a scuba diving student you’ll study the material for your in person class.

2. The Way We Dive
Our waterways are fragile, and filled with living organisms that we can’t see. Every part of this ecosystem is vital. Big fish eat smaller fish, small fish eat tiny fish, tiny fish eat the microscopic stuff, and so on. Traditional scuba training has always advocated kneeling on the bottom. This kills the food at the bottom of the food chain. Lack of awareness of your buoyancy – how you are floating in the water – leads to the death and destruction of tons of plant and animal life. It also churns up tons of dirt and dust, making it harder for everyone to see.

With UTD you will learn to dive in an “Ocean Friendly,” team diving system. We can’t emphasize enough how important this is. From the moment you first meet us, you will be trained to be in control of your buoyancy – neutrally buoyant and nicely horizontal in the water, like you are laying on a cushion, perfectly suspended in mid-water, relying on your breathing patterns to control your depth.

It’s magical, having that kind of control, not just for the sake of the ecosystem, but for your own safety. The better your buoyancy control, the safer and more confident diver you will be; always comfortable in the water so your awareness can go to your team and your environment.

So what makes you stand out as a UTD Scuba Diver? You will be a confident, highly skilled badass diver. You and the waterways will be happy forever.

Coaching is just that...coaching. You may refer to it by another name: guide, mentor, instructor, teacher, performance consultant...but it all means the same thing: A dedicated resource in your corner helping you achieve growth in the areas you want to grow in.

I take the role of the coach very seriously.

A coach's role is not to "play the game" on the field. Instead, it is to prepare, guide, and equip the player with the right tools they need to be successful.

As such, a coach's role is always in support of the student...not in front.

As a coach, my success is inherently linked to the success of my students. The primal focus of every action I take as a coach is to make my student better.

Team diving orients our sphere of focus from just ourselves to our team.

The team is your backup – gas, equipment and brain.

No Team Diver relies on another person or piece of equipment to make the “sole” decisions. We think and make decisions as a team. Head up, eyes open, and brain on.

Rule 1. Always Breathe – Slowly and Continuously 

Rule 2. Always Be Neutrally Buoyant

Rule 3. Always Dive Within Your Personal Limits

Rule 4. Dress For Success

Rule 5. Plan Your Dive and Dive Your Plan

Rule 6. Always Look Cool

A tailored, weekly curriculum including theory, content, in-water skill exercises, and video recording is provided at the start of each week via the training platform. You will login to the platform via the web or the app to receive your tasks for the week.

Any questions can be raised using the training platform and are typically addressed within 48 hours during the week.

As you complete the tasks in your calendar at your pace, you mark them as “complete” and be sure to upload video recordings of dive skills or other pieces of work that may be required.

I will provide feedback on your tasks and identify areas of excellence and areas of improvement as we go.

I will then tailor the next week's content based on the previous week.

Note: The Coaching Program does not include in-water training sessions together. These are optional and can be used as we see fit together. There is an additional cost to an in-water training session that will be addressed upfront prior to scheduling a session.

The coaching program is very hands-on at UTD with lots of personal contact, it is in no way a cookie-cutter program. As such, we will tailor the program to align to your goals as a diver.

All training programs are designed to fit into your busy schedule. For example, I customize your coaching program on a weekly basis, so as long as you let me know what your upcoming week looks like, we can tailor it to you.

Training programs are also very collaborative. We will keep an open back and forth dialogue going to make sure you get the absolute most out of your training. If something isn’t working, things are moving too fast, or there are areas you want to go deeper on, please speak up.