tips on helping newer divers

I wanted to start a thread about helping new divers get into the sport of freediving and spearfishing
please feel free to add any tips you may have.

the following is how I have helped guys become avid freedivers / spearfisherman

1., before you get wet , I always spend a few hours talking to the perspective diver about all the potential dangers in our sport like ,drowning ,sharks,being ran over,lost at sea,becoming intangeled in shooting line ,etc. If there still interested after that , we talk about reacting to each potential situation so he will have no fear of the ocean

2.Gear him up, help make sure the perspective diver gets the right gear, and understands how it all works

3., pool sessions ., If possible its always better to get a few pool sessions to make sure he's properly weighted and go over the basics before his first dive in the ocean

4., The first Dive ., on the first dive I tell the diver the bad news "they will not not be spear fishing today"instead the will be observing following and taking notes on everything from breaking the surface,stalking my prey and subduing the fish.

5. The next dive I tell the diver " I got good news and bad news" = your talking a speargun today ,but it won't be loaded
during this dive we switch roles . And I become the "observer" watching his every move offering constructive criticism as needed as he dives and stalks fish ..

6., the third dive ., I try and spend time in a cove/bay/shallow reef and have the diver shoot is gun 20-30 times untill he can load his gun without looking at his line release while reloading

7.,the forth dive .,I tell him "ok its time to fill your stringer., before the diver starts shooting big fish,I like them to shoot and subdue several small fish 5-10lbs again you will know hes ready when he can subdue and put the fish on the stinger without having to look at the fish.

8., by now the diver should be good to go and ready to kill:cool2: ...

I hope you guys chime in with any pointers you may have. Thanks for reading ... Joe

Thanks Lunker

Quote from LunkerBuster

Great thread. It is a great idea to give people a place to start

Thanks Phill great pointers ,,

Quote from phil herranen

two tips
1) when you see a fish dont go straight at it and chase it down , act like you dont care about it and it will come to you .

2)if you want to shoot game fish ,dont shoot reef fish "because i wasn't seeing anything and didnt want to go home with nothing" if you want a certain fish ,only shot that type .

phil

This year my 13 year old son has been hitting a bunch of his goals this year Like a Landing a Yellowtial over 20 lbs , bringing up a hand full of Sand from 52’ feet . Getting a 4 lb lobster , etc.

I don’t know if its because he’s my son or just that he is so young but the fact that he swims in the ocean with absolutely no fear what so ever really often concerns me , when we were alone on the boat the other day I reminded him of the message a respected diver from this forum sent him threw a PM

“ Noah always trust your instincts, god may whisper to you when things are unsafe. Just swim to the boat when you hear him“.