The Newbie 
 
By Jon Egil Strand 
 
This is not about tech. This is not about cave. This is not about accelerated deco. This is about plain 
old shallow recreational diving. Does the DIR system, devised from advanced exploring, hold value 
for the newest of divers doing the simplest of dives? The answer is yes, and by telling you my story I'll 
try to show you how.  
 
Coming from the scene of underwater rugby, the desire to have fun in an underwater environment was 
always there for me. As most players on the team were also divers, the move to scuba diving was often 
encouraged; so, in March 2002, I enrolled in a PADI Open Water class. Experiences with the PADI 
curriculum vary, some are good, some are bad; mine, to make a long story short, was bad. I ended up 
reporting the doctor to the authorities for unprofessional conduct and my instructor to PADI Norway 
for deliberately falsifying my logbook. Usually, when I run into such behavior, I simply leave. The 
problem was that in spite of the problems I had encountered, I found diving to be a total turn-on. I 
knew this was something I wanted to pursue, but was desperate to find an alternative approach.  
 
In those days I took in everything I came across in local and international dive-magazines. Fortunately 
for me one of these magazines reviewed Jarrod Jablonski's Doing in Right: The Fundamentals of 
Better Diving, criticizing the book for being too radical in the way it challenged the status quo. Since I 
really disliked the status quo, I rushed to Amazon.com to purchase the book. After I read it, I found 
that my favorite part of the book was the skills listings. For those of you unfamiliar with JJ's text, it 
contains multiple lists setting targets for what new, advanced and technical divers should be able to 
accomplish. There are lists incorporating familiar, and easily understandable, newbie skills, such as 
mask clearing and buoyancy. However, lists incorporating less familiar targets, like "buddy skills" and 
"fitness," made me wonder if perhaps there was more to diving than had so far met the eye. This 
suspicion was confirmed when, on these lists, I encountered a mysterious skill called "trim;" it told me 
that diving was definitively more than I previously had thought. What I recognized was that a holistic 
approach to diving helped to broaden a new diver's understanding of what diving really is. Seeing that 
many aspects of a dive are decided before one submerges was key to such an understanding. To 
improve, one must set personal goals above and below the surface. Simple lists like those in JJ's text 
are an excellent hands-on approach to how to set goals for improvement and how to check one's 
progress. 
 
For new divers, another great source of information is the DIR-III movie. One of its best aspects is that 
it presents reasons for doing or for not doing something, rather than simply describing how or how not 
to do something. For new divers, the elements forming DIR are usually very different from what they 
are used to. Equipment setup is one of these, but changing that is easy; it's just stuff. The major 
challenge is how to change the mindset a diver uses in approaching an underwater environment. That 
can be tough, but for me, the DIR-III movie proved a great asset in trying to truly understand DIR. 
 
After reading, reading, and more reading I was persuaded that DIR was something I wanted to pursue. 
But DIR divers in Scandinavia are few, and difficult for a newbie to locate. To be honest, one needs a 
bit of luck to become DIR in my part of the world. For me luck came in the form of a tall man with an 
unusual accent, known as Andrew G. He did a DIR Fundamentals course nearby, and I was lucky to 
get on board. Getting instruction from the best instructors out there is really a love-hate experience. I 
got great teaching, great feedback and some excellent work done to improve myself as a diver. The 
DIR system really sets its standards high, and I had to struggle to meet them. At times it was very 
frustrating seeing myself blunder through yet another drill. But when the bar is set high, the feeling of 
success is awesome when one finally nails a skill. The sense of accomplishment is tenfold compared 
to all other dive courses that advertise that the diver is "a natural" all the time. Watching drills and 
seeing that I was actually doing it right really increased my confidence and inspired me to get back 
into the water and drill again; and again; and again. For me that was the course's most important 
lesson. 


 
So what are the pitfalls to becoming DIR for rookie divers? The major pitfall, from my point of view, 
is the existence of many sources of information regarding what is DIR.  Most of these are usually 
consistent, but sometimes they are not. For example, should a knife sheath have a loop or not? JJ's 
book says yes (pp.60) while GI's lectures say no (DIR-III movie/BAUE lecture transcript). I know that 
there are many reasons for this particular discrepancy; foremost among these is the constant evolution 
of DIR. I also know that the issue is being addressed, but for the newbie this doesn't change the 
picture--inconsistent information leads to confusion and potential error.  
 
The solution is to try and get clear on why things are the way they are. Doing this has become more 
and more important to me as I try to become more DIR. For example, going from only focusing on 
equipment to thinking of solutions for the underwater environment was one of my own personal 
milestones. When I began to grasp the reasoning behind DIR, I began to discover how extraordinarily 
simple it all was. For a new guy, the simplicity of the DIR system lies not in its minimalism--(for 
though minimalist, the amount of detail is breathtaking)--but in the pure and simple logic that is used 
to fit all the pieces together into a completed whole.  
 
Does knowledge of the DIR system make a difference? Sure it does. Learning about DIR helps build 
competence, which helps stimulate confidence, which makes diving comfortable. This has been the 
number one difference in my personal diving. When diving with new buddies, though still a rookie, I 
feel confident enough to make them go through thorough pre-dive planning with me. Once underwater 
I feel comfortable, and can pay closer attention to detail. How am I?  How is my buddy?  What are my 
surroundings? What is my depth? How much gas do I have?  What is my direction? The dive itself is 
usually smoother, and with the exception of furious grunts if I loose buoyancy or otherwise fumble, 
they are also more tranquil. Communication is clearer and more frequent. Afterwards, I now both give 
and ask for more comments on the dive. How was my trim? My kicks? Did we both catch all 
information? All in all, the team and collaborative sides of all phases of a dive are strengthened. 
 
For me, diving is having fun underwater and ensuring a safe return to the surface. Previously the major 
barrier to this was hassle. Now I have experienced that diving with increased competence, confidence, 
and comfort greatly reduces hassle. Hassle is the enemy of safety. Hassle is the enemy of fun. DIR is 
the enemy of hassle.  
 
Trondheim 14.02.2003