Re: IAFD or Performance
Originally posted by sturgeon
Cliff,
If I understand correctly, you were originally pursuing an apprenticeship with Performance Freediving but you now state "after some of the stories I have heard regarding other clinics and courses offered, I would be hard pressed to find a better course than the IAFD's". I take it that you now believe the IAFD is the best freediving training available and you are pursuing instructor status through them? Could you please elaborate on your switch and why you feel so strongly towards IAFD now?
Thanks.
Scott Turgeon
Scott and the rest of the DB forum members...
I did get a taste for what going deeper was about by attending Kirk's
PFD clinic, and I am in gratitude to Kirk and Brett for having given me some initial skills needed to freedive deeper, but understand that I am not only interested in IAFD but also AIDA's and S.A.F.E.R.'s teaching methods and concepts as well.
I am now a Certified Freedive Instructor through
IAFD - finished my cert process last thursday. I do feel that the
IAFD provided for me a clearer distinction between recreational -vs- performance freediving training techniques, whereas the others, so far, haven't made that distinction. And when performance training techniques are taught to inexperienced freedivers, there is a greater chance for something to go wrong.
I do not feel that any one agency or clinic has the perfect system, but I do feel that the level of instruction was more complete with
IAFD. I was able to go deeper and surface in much better shape than when I did the PFD course. In fact, Matt Briseno said I looked like I could have gone another 10-20 meters deeper based upon how good I looked when I surfaced. And I felt better while going deeper than I ever had before.
My primary concern is related to safe freedive instruction. And that is the #1 goal with the
IAFD and
S.A.F.E.R. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone with
IAFD (and soon S.A.F.E.R.) in the first place. Too much emphasis has been placed on the performance side without taking into consideration the need for safety for the recreational freediver. Also - the
IAFD is the only agency at this time who can offer the necessary resources for teaching a methodology that is universally accepted and proven (the same system as PADI, SSI, NAUI, etc) and providing the tools like liability insurance to it's Instructors.
I'm not here to put down one method of teaching over another - I am stating from my experiences of having worked as a PADI Divemaster candidate and assisting classes, that the
IAFD's methods of training were more conducive to safe freediving - especially for recreational freediving. And I truly feel that this distinction needs to be made.
I will be doing more in the near future with providing proper instruction for those who want to freedive recreationally - The
S.A.F.E.R. methodology will be by next project, which is run by Ricardo Hernandez out of Miami and expounds on what I learned at the IAFD - from a different perspective. I also have both Ricardo and Pipin as resources should I need advice and guidance for training at a competitive level.
So it isn't about choosing one agency or system over the other - it is about utilizing
all the available resources as tools to bring the sport of freediving to a higher level of safety, which in turn, makes the sport more enjoyable in the process.
I didn't believe it was an "attack", but I knew generally what Cliff was trying to say and wanted to put my thoughts down. I knew you'd all be wanting clarification so was just trying to help 
