A non-car carcast. This time I woke up ready to talk about why Unified Team Diving is so important to me but I did not have any place I needed to drive, so I recorded a non-car carcast. Why do we keep doing what we do? How do I grow as a coach and instructor as you grow as a diver or instructor? What makes me tick and, in turn, what makes UTD tick.…

Learning and advancing at anything does not need to be something you do alone. Really, it takes a village. You are at the center, then your instructor or coach, but then all the other people and organizations and facilities and friends and family that guide you to becoming the most successful diver-version of yourself. In this episode Jeff and Ben …

In any business one of the most important things is knowing who your clients are. And equally important is to know who your clients are not. In this carcast, I take an honest look at who we are for and who we are not for. It's a complex discussion about a very simple concept. Are we for you? Let us know: Click here to contact Jeff and Ben at Unifie…

Is it success that's the most important thing in scuba diving? Or style? This is a discussion – actually a monologue I recorded in my car – on the issue of style vs. success or, in scuba diving, style vs. certification. Drawn from a phrase common in big wall rock climbing, style vs. success refers not to whether or not we reach our goal, but how we…

We are Unified TEAM Diving not, as we sometimes like to say, Unified 'Go-Run-Off-By-Yourself Diving.' But what about when you are instructing students? Are they part of your team? Can they help you? What are everyone's expectations when instructing? In this episode Jeff and Ben unpack this simple, yet not so simple question. Contact us any time at:…

Setback happen. This is true for everything we are learning, particularly when moving to a higher level in any field. In scuba training, in Unified Team Diving, we have a thing called the "ebay dive." This is when you come out of the water after such a frustrating dive that you want to put all your gear on ebay, sell it, and take up another sport. …

In the late 70's or early 80's I had an opportunity to take on something that looked really cool to me but my situation at the time blocked it. I've kept that dream alive until this past weekend when I fulfilled an unfulfilled dream. What are your unfulfilled dreams? What are you missed opportunities – in scuba or in life? Do you have the chance to…

We are live at the DEMA show in New Orleans taking questions from the audience. Listen to Jeff and Ben answer all sorts of random questions and, finally, almost get completely stumped. Contact us with your obscure questions and plan on seeing us at DEMA 2024 in Las Vegas where we will do another live episode: https://utdscubadiving.com/contact/…

Welcome to Jay Gardner, UTD's new Director of Development! Jay joins Jeff and Ben as the third member of UTD's management team, bring a lifetime of experience with companies both large and small. Jay started his journey in UTD as a coaching client, then an instructor candidate, then an instructor. After a short stint in Austin, Texas, Jay and his f…

This is a short addendum to my previous carcast on quitting. In this quick episode I add a little info, this time about when it's okay to quit. There is a time and place for everything and sometimes the best thing is to "know when to fold 'em." Thoughts and ideas? Contact us here: https://utdscubadiving.com/contact/…

"Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when to run." Great words to live by. In this carcast, actually recorded as a "hikecast" during this year's solar eclipse, Jeff looks at some of the mental and physical elements of quitting – quitting a class, quitting a training path, quitting anything. But, more important…

Let's breathe without bubbles. In this episode, the first or two or three, Jeff and Ben look at all things rebreathers. In this first part: the what, why, how and the joys of diving rebreathers. In future episodes we will look at the traps of diving rebreathers, the training progression, and answer your questions. If there is anything you'd like us…

A live episode with slightly sketchy audio, although it was a technical marvel. Ben and three of his tech students in Norway, Jeff via cell phone from San Diego. In this episode we take live questions from the students who just completed their tech training. Ratio Deco adjustments, diving with non-UTD buddies after your class, and much more. https:…

Consistency and compliance. Or is it compliance and consistency? Either way, these are the two hallmarks of a great client relationship with their coach and coaching program. In this carcast, Jeff takes a look at how consistency and compliance inform the best possible training for scuba divers. If you are just chasing a certification card, the UTD …

Following two weeks of UTD classes in San Diego, and a few minutes before Ben heads back to the airport to return to Denmark, we chat about how this series of classes went for both the instructors and the students.By UTD Scuba Diving

In this episode Jeff sits with UTD Scuba Coaching client Lisa Huynh the day after she completed UTD Essentials of Rec. Lisa explores how she got her start with coaching, the benefits of integrating UTD's in-water training with the coaching program, her experiences with her prior training, and much more. For more info on UTD Scuba Coaching, click he…

The rebreather. Is it a wildly complex thing that rivals something that could fly to the moon? Or is it simply a bag you breathe into that scrubs out the CO2 and allows for longer bottom times? Or something in the middle? In this episode Jeff and Ben look at the simple yet complex story of rebreather diving...how to get started, the benefits, the d…

Your "Path to Mastery" is a buzzword (or buzz-phrase) that's been around forever but, what does it really mean and how can you take your path to becoming great at one thing and apply it to becoming great at something else (like scuba)? In this carcast, recorded on an endless, rainy drive from San Diego to Las Vegas, I explore the path to becoming g…

In April this year UTD went through an audit with EUF, the European Underwater Federation and received certification that the UTD training systems are in compliance with ISO standards. ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, creates standards for many industries, including scuba training. However ISO does not certify or confirm tha…

Estamos en el tercer día del curso de desarrollo de instructores de UTD. En este podcast cortito realizamos una pequeña entrevista a los candidatos a instructores para saber cuáles son sus percepciones del curso hasta el momento. Para saber cómo hacerse instructor UTD, pinchar aquí.By UTD Scuba Diving

Just a few minutes after the UTD Instructor Development Course ended at the Rivemar Dive Center in La Azohia, Spain, Jeff and Ben sat down with the four English-speaking instructor candidates to get their take on the week...how it went, their expectations, and much more. For information on becoming a UTD Instructor, click here.…

We did it again, another carcast. This one we recorded on our road trip from Madrid, where Alan and I just picked up Ben at the airport, on our way to the Rivemar Dive Center in La Azohia, our host for this instructor development course. In this episode we discuss the upcoming class, the journeys of some of the instructor candidates that brought th…

This is The Random Episode – we've collected questions from the past few weeks and here a some of the obscure and random things we covered in this episode: Why are there various low pressure inflator connectors? Why is our compass NOT on a boot with the SPG? Can we do a "swimming" deco stop, or to we have to hold still and be serious? Does Ratio De…

The Big Scuba Podcast, a show based in the UK and hosted by my new friends Ian and Gemma, explores all things scuba. They got interested in the UTD Scuba Coaching Program, so we started talking about that, but quickly moved to UTD's philosophy, teaching ethos, and history. For me, it was back to basics, forcing me to define, to people not familiar …

Recurrent training is a thing in many, many industries. Flying is where recurrent training is the most obvious – pilots are required to complete various scheduled trainings to keep their certificates current and diving should be no different. Since our inception, UTD has always had a structured recurrent training program called the Annual Dive Revi…

Trying something new here...a "car-pod," or "pod-car," or "car podcast," or something. In any case, I was in traffic for about two hours and had some time to think about, then record, a short podcast on choosing a coach, staying with a coach, leaving a coach, and much more. But most importantly, how to apply what you learn in the UTD Scuba Coaching…

En enero de 2023 hemos completado el Castilla Cave Tour. En este viaje hemos visitado algunas de las cuevas más icónicas del centro de España. Empezamos en el Pozo Azul que es actualmente la cueva con mayor desarrollo explorado en Europa con +13km de longitud. Fuente Azul es una de las cuevas más profundas con una cota de -130m. Fuentenavinahttp://…

In 2022 I was invited to speak at the Undersea Hyperbaric Medical Society's scientific meeting. This was in the ORCA project: Operational Resilience and Cognitive Awareness, quite a mouthful, but basically it was a meeting about human factors in scuba diving. In UTD we have been teaching human factors in our training programs since day one, but the…

Incident and accident reporting. Is it good for scuba or terrifying for scuba? In this episode Jeff and Ben are joined by Diver Alert Network's Cat Harris. Cat manages DAN's incident reporting system. Should scuba take a page from general aviation, an industry that has consistently published accident data and analysis? Or should scuba continue to h…

Why no bungees? Why no double bladders? Do you need an STA? Why are they all black? In this episode Jeff and Ben tackle these questions and many more as they dig into the ins and outs, and ups and downs of BCDs, wings, dumps, and bladders. Questions? Comments? You can reach us by clicking here.By UTD Scuba Diving

Immediately following the DEMA show in Orlando, Ben taught a Tech 1 course in the Florida keys. He was joined by three students and UTD Instructor James Mott, who flew down to co-teach with Ben. The team decided to record a podcast in three parts, one at the beginning, right after the first day, one in the middle, and one after the final dive. In t…

During the 2022 DEMA Show in Orlando, Florida, Ben presented in the Technical Resource Area on how ascent strategies can and should change and how Ratio Deco has changed over the decades to become Ratio Deco 3.0. Plus a little history on decompression strategies and algorithms, along with a dose of how are bodies deal with inert gas at higher press…

We are back at the DEMA Show, this year in Orlando, Jeff did a short presentation in the Technical Resource center about the UTD Scuba Coaching Program. This talk is a synopsis of scuba coaching – what it is, how it works, and, most importantly, the benefits for the students/clients. https://utdscubadiving.com/utd-scuba-coaching/…

This episode is extracted from the UTD Instructor Meeting in Madrid October 21, 2022. Jeff in English, interpreted into Spanish by UTD instructor Alan Weinberg talks about new UTD courses – Advanced Diver vs. Rec 2, the new Oxygen Cleanup Course, the UTD Scuba Coaching Program, and the new UTD Skills Camps. Then training director Ben Bos, also inte…

Curiosity Projects – for us these are fascinating diving projects that involve science, research, or some other socially conscious reason for being. In this episode, recorded during the 2022 UTD EU Instructor and Community Meeting in Madrid, Spain, we are joined by UTD instructors Alan Weinberg and Andrej Gaspar along with Martin Strmiska to discus…

This episode started as a deep dive (are we tired of that pun yet) into gas management, but quickly changed into an Obscure Question episode on managing your cylinders. Jeff and Ben look at diving steel tanks in side mount, diving double steel tanks in a wetsuit, why we do a valve drill, why not breathe from a tank that is slowly leaking, and much …

Well, here we are. It's the 50th podcast, and it's kind of a milestone for us. It's been tons of fun producing these and we have every intention of continuing. For this episode we thought we'd give you a little insight into the more personal side of Jeff and Ben so, we came up with a list of questions for each other. Here are a few of the things we…

In this episode Jeff and Ben go after a random collection of questions that have come in recently: If I live in the U.S. should I learn the metric system for diving? Should you exercise before or after diving? How to shore dive side mount? Integrated boots or rock boots on a dry suit? What is the best scuba diving car? My traveling gear bag weights…

Quitting. It happens in every endeavor, but in diving it happens much more than it should. Why do people get certified and quit, or don't get certified and quit, or dive for 20 years and quit? In this episode Jeff and Ben explore quitting from a glass half empty and a glass half full perspective...which means why don't people quit diving? https://u…

Some of the most stressful dives – as related to nitrogen loading – are dives that are right up to the limits of no-decompression limits, like 100ft/30m for 20 minutes on air or 30 minutes on nitrox 32. So now we have created a solution for that – the UTD Oxygen Clean Up Course. Any diver who has complete the UTD Recreational 2 or 3 course can now …

Aging up. It's inevitable. But that does not have to stop us from diving. If you are working your way up to what we're calling Gen O/W, or Generation Older/Wiser, or you're diving with parents or grandparents or friends who have joined Gen O/W, then this episode is for you. Jeff (who is now officially Gen O/W) and Ben (who is getting closer) look a…

How much risk are you willing to take on a dive? In this episode Jeff and Ben explore risk from all angles, particularly as it relates to your level of diving, your training, and your experience. Join us for this exploration of what you can do to make your diving, and your team's diving, safer and more fun. https://utdscubadiving.com/…

Primer UTD Scuba Diving Podcast en Español en el que los instructores Sergi Pérez y Alan Weinberg conversan sobre el curso UTD Cave 3 y cómo se llega a este nivel. Entran en detalle de los diferentes cursos que hay desde los inicios con el Overhead Protocols pasando por el Cave 1 y Cave 2 y cómo se comparan. Comparten impresiones sobre el último cu…

Do you have goals? In scuba diving? Sports? Work? In this episode Jeff takes a look at goals and goal setting and the process of training to reach those goals. If the point of the goal is just to get there, you run the risk of missing the most amazing parts of life. Listen to the episode, set some goals, and have some fun. If you'd like to talk to …

The Spring 2022 UTD Scuba Skills Camp in San Diego, California, was a huge success. Three days of personal skills training, video reviews, happy hours, and tons of social time – unlimited learning and unlimited fun. In this episode Jeff is joined by UTD instructor James Mott and two of the camp participants, Dr. Dick Sadler and PADI instructor Stev…

Our first in a series of UTD Scuba Diving Podcasts in Italian with UTD Instructors Martina Carelli and Mattia Popesso. Ma la decompressione è davvero solo questione di tempo e profondità? Quali sono gli altri fattori che possiamo controllare e che influenzano l'efficacia decompressiva? Dovremmo davvero iniziare a parlare un po' di più di sforzo res…

Why are we doing yet another podcast about side mount? Good question. We now have the new system completed dialed in, new content online in the UTD Side Mount Mini and Essentials of Side Mount online courses, and we have lots of people diving the new system. So in this episode Ben and I go back over the journey to get to this new, amazing side moun…

The UTD Scuba Coaching program has been running successfully for almost two years now so, it's time to meet some of the clients. In this episode Jeff sits down with Team Austin: Jay, Chris, and Xiangfei. Listen as they take an in depth look at their experiences in the coaching program, their recommendations for anyone considering coaching, and a lo…

How many obscure, or not so obscure, questions can Jeff and Ben address in one episode? Tune in to find out as we tackle questions on weighting, SMBs, toxing diver recovery, rebreathers, gradient factors, rock bottom, emergency gas planning, and much more. This is our first "rapid fire" episode. Let us know if you'd like more! https://utdscubadivin…

We always get questions about Ratio Deco, and particularly about changes to Ratio Deco 3.0. In this Obscure Questions episode Jeff and Ben are joined by UTD instructor (and technical diver) Martina Carelli. Martina went through the complete Ratio Deco online course and created a list of real-world questions. We answered these, plus a few that came …