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For about two years Jay has been asking me for a history of UTD. It's one of the tasks I never completed, until now. On a long drive from San Diego up to the Sierra Nevada Mountains I recorded a look back at Unified Team Diving – how did it start, where did it start, what were some of the ups, and what were some of the downs.

For those of you who have been around UTD for a long time, much of this will sound familiar. For those of you who have come to UTD more recently, this should give you some perspective on how we became what we are today.

Questions or comments? Click here to contact Jeff.

Or click here to contact Jeff, Ben, and Jay.

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Dear UTD Community,

Today, we’re sharing a meaningful milestone in the journey of Unified Team Diving.

After years of inspiring leadership, Jeff is stepping down from his leadership role at UTD. His vision has shaped the path we’ve walked together, and his contributions have left an indelible mark on our organization. We are deeply grateful for his passion, his pioneering spirit, and the values he instilled in all of us.

Jeff will still be around, however, as an instructor, instructor trainer, and coach.

As we turn the page, Ben and Jay will step forward to lead UTD into its next chapter. Grounded in our “Thinking Diver” philosophy and the foundational principles of our WE Code, they are committed to carrying the mission forward—with you.

We invite you to listen to this special podcast episode reflecting on this transition and where we’re headed next:

Thank you, Jeff—and thank you to each of you—for being part of this extraordinary community. We look forward to growing together as we shape the future of UTD.

If you have any questions, reflections, or just want to connect, please feel free to reach out to me, Ben, or Jeff directly. 

Best,

Jay Gardner
Director of Development, Unified Team Diving

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Do you feel like you are good enough? That is the core of this episode. In diving, and in sports, we are constantly comparing ourselves to others and that can be a huge impediment to any successful outcome in a class or training program. The most important thing in any training situation, or in a competition, is simple: you do you.

As usual, I tie diving to cycling. Regardless of whether these stories are about you, let us know if you need some guidance, some coaching, or some mentoring as you move though your career as the best scuba diving version of you.

Jeff

More on the UTD Scuba Coaching Program:
https://utdscubadiving.com/utd-scuba-coaching/

For more info, contact us here:
https://utdscubadiving.com/contact/

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Hi, in this episode Ben will discuss the Dunning Kruger effect. A cognitive bias that was created in 1999 by David Dunning and Justin Kruger. It gives a graphical representation of the development when learning new things. 

It's very applicable to us divers, as we can easily become the victim of incomplete education and/or a false sense of security by our own doing. 

For more information, contact us here:
https://utdscubadiving.com/contact/

Here is a link to the graph:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_Effect_01.svg

Here are the videos:

Episode 1: https://youtu.be/h-elWmoQ3I0?si=QT2380wwAeOCwTPg

Episode 2: https://youtu.be/zRc-2kADCrI?si=kJENf3TP_tcdAA0P

Episode 3: https://youtu.be/Gl4vf6UyLgc?si=BgJlMDfIj-vaOoCz

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Meet UTD Instructor Rene Krikke, based in Blomberg, Germany. Rene is teaching across northern Europe and brings a fascinating perspective to our "Meet the Instructors" series. Rene stumbled into diving while on a holiday in Egypt, got hooked, made his way to the UTD Scuba Coaching Program, and is now a UTD instructor.

Check out Rene's journey as we continue our "Meet the UTD Instructors" episodes.

To reach Rene, click here.
https://utdscubadiving.com/member/rene-krikke/

For more information about the UTD Scuba Coaching program, click here. 
https://utdscubadiving.com/utd-scuba-coaching

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How many dives do you have? I believe the answer to this question is the biggest lie in scuba diving. As instructors, we are trained to take this answer with a grain of salt. In this short carcast, Jeff takes a look at logging dives, logging flight hours, and some ideas about how to best log your dives.

For more information, contact us here:
https://utdscubadiving.com/contact/

For more information about the UTD Scuba Coaching Program, click here:
https://utdscubadiving.com/utd-scuba-coaching/

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Do you feel like you are in a rut with your diving? Doing the same dives over and over? How do you stay motivated year after year? These are the question we look at today in another of Jeff's soon-to-be-famous UTD Carcast episodes.

Check out more on UTD Scuba Coaching, click here.

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In this inaugural episode of Ben's short podcast series, "The Training Corner," he looks at the concept of 'dive beautifully.' How do you gain your own level of elegance in diving, particularly around propulsion techniques.

As always, if you have questions, comments, or thoughts about this, you can
contact us here. https://utdscubadiving.com/contact/

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Weerrrrreee...back! The Most Obscure Questions in Scuba Diving - Live at DEMA 2024. This week we collected questions in the booth and pulled them out in front of an audience. Fun, interesting, informative. And did we say fun?

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We are back in Las Vegas for the DEMA show – us and a gazillion other divers checking out new equipment, new training, new everything. This year, in the Technical Resource Center at the show, Ben gave a talk on advanced rebreather training, why it's important to dive a consistent team configuration in your closed circuit rebreather, and how we accomplish that goal at Unified Team Diving.

Here's the link to the video that Ben showed at the beginning of his talk:
https://youtu.be/UisaQxKZlmU?si=-MXCvCqfZpwCCwXH

Check out the talk and if you have any questions, click here to let us know.

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Things don't always go quite as planned. Sometime the planning turns into a setback. What is the best way to deal with that? Take "no" for encouragement and take a setback for opportunity.

Thoughts or comments? Let me know. Contact here.

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Who is brilliant? You? Or your students? Or both? What happens when you face an instructor or a coach who is more focused on their own brilliance than yours.

In this short carcast I take a look at a scenario where the brilliance got confused. Have a listen, let me know what you think.

Contact us here. https://utdscubadiving.com/contact/

Jeff

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Another of the Most Obscure Questions in Scuba Diving. This time we tried something a bit different. Ben came up with the questions and did not tell Jeff what they were going to be. Tune in for an honest discussion about pockets, valve drills, cameras, and more.

Send us your obscure questions....contact us here:
https://utdscubadiving.com/contact/

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Following someone else's dreams. This is something every scuba instructor has faced. A student brings a partner, who does not want to be there, into a class, usually Open Water. As instructors, we get to see this play out, sometimes in terror, sometimes in joy. What do you do when someone drags someone into your class? What is it like to successfully follow someone's dream? What is it like  to not want any part of someone's dream. In this short podcast I tell a few stories, some about me, some about my students, and look carefully at following your own dreams.

Jeff

Our 2013 trek to Mt. Everest Base Camp with a team of people with Parkinson's Disease. Watch here.

Contact me here:
https://utdscubadiving.com/contact/

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How to get there. That's today's question. What is the path to becoming a UTD instructor or dive master. How does the program work? What are our expectations of you? What do we expect your expectations to be of us. In this episode Jeff and Jay look at the "path," the course work, and tell some stories from past IDC's.

Interested in UTD Leadership? Click here: 
https://utdscubadiving.com/be-a-utd-instructor/

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It's on! Cave Week 2024! This November join us in Florida for Cave Week. In this short podcast Jeff, Ben, and Jay discuss the logistics, the fun, and all the details about this amazing UTD community event.

For more information and to register for Cave Week, click here: 
https://utdscubadiving.com/utd-cave-week/

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Jon Edwardsen has been a UTD instructor almost since the beginning of UTD. He is my colleague, friend, and critic. The great thing about having Jon as an instructor trainer is his uncanny ability to cut through any and all BS and get to the heart of the matter. So when Jon did an IDC with a few of our coaching clients and said he was knocked over by the success of the coaching program, I knew we had to get this recorded.

If you have any interest in Unified Team Diving as a system of diving or as a leadership training company, carve out a half hour and have a listen.

Jeff

Read about coaching, click here.
Contact us about coaching, click here.

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There is much to unpack around how we run out instructor development program, how we train our instructor trainers, and how all that benefits the Unified Team Diving students and coaching clients.

Back in the car, Jeff takes a look at the mechanics of teaching teaching – education as a change in behavior, that change being worthless without retention, how we use levels of learning, and how we create common ground with our students. Grateful to Socrates for allowing us to take his principles and maneuver them into our program to teach scuba instructors how to properly teach scuba.

Click here to learn more about our instructor development course.

And click here to learn more about our Scuba Coaching Program.

And click here to subscribe to our mailing list.

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This episode is a cross between our wrap up of "Becoming a Thinking Diver" and "The Most Obscure Questions in Scuba Diving. Jeff and Ben cover:

• Redundant equipment.
• Knowing when to say when.
• Training for multiple failures buy planning for one.
• And a quick story about the bike.

Check it out, if you have questions or comments contact us here:
https://utdscubadiving.com/contact/

To subscribe to our mailing list, click here:
https://utdscubadiving.com/subscribe/

And for more info about the UTD Scuba Coaching Program click here:
https://utdscubadiving.com/utd-scuba-coaching/

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It's not the equipment, it's the choices you make. In his inaugural training corner episode, Ben takes a look at how you can make good, or bad, choices and how those choices can have dramatic ramifications.

For more information on the Unified Team Diving training systems and the UTD Scuba Coaching Program, or to reach Ben or Jeff, click here.

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One of the great things about me and Unified Team Diving is that I get to set the company culture around money, finances, student fees, all of it. I feel very strongly that financial transparency is critical to the health of any business. I also believe "free" does not serve anyone – us or you. Basically, I believe free has no value. In this short carcast I expand on my vision around UTD and money.

Questions? Comments? Contact me here:

https://utdscubadiving.com/contact/

Jeff

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In our last episode about the "Thinking Diver" we talked about creating your team, or village. In this episode Jeff and Ben start to look at the practical elements of being a thinking diver – gear, gas, team, and much more. Be a thinker. Listen in.

If you have any questions or comments, please let us know by clicking here.

To join our mailing list, click here.

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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.

Contact us here to ask me/us anything.
https://utdscubadiving.com/contact/

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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 help you discover how to create your village.

Questions? Comments? Contact us at https://utdscubadiving.com/contact/

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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 Unified Team Diving