Episodes

  • Jeff S Coaching Podcast #26 – UTD's History and Me
    May 6 2025

    After 17 years at the helm of Unified Team Diving I have passed the management of the company on to Director of Development Jay Gardner and Training Director Ben Bos. In this carcast I take a few minutes to look back at some of the history of UTD and how it impacted my life and, hopefully in a really good way, the lives of lots of scuba divers and scuba instructors.

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    44 mins
  • Jeff S Coaching #25 – The Bigger the Blob the Better the Job
    May 3 2025

    The electrical engineers creed about soldering: "The bigger the blob, the better the job."

    The rock climbers creed about rope: "If you don't know the knot, tie a lot."

    These two sayings, unfortunately, summarize much of the recreational scuba training that is currently happening. Without an understanding of "why," instructors are showing students how to do skills and expecting them to fully learn those skills. That, however, is impossible.

    In this short carcast, Jeff looks at the concept of proper education and its most vital cousin: retention.

    For more information and to contact Jeff about coaching, click here for the website.

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    23 mins
  • Jeff S Coaching #24 – Comparing Yourself to Others
    Apr 22 2025

    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

    For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

    This was originally published as UTD Scuba Diving Podcast Episode #107

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    22 mins
  • Jeff S Coaching #23 – The Big Scuba Lie
    Mar 18 2025

    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.

    This was originally published as UTD Scuba Diving Podcast Episode #103.

    For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

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    25 mins
  • Jeff S Coaching #22 – How Do You Stay Motivated
    Feb 4 2025

    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.

    For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

    This was originally published as UTD Scuba Diving Podcast Episode #102.

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    13 mins
  • Jeff S Coaching #21 – Setbacks and More Setbacks
    Jan 29 2025

    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.

    For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

    This was originally published as UTD Scuba Diving Podcast Episode #98.

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    25 mins
  • Jeff S Coaching #20 – Managing Your Students' Brilliance
    Jan 22 2025

    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.

    For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

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    20 mins
  • Jeff S Coaching #19 – Following Some Else's Dreams
    Jan 8 2025

    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.

    For more information and to contact Jeff, click here.

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    26 mins