I am writing this article to future pdr trainees as a big warning. If you plan on going to a “paintless dent repair training school”, then you really want to read this. My topics will be about the good, bad and the ugly.

Here is a clear warning – Listen to your head and weigh out what makes sense. I don’t know if you realize this but PDR can not be learned correctly with more than one student at a time. OK, actually let me rephrase that because there have been miracles in this world that happen so I won’t say impossible. If you want to get the most of a pdr training course, then you should settle no less for one on one pdr training. There should be no reason for more than one student unless the pdr school is in it for the money. The more students they can get in, the bigger and faster their pockets get. Also, you need to understand PDR is an art and takes a lot of patience. By no means is it easy at all. If you have heard that pdr can be learned in 1-2 weeks, you are in for a big, big surprise. Matter of fact, you will be getting just your feet wet. Imagine packing years of techniques into 2 FAST weeks? Oh but wait a minute.. I offer 2 week courses. Yes , but I will get to that later.

The Good:

You get the free airfare, giant tool package and hotel accommodations – all included. Good deal huh? Matter of fact that is a smokin’ deal. Shoot, who wouldn’t go for that? Especially when someone is real excited, talked to the person on the phone and got all hyped up about how much money they can make. True you can make a very good living… “if” you get the proper pdr training.

The Bad:

You arrive and excited, nervous but feeling great. As your pdr training begins you think you are doing great. All of a sudden you get a little stuck. Where’s the pdr trainer? Oh he’s helping the other guy(s). So you wait and play around some more on the panel and start to really get lost. Finally he comes over and shows you what needs to be done and your off to the races again. Unfortunately it happens over and over again and you loose precious time. See a pdr trainer needs to guide you throughout your learning process at all times. Why? So you don’t develop the bad habits while you are guessing. It’s very crucial you learn slowly with over the shoulder guidance.

The Ugly:

I have heard a lot of students say they leave the school confident.. until they get home and wham! “Uh oh, I’m stuck!” I thought I knew how to remove these dents? I never knew how to remove this type of dent? Now you feel real frustrated, you now are guessing what you should have remembered. Your dents turn into a Domino’s Pizza and now you feel like giving up. You try to contact the trainer but he’s busy during the day training and no luck getting a hold of him during the weekend. You, practice and practice but it seems like you are getting worse. Bad habits become worse habits and you try your best to remember the process. Again, you run into walls because this panel has a different brace structures than the dents you were doing in pdr school. You go back and think to yourself, realizing you just paid for a vacation instead good pdr training.

Conclusion:

PDR takes a lot of time to learn. With most schools attempting to train students everything they know in 2 weeks just simply falls short. Imagine watching a 2 hour movie in one hour? Sure, you saw the movie but you don’t know the details? It’s the same thing with paintless dent repair. The more time you can invest in your initial pdr training, the more you will understand, absorb and develop. Now I know you are wondering from the beginning why am I putting down the 2 week pdr training when I offer one as well. Well, I’m not. Instead I am putting down the quality of the pdr training. First of all, I won’t promise you how successful you will become. What I will promise is that you get real situational pdr training that disciplines you into good habits from the beginning. You want to come back home feeling confident and perfecting (not practicing) the art of paintless dent repair.

I offer 2 week pdr training as an option but make it clear that there is no way I can teach a pdr student everything they should know right out of the gates. Heck, even a 4 week class is not enough but it sure helps develop your learning curve twice as fast. The difference between any of my courses and the pdr training mills is, I design the training around the skills of my students. Everyone is different but learning the technique is the same. Meaning, it is a slow process I introduce the students too. How to become patient and read the line board, understand tool usage, when to push the envelope and challenge themselves. Learning to be patient is the hardest thing about paintless dent removal and my conclusion is that too many people (students and pdr schools) want to rush themselves to be great and make lots of money. Unfortunately this is the main cause why the pdr students fail in most cases.

Take your time on everything when it comes to pdr training. Slower is always faster.