DIY paintless dent repair training usually fails. Why? Because the act of paintless dent repair uses unnatural body movement most of the time. Trying to learn PDR by yourself has a very low rate of success. This article explains the reasons behind the high failure rate.
Why? Due to the process of paintless dent repair being an unnatural body movement most of the time. Plus, you are using and putting extreme pressure on muscle groups that are rarely or never used until you perform PDR. Finally, the two-dimensional training aids of books and videos only give you part of the picture. So, watch those free DIY PDR training YouTube videos to your heart’s content, but it will only be frustrating!
I go into body shops across the country, and there are many sets of abandoned tools and lots of reasons why PDR could not be learned by their technicians. They bought the tools. They gave the technicians the training videos. They expected the technicians to learn this highly profitable skill. Yet, the tools sit in the back of the shop on a shelf, never to be used again, while the “technician” gives a very sad story of not being able to learn this skill. If any group should be able to learn and perform PDR, it is the collision repair industry because they are the experts in repairing vehicle damage. They can’t learn PDR by themselves, and neither can you.
The only successful way to learn PDR is to have over-the-shoulder, hands-on, instructor-guided training. That is why I limit my classes to 4 students. I must be there and guide the exercises and moments of my students while they are learning the skills. As the body wants to avoid PDR movements, I am there to retrain the technician to correct those natural body movements to PDR-efficient body movements. This is critical in the first three days of training. Most DIY PDR students throw down the tools at this stage, give up, and walk away!
Every hands-on PDR trainer will tell you that without guidance, PDR is difficult to learn. Many bad habits will result if the DIY PDR process gets past the “throw down the tools and walk away stage. I have a friend who has a PDR video series out there. At the beginning of every video, there is a statement that says this video is “not” intended to replace hands-on, instructor-led training. Videos are a training aid, not a replacement, for the student during and after instructor-led training.
The bottom line: get instructor-led training. Do your research into training. I have a guide to choosing PDR training, which you can follow to assist in choosing quality training. Of course, I am going to recommend myself, but there may be reasons that you are unable to come to my training. Not a problem, there are a few other great trainers out there…and many not so great. You can contact me, and I can recommend the other great trainers in the PDR industry. Spare yourself the wasted dollars and effort trying PDR yourself, invest wisely, and go see a PDR trainer.
