Techniques & Tips for 'Getting in the Zone' ?

[boydarling]

I have been attending a club in Brighton for a few weeks now and realy starting to get into the world of freediving.

To give you an idea of where I am...
Dry Static PB 3:01
Wet Static PB 2:15
Dyn No Fins PB 35m (ish)
Dyn Fins PB 50m

The last couple of pool sessions have hi-lighted the one area I am having trouble with and that is the relaxation / switching off required to get the best performance from my self.

I've managed to do 3:00+ (an improvement of over 30sec in only a couple of weeks) dry static at home, on the bed after a long, quiet relaxation period.

Getting to into that state by the side of a hot noisy pool after a hectic day is proving difficult to say the least!

I am very interested to know how you all get to your own 'Zone'

I appreciate that this is a very personal subject and everyones methods will be different, I'm just looking to get some perspective on my own rather chaotic methods !

In addition Do you have or know of any classes / books / tapes/ cd's etc that have helped you in the past or that you might recommend... I've been googling but there is so much 'rubbish' out there it's difficult to know where to start.

All input gratefully received.

[flying_spanner]

Hey there,

This tip Fran Rose (who's a qualified No Bubbles Freediving Instructor, & AIDA Judge) gave me. Me personally I noticed an improvement of over 30 seconds in my spearfishing dives before I feel uncomfortable.

Before you dive breath up as normal, (Long slow full breaths through peirced lips like you're trying to wistle).

Take a full breath (like you're about to dive) and get face down in the water, close your eyes and just listen to the silence for 30 seconds. While doing this I try to concentrate on my heartrate tell myself to slow it down.

Exhale, then do another full breath up (as above), then off you go for that dive.

The 30 second static helps get me in "the zone" and also seems to help trigger a stronger dive reflex before my dive, aswell as getting my Heartrate under control.

Like I said it made a difference in my diving so give it a try and let us know how you get on.

[svetliy]

Try to stop your brain from stopping on any particular thought, idea,desire, feeling,etc.
There must be a lot of topics about relaxation methods here on the forum. yoga,auto-training, meditation. experiment and see what works for you.

[TampaBrian]

Opposite svet's suggestion, I always tried to think of the most peaceful or desirable thing. For me, it was focusing on my long lost pet, I would imagine he was there with me and wanting it to last forever. That's how I hit my pb.

[salibandy]

I've only once gotten in the 'zone'. That morning I was really sleepy, but not tired. I got in the pool and hit my pb right there and then.

[miguel-van]

Hi everybody,

I like the relaxation method described in Umberto's book where you try to feel every part of your body and relax it and then imagine it changes color (red works fine for me...). Starting from your feet and working up to your head.

When completing this map I arrive mostly at about 4:00 completely relaxed and ready to go trough the harder part of the breathold.

Might be something you can try sometime boydarling.