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Beginner Problems... HELP

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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S

Spearduck

New Member
Apr 15, 2012
7
1
0
Hey!!!

I just went out for my first time spearfishing. Didn't shoot at anything because of low visibility, but i did see some pretty big mullet....

But i have a few problems. When i dive, i cant hold my breath for long...

Also, my ears start hurting after about 50 cm of dive. Is this normal?

And I am not sure if the valsalva maneuver is very safe...

Plz help me D
 
Crikey where to start!
First things first, dont dive alone, especially as a beginner, find an experienced buddy in your area you will learn more from ten minutes with them in the water than you will ever learn here..
That said, in answer to your questions,
Breath hold ability will come with time, experience and training. You cant expect it all at once.
As for your ears hurting, are you equalising? You mention the valsalva manouver so I assume you know what equalising is. That said no your ears shouldn't hurt at 50cm, not if you are equalising properly at least. The valsalva technique is hard to do, and some people plain can't do it. Me included, try equalising the normal way (pinch nose and blow against it you should feel your ears 'pop' with the increased pressure) and see how you get on that way.. if your ears still hurt then there is likely something more going on.

You sound really keen which is great but I can't express how much you should be diving with a buddy, preferably an experienced one. This sport can be risky, especially for the inexperienced when pushing your limits.

Dive safe.
Joe
 
Excellent advice from Joe - I would add that once you find a buddy, go at least a few times for snorkelling and focus on practicing duck dives, feeling comfortable in the water and equalising. Once you are comfortable doing that, then you can try going out with the speargun (and buddy!).
 
ickledevil said:
The valsalva technique is hard to do, and some people plain can't do it. Me included, try equalising the normal way (pinch nose and blow against it you should feel your ears 'pop' with the increased pressure) and see how you get on that way..
Click to expand...

But what you call "the normal way" IS the valsalva technique.
 
Want to hold your breath? First off, take a breath!

Before you'll absorb all the tonnes of knowledge you may get from the freediving experts here, have this "begineer package" just to start.
When aproaching the water, relax. And stay relaxed.
Inhale as much air as you can, then exale slowlier than you inhaled (exale time must be longer than inhale time). Repeat inhale-exale four times (4 times). Finally, take one more deep breath and keep the air in.
Done? Now go down, pinch your nose, close your mouth and blow. If your ears still hurt, repeat as many times necessary.
Before (before!!!) you run out of air go back to surface. If you start feeling contractions above your stomach, don't worry, it's norma, but there you must go up to surface immediately.
When on surface, recover for a time that's three times longer than the underwater time. When you're back to normal breath, repeat the four stroke breath-up and dive.
This will do the trick for safe, short, shallow dives in search of some holed up fish inshore.

Don't forget, this is just a shortcut for a beginner's basic performance. Freediving science is all another thing.
 
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The freediving area has a lot of information on equalizing your ears, they approach these things systematically/scientifically. I'd recommend that you explore what has already been written there.

Now less systematically/scientifically: I find swallowing sometimes helps equalize my ears. I'll sometimes do this while led on the sea bed doing an aspetto if I feel a little discomfort in my ears but nothing major. Alternatively I sometimes "click my ears", hard to describe but I'll try- I think I am opening my Eustachian tubes by raising my palette (the roof of the mouth) and perhaps clenching the top of my throat - basically making the back of my mouth bigger/tense. I expect the freedivers have a fancy name for this.
 
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Reactions: DafyddRees and spaghetti
Mr. X said:
I expect the freedivers have a fancy name for this.
Click to expand...

Yes they do. Your method sounds like in between Marcante-Odaglia and Frenzel maneuvers.
But hey, the Mister X maneuver sounds great too!
 
Reactions: Mr. X
we all starts at the same thing with you or maybe not but the most important is to have fun snorkling practice some dives and from there you will learn to stay longer on the bottom and then you can think of spearing some fish ..:t
 
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