Do you think everyone has the ability to dive deep with training? I'm interested in freediving but for myself,I'd be satisfied to be able to go down to say 10-12 metres and just swim around for a minute or so,taking it all in.Is this a reasonable goal? At the moment I need to spend far more time in water,when I was training to do scuba (never finished it) I remember having to go down to 2 metres and put on a weight belt,should've only taken 20 seconds or so but I remember a vague panic and running out of air! At the time I was capable of about 2minutes static in my house.Am I right in thinking that its some sort of natural reaction to being underwater which makes it so difficult for me,or maybe I'm just not cut out for this...
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Deep diving ability
- Thread starterIke
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
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does everyone have the ability to dive deep with training>?
i think that everyone is capable to go to a certain depth, the depth to which they can equalize on one breath of air. or to the depth they can reach and still have enough air to get back to the surface...
a few years ago, when i was just starting to use masks/googles to see underwater (well i guess that would have been about 7 years ago...am i really that old :t ) anyway, my dad was trying to teach me how to clear my mask (a few minutes earlier i had someone kick me in the face and dislodge it..) the first time i tried, as i was taking the mask off of my face i had a huge wave of panic come over me, i thought that i was in serious trouble (actually in my mind i was a bit more expressive but those words are inappropriate for this forum :ban ) the next time i tried i was a little more "comfortable" as the water flooded my mask.
another example> the first time i dove to 20 feet, i was in a lake with about 5 ft visibility, after completing to easy check out dives, i swam out about 75 ft. (the water was deepest there..) and did a dive to 20 ft. after the first 2-3 seconds i realized that i was tha farthest from air that i had ever been, i also felt like my lungs were empty, (i know it was just the water pressure compressing the air, but it was still a scary feeling..) so, 0.0001 seconds later i was erupting at the surface.. and i thought what if i just cant dive that deep what if im not made for this, so i tried another dive just to try and figure out why i was scared (i was pretty stuborn, and the smallmouth bass had stuck its tongue out at me :t )
so, once i got to the bottom, i thought "hey there is nothing wrong with this, this is actually quite cool, i wonder if i need air, hummm... no i will try and make it back to shore without taking another breath" so, i made it back to shore without a problem (only about 25 meters)
so, what im trying to say, your body has never been in a situation like what you (or i) just did to it, so your body tells your brain "hey, are you sure we are suppose to be here>? why the heck are you doing this to me" thats what causes the feeling of panic or uncertainty. the second time down i told my mind that "yes, i will feel like i have no air in my lungs, but i will have some, so dont worry.." and i was fine,
so i guess in a very short form. the only thing holding you back is your mind (up to the point where you run out of air)
although there is a great part of freediving that is physical, your mind needs to be conditioned as well as your body.
sorry about the long post,
good luck..
i think that everyone is capable to go to a certain depth, the depth to which they can equalize on one breath of air. or to the depth they can reach and still have enough air to get back to the surface...
a few years ago, when i was just starting to use masks/googles to see underwater (well i guess that would have been about 7 years ago...am i really that old :t ) anyway, my dad was trying to teach me how to clear my mask (a few minutes earlier i had someone kick me in the face and dislodge it..) the first time i tried, as i was taking the mask off of my face i had a huge wave of panic come over me, i thought that i was in serious trouble (actually in my mind i was a bit more expressive but those words are inappropriate for this forum :ban ) the next time i tried i was a little more "comfortable" as the water flooded my mask.
another example> the first time i dove to 20 feet, i was in a lake with about 5 ft visibility, after completing to easy check out dives, i swam out about 75 ft. (the water was deepest there..) and did a dive to 20 ft. after the first 2-3 seconds i realized that i was tha farthest from air that i had ever been, i also felt like my lungs were empty, (i know it was just the water pressure compressing the air, but it was still a scary feeling..) so, 0.0001 seconds later i was erupting at the surface..
and i thought what if i just cant dive that deep what if im not made for this, so i tried another dive just to try and figure out why i was scared (i was pretty stuborn, and the smallmouth bass had stuck its tongue out at me :t )so, once i got to the bottom, i thought "hey there is nothing wrong with this, this is actually quite cool, i wonder if i need air, hummm... no i will try and make it back to shore without taking another breath" so, i made it back to shore without a problem (only about 25 meters)
so, what im trying to say, your body has never been in a situation like what you (or i) just did to it, so your body tells your brain "hey, are you sure we are suppose to be here>? why the heck are you doing this to me" thats what causes the feeling of panic or uncertainty. the second time down i told my mind that "yes, i will feel like i have no air in my lungs, but i will have some, so dont worry.." and i was fine,
so i guess in a very short form. the only thing holding you back is your mind (up to the point where you run out of air)
although there is a great part of freediving that is physical, your mind needs to be conditioned as well as your body.
sorry about the long post,
good luck..
I think the first and most important step is to get comfortable in the water. I've been swimming since the age of 2, and I'd pretty much rather be swimming than doing any other activity, so its hard for me to tell you how to acheive the comfort level... but I think its probably doable by anybody that sets their mind to it, unless you have some deep-seated neurosis.
In October I was in a tropical location and I thought I'd use my dive computer to see how deep I could swim without scuba gear (I'm PADI certified to the advanced level). I made it to 24', and was pretty pleased with myself. When I got home I found out about Kirk's performance freediving course, and signed up -- skeptical of his claims for how deep I'd be able to go by the end of the course. 8 weeks ago (half way through the course), on my first attempt after some of his training, I made it to 40'. I missed a couple of sessions (illness), but the next time I made it to 58'. The time after that 66'. Yesterday I acheived 74', and I loitered at the deepest point for 10-15 seconds (1:14 total dive time). And I still don't think I'm in very good physical shape yet, so I'm confident that with continued training I will be able to increase my abilities steadily and comfortably. I have yet to feel like I'm "pushing my envelope", each dive is to where I'm comfortable and no further.
I guess I have 3 pieces of advice:
1) Find a buddy who you can train and dive with. Never do this alone.
2) Get some training.
3) Don't push yourself too hard all at once, you can develop gradually and continuously.
In October I was in a tropical location and I thought I'd use my dive computer to see how deep I could swim without scuba gear (I'm PADI certified to the advanced level). I made it to 24', and was pretty pleased with myself. When I got home I found out about Kirk's performance freediving course, and signed up -- skeptical of his claims for how deep I'd be able to go by the end of the course. 8 weeks ago (half way through the course), on my first attempt after some of his training, I made it to 40'. I missed a couple of sessions (illness), but the next time I made it to 58'. The time after that 66'. Yesterday I acheived 74', and I loitered at the deepest point for 10-15 seconds (1:14 total dive time). And I still don't think I'm in very good physical shape yet, so I'm confident that with continued training I will be able to increase my abilities steadily and comfortably. I have yet to feel like I'm "pushing my envelope", each dive is to where I'm comfortable and no further.
I guess I have 3 pieces of advice:
1) Find a buddy who you can train and dive with. Never do this alone.
2) Get some training.
3) Don't push yourself too hard all at once, you can develop gradually and continuously.
Thanks Erik. I just received my Cressi Minima in the mail today, and tried it out in the pool. It seems to fit well, and has an amazingly small volume -- especially compared to the scuba mask I've been using. I really noticed the difference doing a negative pressure dive to 4m, I hadn't realized how much I had been relying on the air in the mask!! We'll see how much it helps on Saturday.
Do you think everyone has the ability to dive deep with training? I'm interested in freediving but for myself,I'd be satisfied to be able to go down to say 10-12 metres and just swim around for a minute or so,taking it all in.Is this a reasonable goal?
Well I'll tell you Ike just one thing about your goal.........you'll reach it and then you feel that it would be cool to go just bit deeper..........that has happened to me atleast..
Well I'll tell you Ike just one thing about your goal.........you'll reach it and then you feel that it would be cool to go just bit deeper..........that has happened to me atleast..
Originally posted by Pekka
Do you think everyone has the ability to dive deep with training? I'm interested in freediving but for myself,I'd be satisfied to be able to go down to say 10-12 metres and just swim around for a minute or so,taking it all in.Is this a reasonable goal?
Well I'll tell you Ike just one thing about your goal.........you'll reach it and then you feel that it would be cool to go just bit deeper..........that has happened to me atleast..
I simply have to second that. I started out just trying to see what's under the water - I used to be a recreational fisherman - and then I tried going deeper and still deeper. It was to be a year before I heard about equalization .... And now I just can't get enough. I think I'm done with pushing limits for a while now .... I've been working on my stamina for quite some time, and have seen vast improvements in my diving. But this has also brought me back to the mentality of "how much can you enjoy it" instead of "How deep can you go"
And yeah, it's reasonable. 10 - 12m is not deep, and spending 2 minutes underwater is not that long. But that'll (probably) be more enjoyable than going down to 40m, and having to shoot right back up for air ...
oi .... 2c
exhilaration
Long word, I had to look up the spelling.
Chacun a son gout. Pardon my attempt at French. Different strokes for different folks is probably a close translation. I'm the guy who started riding a bike, to get in shape for diving and became a middle aged jock that raced for seven years.
Never drove a Formula One machine but, a Go Kart into a chicane at 50 mph was pretty exciting.
Never been over 125 mph (well only once) on two wheels but, 40 mph on my bicycle still gets the heart rate up.
Never been super-sonic but, 600 mph at 50 feet in a T-bird was a blast.
Never jumped out of an airplane in 20,000+ hours, yet.
Never looked up at the surface from 200 feet but, getting there slowly.
Did anyone see that 'signature' on an e-mail from another site. Something like;
Life is five thousand breaths a day
Living is what happens when you hold your breath.
Aloha
Bill
Long word, I had to look up the spelling.
Chacun a son gout. Pardon my attempt at French. Different strokes for different folks is probably a close translation. I'm the guy who started riding a bike, to get in shape for diving and became a middle aged jock that raced for seven years.
Never drove a Formula One machine but, a Go Kart into a chicane at 50 mph was pretty exciting.
Never been over 125 mph (well only once) on two wheels but, 40 mph on my bicycle still gets the heart rate up.
Never been super-sonic but, 600 mph at 50 feet in a T-bird was a blast.
Never jumped out of an airplane in 20,000+ hours, yet.
Never looked up at the surface from 200 feet but, getting there slowly.
Did anyone see that 'signature' on an e-mail from another site. Something like;
Life is five thousand breaths a day
Living is what happens when you hold your breath.
Aloha
Bill
yeah it is.
And Bill, tres nice stuff mon ami. I particularly enjoy the life and living prose. Bon chance.
sven DB's advocate of long and deep french