Freediving beginner questions!

[JennyWren]

it's a big step from 50m dnf/3min static to anything near worth competing

There's no reason not to compete just because you aren't yet a pro. Entering competitions now will help you later on! My first DNF in competition was 50m and I was quite proud.

I figure every opportunity to put the training to the test is helpful, plus the more experience you get with the way competitions run the better, so that you get comfortable with how it works and can work on the mental game too.

 

[lambe]

I can't tell you how happy I am each time you reply Kars! Cheers really!

I will consider ND as a competition to challenge myself! The thing about me is I can't really do something halfheartedly, always been like that But I will try to stay calm and focus at my current level. Which is really to experience a competition and probably for the first time diving deep, which I haven't done yet. I thought I would take the boat out a warmer day and start at 10m and then see how it feels and kinda find a reasonable deep to aim for at ND, mainly sense I have no clue at all how deep that is
Also I figure I'd take some course when I'm there and just learn as much as possible from everyone!

As I said a few days ago I don't really have any mate to dive with, I'm currently diving with my younger brother who is just as in love with the water as I am And we will most likely attend to ND together!

I know I have to buy some tight swimming trunks but I really don't like the look of em hehe but yeah I'll do that. I've also been looking alot at different diving suits. The wetsuit I'm using for sailing is a short armed/legged suit so I figured I would buy a new one. The first thing I came upon was Mares Gianluca Genoni Glide 30 Mono. Suits Apnea, Scubastore.com, buy, offers, dive.
Would you recommend a suit like that for me? or What should I look for exactly? I guess you want different suits for different things, like static/dynamic and when your going deep etc.
This suit made it easier to glide threw water it seems, probably very good for dynamic? I'm not really using a wetsuit while diving in the pool so I guess it's mainly going to be out in the sea. I figure since it isn't very warm in the water in Sweden I would go for a 7mm I think. Not sure yet really. Anyway if you could share your thoughts about it would be great!

Edit: Missed you Jenny anyway it's completely true as you say, and yes I will come and compete no matter what!

 

[Mullins]

Don't worry about physical conditioning like strength and aerobic fitness, these have very little bearing on freediving performance.

 

[lambe]

Don't worry about physical conditioning like strength and aerobic fitness, these have very little bearing on freediving performance.

I thought it had a much bigger impact:O Mainly because I've heard so many people talk about different workouts for just freediving. Holding breath while running or doing exercises and so on. Well well, as long as they don't affect the freediving negatively I'll continue doing them

 

[Kars]

It's good to (get to) know yourself, and it's part of the fun of freediving and life.

Knowing you're a 100% guy makes choosing your objectives very important.
Though I'm not a 100% guy, but more a 90%, and sometimes 100%, I need to take the strength of your will to perform into consideration. You see you can program yourself to do something beyond your abilities and push yourself swimming into a BO doing the distance but failing to come up. That happened to me a few times more than to my liking.
Also if you're diving with a numeric value in your mind you are likely to judge, weigh and calculate throughout the dive, causing stress and heaps of brain O2 consumption, that in turn prevents you from doing a personal best.
It's better to focus lightly on having a nice feeling rhythm, relaxation, swim stroke, turn, etc. The best dives and pb's where those where I went in without expectations, wasn't thinking about either numbers, time, preparation or circumstances. I was mentally just enjoying the feeling of the dive, observing how things went, flying on autopilot.

On strength building.
I think in general over all Dave is right.
However I do see area's where building some extra strength in the gym is helpful in combination with the pool training. Especially when you lack the power to make with ease a good swim stroke. For instance with monofin swimming one needs good upper leg, belly and back muscles to put enough force on the monofin to make it efficient. With small muscle power a diver is limited to a smaller and softer fin, which is very difficult to use at greater depths where a lot of power is needed to overcome the negative buoyancy. CNF also demands more strength than DNF.
Another advantage could be having more blood in your system, provided you succeed in relaxing the unneeded muscles.

I just looked at the Mares suit, and it looks like a nice pool suit for the price, also good for Egypt and other tropical waters. Don't buy it too large, the material used has a tendency to become wider with use.
For the local Swedish depths I think a tailor made Elios 5mm 2 piece suit, made of "freedown" will do just fine. If you like to spend more than 1,5 hours in the water a 7mm top and 5mm pants will do. Having 5mm pants saves a lot of buoyancy, so you need less weights and much less power to get down and up. In this regard, for competition, the thinner the suit the better.

Now we're still in the winter getting comfortable and able in the pool is the key.
What can help very much is to have a small water proof photo/video cam so you can record your dives and look how your technique actually is. You'll find it often differs from what you feel/think it is. Also you can compare it with the numerous video's on youtube. From a video shot you easily see if your weights are in order too.

How is the training going?
Made any cool discoveries, improvements? Funny moments?

Thanks for the compliments, you're a great teacher to me, Thanks!

 

[lambe]

My local pool doesn't allow fins or anything like that so I will stick to no fins until the water gets abit warmer outside. I would love to have a suit like the link I posted earlier, but I just don't see myself wearing it too often since it's so cold here in Sweden. I think I'll take your advice and buy a 7mm suit along with some neck weights instead

Actually I'm dieing to train and do exercises but I was diving so much last week I caught a cold, haven't been able to train for 4 days now I haven't improved myself nor had any funny moments sadly Althought I have learned to stretch my diaphragm which I was very pleased with. I do not know why to do it or what good it does but I can do it at least

I'm active in Sweden's coast guards and tomorrow we are going on an SAR course, Search And Rescue, which will take 4 days. I'm looking forwards to this alot and can't wait to do it but at the same time I can't stop thinking about diving either. I think I will go back to the pool on Monday or Tuesday and record myself while swimming to see my own technique and improve it! Also see if I can do and catch some funny pics underwater

If anyone wanna add my facebook ny name is André Lamberg, feel free if you wish to.
This forum is great but sometimes a small chat like facebook would be better

Edit :

Hello JP,

Congratulations, you are starting to feel some of the cool things that freediving does to you, thanks to the mammalian dive reflex.

That's one of the things I want to experience! seems very nice

 

[Bluemate]

Hello guys.
I am new in this forum.
I love freediving but I have no idea how to start with that.
In fact I am not even a good swimmer and i am not very familiar with the water.
The real problem is that there are no courses near my location that help in learning freediving. So I have to do everything by my own but don`t know how to start with it.
So... Can somebody tell me what should i do first?
For example: learn to be a good swimmer, or start snorkeling....etc...
Thanks in advance.

 

[Kars]

Well, I think finding a buddy is important for safety, fun, progress.

There are many thinks you can explore and train on land, breathing, concentration, flexibility, relaxation.

In the pool if you don't have a buddy you can still practice technique, relaxation, breathing, gliding, streamlining, and have plenty of fun!

It's safe(r) to limit your dives to the first urge to breath, provided you don't hyperventilate.

In the mean time you put some cards on boars at the pool, supermarket, school, seeking a buddy, you can search for some fora for countrymen and women to arrange a meet up, where you can learn the first steps and about safety.

Snorkelling and becoming a good swimmer helps, they are both part of freediving. I don't know if you have these people in your friends group, if you have I'm sure they will enjoy giving you some directions to become and efficient swimmer, and or become proficient in snorkelling.

Studying freediving video's also can give you some hints if you know what to look for, streamlining for example, but most subtleties will remain illusive until start trying it out and become better at it.

To summerise,

- gather information so you know what the sport is about, safety, and some training ideas (Umberto's book is nice to have)
- find a buddy,
- meet up with a certified buddy to learn the basics: Freediving goals, principles and safety.
- buy some basic freediving gear,
- take a course yourself,

Off cause freediving can be a very dangerous sport, so please think things through, consider all angles and whenever in doubt please ask us.

Love, Courage and Water,

Kars

 

[Bluemate]

Thank U Kars...
In fact I have gathered some information about freediving and some dangerous situations that occur, like black-outs and sambas.
Meanwhile I have started some aerobic exercise and try to hold my breath as long as possible (At my best 2min 15sec), but of course need further improvement.
On May I am planning to start a swimming course so hopefully I am going to be a better swimmer, but I know that`s not enough.
Thanks again for your reply

 

[ReefTroll]

I think that becoming a better swimmer is the right way to go. If you are a good swimmer you'll be 100% confident and comfortable in the water.

 

[Bluemate]

thanks mate

 

[Bluemate]

Well.... I have one more question.
I am 26 years old.
Is that a problem for learning diving?
(However I don't intend to beat any world record)

 

[ReefTroll]

I'm 31 and I'm off to do my first course this weekened!

 

[Bluemate]

loool
Thats great
Regards

 

[Kars]

Well.... I have one more question.
I am 26 years old.
Is that a problem for learning diving?
(However I don't intend to beat any world record)

Asking such a question indicates to me you may feel insecure.

The short answer is, sure it's a great age to do any sport.

I think Freediving, when adapted, can be done from an early age.

The long answer is that when you feel insecure about such basics, you could investigate and learn how to get from a state of insecurity to (more) security.
A lifelong dependency on experts and teachers sounds to me like a control freak's dream come true. What if there is a method to check and verify information with your own brain and logic?
This would give you a lot of decision power back, allowing you to be much more self sufficient in your decision making.
Check out the classic thinking method called "the Trivium": TriviumEducation.com | Where Knowledge, Understanding and Wisdom Begin.

Love, Courage and Water,

Kars

 

[Andrew the fish]

Well.... I have one more question.
I am 26 years old.
Is that a problem for learning diving?
(However I don't intend to beat any world record)

hmm... what about me then. I am 43. On the other note, I've learned to fly an aircraft at around 38. Started doing some boxing at around 40-ish. From somewhere 34 I was gradually getting back in shape and then engaged in bodybuilding. I close my eyes and think how much more stuff I could do if I was 28 again.

 

[Bluemate]

Well, I did that question because some people I know, whom are good divers (unfortunately they cant help) started practicing diving and swimming since they were kids.

However Thank U Kars.
I really appreciate it

 

[Bluemate]

Well.... Thank U Andrew... this is a good news for me ))
I see freediving as an extreme sport.
In fact I am more interested in spearfishing, which means that I want to practice an extreme sport with a gun in my hand and didnt know if 26 years is too late or too soon to acquire the needed skills

 

[kylemcburnie]

Hey guys, first post - been studying abroad in Bonaire and acquired a freediving obsession...
I've been to 80 feet CWNF and work tables now and then but I've got a question -
So when I started doing max static's on land I began at 2 minutes because thats when my contractions began.
As I've been progressing, I made it up to 3, 4, and now at my max of 5 minutes. However, nothing has changed in terms of when my contractions begin - almost at 2 minutes on the dot, every time.

So what I'm curious about is...
Up until now in the water I abort my freefall and head for the surface once I get a contraction, yet as my breathhold continues to improve my contractions are still at the same time - so in the same train of thought does this mean that I can continue to freefall past the few initial contractions?
Thanks!

 

[Kars]

Hey guys, first post - been studying abroad in Bonaire and acquired a freediving obsession...
I've been to 80 feet CWNF and work tables now and then but I've got a question -
So when I started doing max static's on land I began at 2 minutes because thats when my contractions began.
As I've been progressing, I made it up to 3, 4, and now at my max of 5 minutes. However, nothing has changed in terms of when my contractions begin - almost at 2 minutes on the dot, every time.

So what I'm curious about is...
Up until now in the water I abort my freefall and head for the surface once I get a contraction, yet as my breathhold continues to improve my contractions are still at the same time - so in the same train of thought does this mean that I can continue to freefall past the few initial contractions?
Thanks!

The short answer is, Yes I think you can go a bit deeper.

The longer answer is:
I think you maybe can gain more efficiency in (the beginning of) your descend.
With a better duckdive, swim technique, slimmer suit, better preparation, you can obtain the falling depth with much more relaxation and less O2 use and Co2 production, postponing contractions. Akin to the Herbert Nitch 'slow start' method.
Also during the glide phase you can turn this phase into a very relaxing deep static, when your equalisation works easy.