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Freediving: extreme sport (psychological profiles)

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.

What is your psychological profile in freediving?

  • Extreme experiencer

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Full-blooded experiencer

    Votes: 2 5.7%
  • Achiever

    Votes: 9 25.7%
  • Latent actualizer

    Votes: 20 57.1%
  • Experience-achiever

    Votes: 4 11.4%

  • Total voters
    35
I didn't vote yet...

Extreme can have a lot of angles. I do loads of sports for loads of reasons, and their're all extreme in some way or the other.

First, there's climbing, snowboarding and downhill mountainbiking. The total opposite of freediving and the classic things called extreme. I do them for the thrill and because i like being outside. Both of them have a mental side as well that resembles freediving, only in the other way! It's about controlling fear and focusing. Making clear and calm decisions very fast in various, often dangerous situations, keeping your mind focused on crucial things.

Then, there's weightlifting. I do that because of the difference of what i want to see in the mirror and what i actually see. It is by no means extreme because i am not putting myself in any unusual situation. I just use iron to multiply the effects of good ol' gravity and with the help of those simple physics looking good at the beach eventually. The only thing extreme about it is how i force myself to do something that boring three times a week. I only do it for the good feeling afterwards, not for the pain while working out.

Lastly, there's freediving, which is clearly extreme, but has a completely different approach than other classic extreme sports. It is downhill biking without the speed and the adrenaline. It is nothing but focusing and maintaining control over your mind and body to be able to stay under the water as long as possible. It is always extreme when a being attemps to stay as long as possible in an environment it wasn't built for. We cannot breathe under water and therefore risk our lives diving.
A lot of people do it because they feel good down there, it makes us happy being surrounded by the blue nothing. That's the reason why we are diving and it doesn't feel extreme in any way. It is the reason why we are not doing record attemps every time we dive. This makes it a special breed of extreme sports as the mind part is so much bigger than when racing down a hill like an eejit. A freediver must for example avoid thrill because adrenaline causes he heart rate to jump quickly. We have completely different approach but seek for the same goals: doing things on the edge of reason. We do it because we can do it as long as we learn the necessary techniques and skills. The test how far we can go is what extreme sports have in common and not actually the sheer lust for adrenaline and pure thrill.

I am maybe a bit of an adrenaline junky, you might think. You're not completely right. I do only take risk as long as i can control it. I am not competitive by nature and i often stay way beyond my limits. I climb because of the challenge it is to do a difficult wall and the mild shivers it sends down my spine but i would never in my live do free solos (without a rope). Of course i do it as well for a bit of pride when you've done a tricky route. I freedive because of my live for the water and the calmness i get from it. It is yoga in a more interesting way for me. Extreme yoga.

Just some late night thoughts... (maybe i'll regret that post when i wake up tomorrow as I'm a wee little bit tired... ;-) )

Cheers, Joe, and good night! ( 3:15 in the morning, sheesh)
 
Very Interesting thread. I believe however, that trying to comment on 'extreme' or 'non-extreme' is pointless. Why ?? It's the same as asking, " How long is a piece of string..?" IE, there is no correct answer, it depends on from which perspective you look.

To me, my freediving is not extreme on some days, in a flat ocean, just doing apnea for beauty. On other days, it feels extreme, hunting in false bay, slightly dirty water, off a boat, and getting that 'watched' feeling, your mind telling you Great -whites are in the area.
For me, a constant weight dive to 20 meters is not extreme, but to my next door neighbour, it's SERIOUSLY EXTREME SHIT !!! But to me, you guys who do comfortable constant weight dives past 45 meters, thats pretty damm extreme.

It all depends on who is looking, and from what vantage point, as to how extreme is defined.

As much as I would love to, I will never see the ocean as simply a place of beauty. To me, it will always be an extreme...albeit beautiful...enviroment.

I always remember the quote..." The sky, like the sea, is not inherently dangerous...but is terribly unforgiving in errors of judgement..."

Regards

Jeff
 
JEFF !

Well said, Jeff. That's it, exactly.

Paul Kotik
Deeper Blue Freediving Editor
 
to gerard,

interesting thread !

I just read an interesting article on the psychological subject of extreme sports and "sensation seekers"

the link: http://www.google.ch/search?q=cache...ben/wissen/366811.html+sensation+seeker&hl=de
[ame=http://www.google.ch/search?q=cache:gnpTE78-9bwJ:[ame]www.tagesanzeiger.ch/dyn/leben/wissen/366811.html+sensation+seeker&hl=de[/ame]]http://www.google.ch/search?q=cache:gnpTE78-9bwJ:[ame]www.tagesanzeiger.ch/dyn/leben/wissen/366811.html+sensation+seeker&hl=de[/ame][/ame]

The article is written in german, but i guess as "gerard" you speak german ?

greetings dani wieser
 
I must admit that I am an adrenaline junkie. If there's an extreme sport, I'd love to give it a try...

So, yes, I am big into auto racing (I race on the race track), flying (Cessna 172's), downhill (Whistler) & 'Shore biking, Observed Trials, windsurfing, downhill skiing, wakeboarding, etc....

HOWEVER, I must admit that freediving doesn't fit into my usual pattern. I generally like a "rush". Although freediving may have *originally* appeared to me to be an "extreme" sport, I soon saw it as something different...

Freediving became all about relaxation and it offered the ability to feel completely in tune with one's body and nature at the same time. The only elements that seem to fit the "extreme" profile is that "not everyone can do it" and "it appears dangerous from the outside". Other than that, it is thrilling from a self-realization and self-achievement point of view.

I guess when I look at it, in most of the other sports I enjoy being "psyched up", while this is the first sport that has required a "psyche-down" (ie. mellow music in my car, etc.)... So, in some ways it doesn't really seem "extreme" to me.

Interesting question, though.
Cal.
 
Freediving is a bit odd like no other sport I know of. BO is an ever present threat. If you mess up and BO, you die, unless your buddy knows what to do. Then it is almost no big deal. Physically there is no damage. I can't think of another sport where a mess up bad enough to kill you for certain has so little cost if managed right.

I had never thought of freediving as an extreme sport, but now I think it is.

Connor
 
Originally posted by cdavis
I can't think of another sport where a mess up bad enough to kill you for certain has so little cost if managed right.
Connor

Paradoxes...

Adrian
 
gerard said:
Hi, hello everyone.

I'd like to hear different opinions on this topic as it will help me to gather more info on the project I'm working on. There is some research done in the psychosociology of sports, particularly extreme sports, which basically state that extreme sports, like base jumping, rock-climbing, bungee jumping, etc. (there is no mention to freediving, but it is basically the same due to the present danger), are taken up by people who fit into the following categories:

1. Extreme experiencers. They are true adrenaline junkies, individuals who need a constant adrenaline rush to feel good. However they will be turned off by permissible things, i.e. base jumpers who like to challenge authority by jumping off buildings.

2. Full-blooded experiencers. They chase risk for its own sake but they won’t get turned off by permissible things.

3. Achievers. They seek thrill as well but care about the permissibility of something

4. Latent actualizers , are those to seek the thrill but only to challenge themselves.

5. Experience-achievers , are drawn into the sport to win others’ admiration.

IMO freedivers belong to categories 3, 4 & 5.

Which category do you fit in?

There is no right or wrong answers.

Thanks for your help.

You should add categories because I do not fit in any of those you offer...

I came to freediving out of medical reasons... I had problems with my knees and with my back... caught with running, skiing, judo, acrobatic rock'n roll...

Taking to finswimming (bi-fins and not monofin which is no good for the back...) avoided me knie operation... Then I discovered rescueing which allowed me to navigate under the bridges of Paris...

I did snorkeling at the Red sea (Hurghada) and was so happy to admire those wonderful fish...

Last year I discovered diving with the sled in the Baie des Anges... I discovered extremely sensual feelings like coming up lying on the parachute in a night dive...

In the pool comps I enjoy the merry atmosphere and the music surrounding the event...

In comparison with finswimming apnea has special relaxing effects...

Last September I discovered Dynamic with no fins ; up to now I had mainly practiced sports developing the lower body (running, finswimming, roller skating,...) some of them causing back problems...

DNF is definitely the best sport for the back and rib cage expansion...

I am also practicing (or at least trying to) speed roller skating ; most of speed roller skaters suffer from serious back injuries (it is worse than running because of the position of the body and the falls...) ; then DNF will give me a sufficiently strong back to allow me to do long skates... and DYN with fins will avoid knie problems...

Last but not least, when summer arrives being an apneist allows you to discover marvellous things under the sea...

My very best freediving moment last year was in Nice ; I was perfectly weighted so that I was gliding just above the reefs about 12 m deep among a shoal of purple fish...

That is what I like in freediving.... to be free !
 
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