Freediving Tips PLEASE!!!

[FreeDivingJake]

Hello All! I have been freediving for about 6 months now. I have all my gear and everything. Omer Bandit mask, Akona wetsuit, Sporasub instinct fins, Cressi corsica snorkel etc. All the gear is fine. But there is one problem...... How long I can stay down. I can dive to 62ft which is the bottom of Troy Springs. If anyone wants to dive let me know. I have a buddy that's a good diver. But I can only do 1:00 min. Can anyone give me tips on how to stay down longer? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[johnnyboy]

have you tried doing some o2 and co2 tables they help alot with increasing the amount of time you can stay under

 

[Rik]

Follow a freediving course?

 

[FreeDivingJake]

Thanks for the tips guys. No haven't tried a course. The course near me in Florida is in Miami. And that's 5 hours away. I want to do one during the summer. But for now I really need tips. I haven't tried the CO2 or O2 tables yet. Your responses were much appreciated.

 

[Simos]

Since you are not aiming at competing or anything like that, why not enjoy diving with your buddy and let the longer times come more naturally?

Better technique and relaxation are probably the things that will give you the most bottom time, ultimately nothing you do can give you more O2 (well nothing you can do in the short term anyway) so learning to conserve it and being more efficient in the water is the best option in my opinion.

 

[FreeDivingJake]

Since you are not aiming at competing or anything like that, why not enjoy diving with your buddy and let the longer times come more naturally?

Better technique and relaxation are probably the things that will give you the most bottom time, ultimately nothing you do can give you more O2 (well nothing you can do in the short term anyway) so learning to conserve it and being more efficient in the water is the best option in my opinion.

Thanks Simos! The reason I want to increase my down time without letting it come natuarally is because my down time is HORRIBLE! Lol. I just need some tips. Because I want to actually spend time under then go down stay 20 secondes and leave. But you are definitely right when talking about efficiency. Do you have any advice on efficiency?

 

[Simos]

Thanks Simos! The reason I want to increase my down time without letting it come natuarally is because my down time is HORRIBLE! Lol. I just need some tips. Because I want to actually spend time under then go down stay 20 secondes and leave. But you are definitely right when talking about efficiency. Do you have any advice on efficiency?

I am no expert but a few things in my limited experience (not order of importance):

1. Correct weighing

2. Streamlining, especially during descending - efficient movement at bottom

3. Efficient duck dive and descent (make sure it's vertical)

4. More efficient/less tiring equalisation & less resulting body tension

5. Correct finning technique

At least these are the ones I am aiming to improve

 

[FreeDivingJake]

I am no expert but a few things in my limited experience (not order of importance):

1. Correct weighing

2. Streamlining, especially during descending - efficient movement at bottom

3. Efficient duck dive and descent (make sure it's vertical)

4. More efficient/less tiring equalisation & less resulting body tension

5. Correct finning technique


At least these are the ones I am aiming to improve

Thanks again Simos! Pushing my dive buddy to dive today! haha

 

[Simos]

Thanks again Simos! Pushing my dive buddy to dive today! haha

Haha excellent! An idea if you have an UW camera is to have your buddy film you during a few dives and then watch it back.

I am sure you'll spot lots of things to improve and if you posted the video here, more experienced divers could point out the less obvious points...

Happy diving, don't worry too much about time and certainly don't keep looking at that dive watch while diving ;-)

 

[FreeDivingJake]

Haha excellent! An idea if you have an UW camera is to have your buddy film you during a few dives and then watch it back.

I am sure you'll spot lots of things to improve and if you posted the video here, more experienced divers could point out the less obvious points...

Happy diving, don't worry too much about time and certainly don't keep looking at that dive watch while diving ;-)

Hey Simos, yes I have thought about the camera thing before. I am actually getting a GoPro in December. Thanks for the help! So you're saying don't worry about the time just go down and stay as long as possible or what? Thanks again

 

[growingupninja]

If you can find a way to do it safely (ie don't train alone), dynamic pool training can help immensely with bottom times. There are lots of sets and workouts out there... You don't need to push to your max everytime, just do sets on an interval that is doable but challenging. Try to find a 50M you can train in. IMHO you will see much faster gains from that than doing tables although tables are better than nothing.

 

[Simos]

Hey Simos, yes I have thought about the camera thing before. I am actually getting a GoPro in December. Thanks for the help! So you're saying don't worry about the time just go down and stay as long as possible or what? Thanks again

No I was saying that instead of dry training and tables, since you have a buddy and access to water, do more diving and focus on improving your technique.

Pool training will help too as growingupninja said but why go to the pool when you can be doing 'real' diving ))

 

[FreeDivingJake]

No I was saying that instead of dry training and tables, since you have a buddy and access to water, do more diving and focus on improving your technique.

Pool training will help too as growingupninja said but why go to the pool when you can be doing 'real' diving ))

Hey Simos, yes improving my technique will probably help immensely! Also I have the perfect fins for efficiency! I've got some Sporasub Instinct fins. Great plastic fin!