longer bottom time?

[Pekka]

scott

How Fast...
Right so the deal is this use as little energy/oxygen as you descend, nut near the surface where boyancy is strong one must kick little harder to keep sinking..right?
So if you are neutral in say 17m, do you stop kicking when you reach 17 to just start sinking or keep kicking to go faster?
I have always been kicking the whole way down and am now anxious to go diveing again as I want to try to just sink after I reached my neutral point..in about 20m.....

 

[scott]

Pekka,

I don't completely stop finning but very close to it. Every few seconds, I give a gentle kick (probably more out of habit than anything).

Scott

 

[Chefkoch]

When you begin your dive, it is very important to gain speed without using up too much Oxygen. When I begin, I have my arms streched in front of me. Then I push them down almost vertical... my body follows this movement, and I raise both legs in the air. Doing this manoeuver very quickly allows you to gain speed, because your feet push you into the blue.
Now this is the clue: if you just wait until your fins are under water, you slow down :-(
By pulling yourself forward, you even gain some speed. Then I fin down towards the depth where I become negative. At 18-20m I stop finning, and if I`ve done everything right, I glide downward very quickly...dreaming of the BIG BLUE...
Happy diving!

 

[ickledevil]

Well all....
Hi again been away for a bit, just thought id drop in my 2 cents worth!
I just want to say I 'train' (might be an overstatement at the moment!) for freediving and spearfishin by apnea walking... I dont dive for records, but like many of you I like to look and take my time. To extend my bottom time I tried static apnea... those times went up but had NO effect on my bottom times. I also have virtually no access to a pool... what next?
Then I heard about apnea walking, basically I set out a 'course' (I train on a rugby pitch.. nearest green thing to me!) I pick a distance (start small!) like 15metres away breath up using a technique comfortable to you, basically I think slow is best, walk to your target wait 5/10secs walk back HOLDING YOUR BREATH gradually increase your time at the end of the walk, and the distance.
Ive only been doing this for a short time but it seems to work
Good luck:t

 

[Simon Blampied]

On the topic of bouyancy what is the correct weighting?? I've always been only just bouyant at the surface therfore negating the need to fin at all on the descent. This does present problems at depth when acceleration can hamper equalisation and I understand the implications of being negative during SWB, but when attempting to dive with les weight I'm usually spent by about 20 metres and have to ascend.

Any suggestions???

Simon

 

[ickledevil]

bouyency

The way I tackle the bouyency issue is to get into water deep enough to not touch the bottom (hint not so deep that if you guess very wrong youll be 60m down! ) Take your belt and weights, put on what you think, probally somewhere between 4-8kg depending on suit (I use approx 6 on two piece 5.5mm) Put on your belt, you should float head and shoulders above water with a full breath in your lungs, If you let it out you shouldnt sink but stay about eyes/eyes and nose above water. This makes me bouyant from about 5-8m which is also a good approach to SWB Sometimes I add ankle weights (1kg) if Im diving shallow or doing something different. You should remeber that as you suit gets older itll need less weight. When mine was new it needed 8kg Also if you dive in freshwater you'll need much less, I use 1-2kg.
Hope that helps
Joe

 

[xenopus]

descent rate

Originally posted by Octo
Pekka,

I spend the first portion of a deep dive focusing on strong, efficient kicking (not a sprint) and streamlining my body. I average about 2.5ft (.8m?) per second over the course of the descent (I checked the new dive computer). I am curoious about what others are doing. Anybody else care to share??

Hello Octo,

I have been wondering about this myself. It takes me about 20 seconds to reach 14 meters (.7 meters/second). I do this with a 5mm suit + 6 lbs. I feel like I can go faster, but am unsure if I should expend anymore energy. I learned from the performance clinics to pull with one arm (during the initial pike dive) while the other arm stays overhead. I then use the same arm (since it is already by my side) to equalize with. I would definately like to hear other diver's thoughts on their descent rate.

Bo

 

[Bill]

ascent/descent rate

New at this but, I have a real good coach or two. On my training dives I'm doin' 75 feet(to the knot) and back in about 45 seconds. For deeper dives I shift gears here to a slower kick and then real slow below 100.