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Answered Next steps after failure depth at 32m

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zmz

Member
May 29, 2018
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I'm relatively new to the sport, having done two weeks of depth so far. first time did SSI levels 1 and 2, without getting beyond 20m, then six months later did a lovely week of training where I progressed slowly and comfortably until I reached 32 metres several times, but could not equalise further.

my question is what should I do now? I'm getting conflicting information about the necessity of learning mouthfil, some people seem to be able to go to 100m without, and there's lente info on the internet saying I don't need or, but my instructors all recommended I do SSI level 3 next, which as I understand focuses mainly on that.

I don't plan on being a competitive diver, but I'm enjoying the hell out of this and just want to continue progressing comfortably and having fun. I've got a chance to take two weeks off next time, and I'm not sure what to do' should I do some master training with level 3, or should I find some other school/equalisation training programme? or something completely different? cheers!
 
Here's a simple piece of advice that you can apply to any plateau or obstacle in freediving (or any sport): back off, get comfortable and let the improvements come.

Being comfortable, experienced and skilled at each "level" or depth range is key. So how many dives have you done to 20m-30m?

There's no magic number, but basically, one reliable way to progress that has a lower risk of injury and getting freaked out is to make more dives where you are comfortable, let's say 15-25m. You want to do enough dives to learn what a good day is and what a 25m dive feels like on a "bad day". You can also focus on eliminating any straining when equalizing through practice and adaptation over time with many more dives. Work on your weighting, technique, posture, etc...to make those shallower dives easier and easier.

When this range feels smooth and easy, I think you'll find 30m+ will feel great.

Levels in freediving instruction are helpful, but in real life, there are no levels except your own knowledge of yourself, skill and experience plus a healthy dose of built in risk management. Getting a Level 3 certification is cool, but it really is just a piece of paper if you haven't yet had time to gather experiences and build comfort in shallower water in a variety of situations.

It's great that you can do 32m. It's a huge milestone! And getting deeper is fun....unless it isn't.

If you have the opportunity, spend much more time between 15-30m and learn to enjoy it. Being relaxed and improving your skill will make your equalizing much more effective. Deeper dives will come easier when the first 20-30m are automatic.

After all, do you want to do a confident dive to 35m or 40m when you feel ready or a stressed, rushed skin of your teeth dive?

An instructor can help, but new knowledge doesn't always stick when you're not yet 100% comfortable at shallower depths . Let's say you learn to equalize better and you can now reach 40m, but if you've only done 20 dives past 25m, your level of comfort will just not be the same as it would be had you done 100+ dives in that range.

Hope that helps.
 
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Also, specifically about equalizing, I feel it is too early to learn the mouthful. Spend more time acclimatizing your body to depth and let depth naturally increase or bottom time. Many people have gotten squeezed by learning mouthful too early (me included) without allowing enough time. You can certainly work on the frenzel or other techniques with the goal of less tension in your body/chest as the main goal.
 
Hey laminar, thanks for your exhaustive replies! I'm getting more and more people weigh in on your side, and that's great, since it feels more natural to me too - becoming more comfortable and not rushing anything.

hopefully this is useful to others as well, I think for a lot of new divers, especially if they don't have a lot of opportunities to do depth, there is an implicit assumption that you need to take advantage when you can and level up instead of mastering what you've already got. cheers!
 
That's great to hear that you're getting similar advice.

It's human nature to want to see constant progress, though. Fun to try and figure out the best path.
 
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