Setting up a Freediving Clinic?

[Griff]

Hi Everyone

I like your input as to what are needed in setting up a training clinic. I would like to run a clinic at our local dive club to promote freediving. i am not aware of a freediving clinic in South Africa at the moment so we may have to set up our own facility. if there is one running, then please let me know how to contact them.
the club is fully geared to run scuba courses, and the two instructors are both spearo's.

my questions are

1. who is good enough to run a freediving clinic.

i would think that any competitive freediver with a few years training and competing under their belts, or should they be real pros.

2. how much in terms of lecturing. i dont know how detailed one goes in terms of physiology, but i'm sure that it is important to know what can go wrong, eg ears etc. then i'm also thinking a bit on psycology, dive preps and personal training techniques, like pack streches for example.
then explanations on actual dive technique before you hit the water.
saftely in freeding must also be very important

3. how many pool sessions, and what to do. wet apnea, dynamic apnea etc?

4. when it comes to the seadive, we have to go offshore to get anywhere deep. how deep is deep enough for a clinic? also, conditons will probably involve a current, swells and possibly a wind chop. viz at best 25m.
our club has a boat and i'm sure that there will be an excess of available safety divers, if we need them.
the other option is in a quarry, but viz is usually between 1 and 5m.

5. legalities? i'm sure we will have to have a very comprehensive indemnity.

i guess what i could do is base the course on how others run theirs, but it would be cool to get all the opinions from everyone here.

Thanks

Mark

 

[Skindiver]

Freediver clinics

Hi Griff

Currently there are no official freediver instructors in the country nor are there any official courses to be had.

The most comprehensive approach to training is to join FSA, Freediving South Africa and through league events in your region you will share knowledge with others sharing you passion.

Granted there is no official FSA structure in your region but ( see my PM ) this can be rectified post haste and is the focus of our drive at FSA. Go to the website and see find a buddy. Register. Begin to network inside of and outside of you club and soon you will be enjoying the benefits of an organisation that is proudly run by freedivers for freedivers.

The indemnities are already in place in the FSA documentation. As we are land locked here we choose to dive in a quarry. Viz ranges from 2m - 25m. Depth is 55m.

Our seas are very rough and for us landlocked Vaalies its difficult logistically to set up and transport safety divers, boats and equipment to the sea although that would be ideal. We trained at Sodwana before going to Hawaii and we dove in 3- 4m swells and a current that forced us to swim flat out to stay with the line when it became snagged on the bottom. ( a mobile line was the only way we could do it, moving with the current but even then at 35m it turned horizontal as the surface was moving faster than at depth.

We concentrate on pool sessions with dynamic and static's between constant weight events and our aim is for a league event every two months. The ranked players go through to Nationals and are selected for the National team representing SA on an International level.

Join FSA. see the world. www.freediving.co.za

Skin
Provincial event Co - ordinator.
FSA

 

[hydro]

Ask the pros

Performance Freediving has offered clinics in Europe and New Zealand. I have no idea about the logistics of something like that but you can ask them if they would consider giving a clinic in SA. They are world class trainers and the best in the business (performancefreediving.com).
My 2 cents

Hydro, NY

 

[efattah]

Personally, if offering a course, I would choose the quarry over the rough open ocean. Despite poor vis, beginners have too much to think about to worry about currents, chop, snorkel flooding and seasickness.


Eric Fattah
BC, Canada

 

[Griff]

+karma all round

Thanks for the feedback guys.

The quarry available to us would probably work quite well then. I dont know how deep it is at its deepest, but i know its +40m. I did a nav dive there as part of my advanced scuba rating and the viz was good for the quarry at 5m.

Cheers
Mark