Trouble descending in Constant weight with fins

[islanderman]

Could some experienced divers give me some advice?
FACTS:
I am relatively new to freediving-2yrs.
I can hold my breath for 1:30 regularly and 3:00 is my best. underwater, though about 50secs. I'm in good shape 175lbs-6'1/2''
I wear a 3/2mm shorty wetsuit, 10lb weightbelt, Gara 3000s.
I don't use my arms when descending or ascending
As I was hanging off a kayak i am negatively bouyant.
Scenario:
I was at a lake over this weekend and I was diving off a rocky point.
It drops from 3ft off the rocks straight down to 12ft and drops off at a 60 degree angle. There is a 3ft wide groove that is almost a staircase in the rocks.
As I was diving through this crevice, I would have trouble descending. i would give myself a few strong kicks and glide with the momentum. About 30 feet away from the start point, in 22ish or so of water I feel hollow, as if my lungs are empty. I start to (not panic but worry)... so I ascend and i am fine.
I repeated this a dozen or so times b/c i love being underwater.
I wanted to be deep so i am assuming i use up my O2 getting down but i don't know how to get to depth quicker
QUESTION:
How can i stay underwater w/ out worrying. Should I change any of my techniques? and what are some things i can do to extend my underwater time?
Thanks
Islanderman
:head
The thermoclime is at 10 feet there. dunno if that has anything to do with it

 

[vali]

termocline has nothing to do!
it took me one minute and 14 seconds to reach 28m in CWT [84feet?] and come back!!!
your gear seem 2 be in order...
what can you tell us about the amount of air in the loungs befor plonging?
i know that before going down a preparation must be made: 2 minutes of breathing in this way: inhale/exhale in at least double inhaling time
after that you take the ultimate breath before diving
in this ultimate breath you can packing or not....packing means you inhale much more air in the loungs than usualy....
if your inhaling are as usual or poor, at some depts the loungs are srinking and les air become more les air...
i hope my poor english made you understand what i'm tryng to say....

 

[picasso]

Did you mean that you are negatively buoyant just on the surface? 10lbs weights to short 3mm suit seems more than enough to descend easily. Maybe it would help you to youse buoy and rope to go down with free emersion technique, slowly and relaxed, with less weight on your belt to go bach easier. Use body to keep your dives safe. Try to be relaxed and try to prolong your dives step by step (by 10-15 seconds) and you'll see. Don't know what are your goals. By it, it would depend your training. Good luck.

 

[hteas]

Aside from being overweighted (a serious safety issue) you need to get used to pressure. the way to do thayt is to practice whenever you can. As your bodu aclimates to the increased pressure, your comfort zone will expand.
You can also try stopping at the point where it becomes uncomfortable and lie there for as long as possible to help adjust to the feeling, then come up.

 

[islanderman]

Thanks vali and picasso... I tried what you said and I dove quickly and easily by just gliding at a steep angle.
Thanks hteas i am now diving with less weight I occasionally use 10 when I dive off a giant rock pile that i can use my hands to climb back up. I stay as safe as possible too, I have a weight belt with quick release buckle(less than 2 sec.) and the weights are in velcro secured pouches.

 

[sunki]

If you still havent taken a course I would recommend you to take a course with any of the internationally recognized freediving organisations there is. You will learn a lot about freediving, your body and the approach to take for deeper freediving.

 

[islanderman]

Well I think I fibbed on my best time before.... 2:45 was my best I think. About 10 min ago I just hit 3:40. I have looked at a school in Florida but that is not an option as it is 400 miles away for me. I cut my weight belt back to I think 4 or 6 lbs because I would get fatigued at the surface and because of your advice. I've made progress with the iApnea app with its o2 tolerance and co2 tolerance tables too

 

[harrychamas]

Hay, you feel empty because there surrounding pressure of the water has compressed the air inside of your lungs, so you dont have that full feeling any longer. But just remember that you still have the same amount of usable o2 inside of you, it is just compressed. this is the reason why we can be weighted to be boyant on the surface, because as our lung volume decreases we become less boyant.
My advise is to concentrate on your final breath and take a moment to observe the fact you have a full lung before you dive.
Apart from that, the best way to get better at freediving is to freedive, its the same as anything, for instance i bet the first time you drove a car you were pritty nervouse but now you dont even have to think about it.

if you can't get to a school, just feel free to ask me any saftey questions you can think off. the nuber one saftey ESSENTIAL IS TO ALWAYS HAVE A BUDDY. number two is to progress slowley and be confortable at each depth before you increase it. o ye and dont hyperventalate, your breath out should be twice as long as your breath in for about 2 mins before a dive.
i hope this helps mate. happy training

 

[SavedStingray]

Islanderman,
I am in the process of working with a local dive shop in Leesville,SC to offer a freedive specialty course. Send me a message and I can get you more info if you are interested. I will definitely be heading up to Jocasse this summer and would be happy to work with you if you are interested.