Teaching Your Sweetie To Freedive
Posted By Peter Scott on 20 August 2007
In my deep sea laboratory, I have made use of the finest genetic nanomachines, psychological manipulation and brainwashing techniques, and frequent sacrifices to the muse of Dr. Frankenstein to create the next leap in evolution: the perfect freediver boyfriend. His name is Frank and he will show you how he introduces his girlfriend Anja to freediving.
Dry Land Essentials
Two important things will make or break Anja’'s first day freediving: her ability to equalize and her comfort holding her breath. Many apnea instructors ignore equalizing because it is too hard to teach and focus instead on static apnea. Who cares how long Anja can hold her breath if she cannot get down and chase the seal, tease the lobster and blow bubbles at the giant squid?
The first thing Frank should do is give Anja the tools with which to learn equalizing. This should start at least a week before the ocean day. Can Anja pop her ears with Valsalva? Great. Now she can learn a more reliable and safer equalizing method: the Frenzel. (It is possible that Anja may have narrow Eustachian tubes—-learning Frenzel is much more important in that case. If ever she feels pain in her ears or sinuses, she should stop and consult a doctor). Anja can read the excellent equalizing document by former world record holder Eric Fattah (www.ericfattah.com/equalizing.doc), which covers control of the soft palate and the tongue piston action that characterizes the Frenzel method.
There is an additional way of learning soft palate control, vital to learning the Frenzel, which Anja can practice lying in her bed every night. Try it yourself so you can teach it to your freediving understudy.
Breathe rapidly through your nose and then your mouth. Alternate back and forth. Five nose breaths, then five mouth breaths. Keep your mouth hanging open as you switch back and forth. Concentrate on the movement of the soft palate as it opens and closes. Then alternate mouth and nose on every breath.
Once you become familiar with the sensation of the opening and closing of the soft palate, try to move the soft palate open and closed without breathing. Concentrate and if you can’'t do it, or lose it, try the breathing drills again.
The last step is to stop in the open mouth breathing position, soft palate open,then close your mouth and block your nostrils lightly with your fingertips. Squeeze your cheeks to compress the air in your mouth and relax. Air should hiss out your nose and your ears should pop. Once you can do this consistently, add the piston action of the tongue to drive air up into your Eustachian tubes, and finally eliminate the cheek squeeze.
Anja can also practice static apnea on dry land. Frank should lead her through a series of breath holds of increasing duration, taking advantage of the body’'s adjustments to apnea. Anja can start at thirty seconds and increase her time by fifteen second increments while paying close attention to how it feels. Frank will encourage her to only go as far as she is comfortable, which may or may not coincide with her first few contractions.
With a week of short practice sessions, each one no longer than thirty minutes for both equalizing and static apnea practice, Anja should be on her way to performing both with consistency. This is plenty for the first open water session. A minute of apnea and a few equalizations is all she needs for her first underwater dives.
The Open Water Teaser
This is where Frank’'s dry land sessions with Anja pay off and the fun begins. Frank's superiorly-engineered intelligence allows him to devote 100% of his attention to Anja. He tells her in advance the plan for the day: snorkelling in the shallows to get used to the equipment and water conditions, and then equalizing practice on the descent line.
In secret, he packs a picnic lunch, warm clothes, and nice blanket for lying on the beach after diving. He does not lose sight of the opportunity to enjoy a day at the beach no matter how the diving goes. He’s a ‘big picture’ sort of guy.
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