In freediving, your mind is either your greatest ally or your steepest obstacle. While technique, physical conditioning, and CO2 tolerance are essential, they are often limited by your mental state. To reach your full potential, you need to train your brain as seriously as your body.
Here are five fundamental principles to help you build a resilient, high-performance freediving mindset. These principles are basic, but they help our Master Freedivers comfortably meet the requirements.
1. Protect Your Self-Image
Your freediving performance rarely exceeds the image you have of yourself. Many freedivers fall into the trap of harsh self-critique, often saying things like, “My technique is horrible” after a session.
When you label yourself as a freediver with “bad technique,” your subconscious accepts this as your identity. This creates a psychological ceiling: how can a freediver with poor technique expect to achieve a Great Result? Instead of identifying with the flaw, view the technique as a work in progress. Focus on the mechanics without attaching negative labels to your identity.
2. Prize Your Effort (The Growth Mindset)
Success in freediving is built on a foundation of small wins. At the end of every session, take a moment to acknowledge your progress. Did you understand your equalization better? Did you feel slightly more relaxed during the hang? Did you duck-dive in CWT, or did a turn in DYN become a little bit better?
By consciously reminding yourself that you are getting better, you build an image of a freediver who is constantly evolving. Even if the progress feels slow, this positive reinforcement fuels the motivation needed for long-term achievements. You aren’t just training your lungs; you are training your confidence.
3. Anchor Yourself in the Present
Freediving happens in the now. If your mind is stuck in the past or racing toward the future, you lose the relaxation necessary for a successful dive.
The Trap of the Past: If you botch your duck dive and spend the rest of the dive thinking about it, you create tension and waste oxygen. What is the point? It already happened.
The Trap of the Future: If you start a 100m dynamic attempt and immediately worry about the upcoming “urge to breathe” or potential hypoxia, your body will tense up in anticipation. A freediver is worried about something that might not even happen.
The Solution: Whenever you catch your mind drifting, bring it back to the current stroke, the current sensation of the water, or your current kick. The dive is won one moment at a time.
4. Practice Radical Acceptance
Discomfort is an inherent part of freediving. If you are at war with your contractions, you are in a state of stress—and stress is the enemy of breath-holding.
Instead of fighting the discomfort or trying to “rush through” the dive to end it, practice gradual exposure. If your 100m PB feels like a battle, step back to 50m or 60m. Practice feeling a small amount of discomfort while maintaining total composure and perfect technique. Recognize the sensation, accept its presence, and don’t fight it. As your comfort zone expands, your PB will naturally expand as well.
To learn more about becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable, check out my recent YouTube video.
5. Intentional Visualization
While it can be difficult to visualize the exact physiological feeling of a deep dive, you can use visualization to prime your nervous system for success.
Instead of struggling to imagine the pressure of depth, focus on the controllable environment. Visualize your travel to the dive site, your equipment preparation, and your warm-up routine. Most importantly, visualize the aftermath of success. Imagine the feeling of surfacing clean, the joy of a successful protocol, and the congratulations of your teammates. This pre-programs your brain to view the dive as a positive, achievable event.
The essence of the Dynamic Apnea Bi-Fins disciplines is to spend as little energy as possible while covering as much distance as possible.
Freedivers typically learn how to perform dynamic apnea (horizontal swimming underwater while holding their breath) on their first freediving course. In the course, a freediver learn the basic idea of how to move underwater, with the focus on technique and relaxation.
But what should you do after you finish a freediving course? How to progress in Dynamic Apnea Bi-Fins? Ideally, find a freediving coach. If you couldn’t find a coach nearby, find an online coach (you can check our online coaching program). You must also have a safety diver (another freediver) with whom you can start training together.
First of all, what not to do. Don’t focus too much on the distance you can do. Instead, focus on the technique, relaxation, and streamlining.
In this article, we will discuss streamlining.
Water is much denser than air (almost 800 times denser than air), and as a result, in freediving (same as in swimming), it is crucial to minimise the amount of drag you create during Dynamic Apnea Bi-Fins. How? You need to be more streamlined. Here are a few tips:
Keep arms in a streamlined position, if the current level of flexibility allows you to do so. If it is not, work on improving your flexibility (specifically in your lats, chest, and shoulders) at least two to three times per week. But don’t expect quick results. It takes time to improve your flexibility.
If you couldn’t keep your arms in a streamlined position and maintain relaxation, give it up for now. Keep your arms along your body until your flexibility improves. Make sure your arms are close to your body (but don’t tense them up, since it will negatively affect the overall relaxation).
Keep your head in the neutral position. One of the most common mistakes among beginner freedivers is to look forward during dynamic apnea bi-fins. It is a natural tendency for adults to look at where we are going. In the water, this habit will be a problem, as it creates tension in the neck and generates a lot of drag. But make sure that in the attempt to sort out the “looking forward” problem, you are not creating another one – “chin too close to the chest”. This mistake also creates tension in the neck and extra drag. One more time – keep your head in the neutral position.
Don’t kick too wide. Some freedivers make this mistake as a subconscious way to compensate for positive buoyancy (you must have neutral buoyancy in all dynamic apnea disciplines). Other freedivers think that the wider the kick, the more propulsion it will generate. Either way – don’t kick too wide.
Having a streamlined position in the Dynamic Apnea Bi-Fins discipline should be your number two goal (number one goal: having neutral buoyancy). Everything else – kicking technique, CO2 tolerance, and hypoxic tolerance — should come after that.
If you want to learn more about performing Dynamic Apnea Bi-Fins, check out our free tutorial.
This is Part 1 of a series where we will discuss specific freediving equipment types, what suits a freediver and the factors to consider before making a purchase. If you have just entered the world of Freediving and all the mind-boggling choices online are confusing, here’s the solution. Analytics.
It’s a jungle of information out there. Good freediving equipment is important at every stage, whether you’re a beginner freediver or a freediving instructor. It affects how efficient you are in the water; well-fitted gear makes you a more efficient diver. Efficiency/ Economy of Effort is one of the ultimate goals of a sport, where relaxation is a foundational pillar.
Be warned, if you are a gearhead in other aspects of your life, there’s a good chance the same tendencies will carry over here, too. Land logic also applies to Ocean Logic.
These are common factors that you can use to choose what suits you best. They are not in any series of importance except your own. If cost is more important than performance, then so be it. This is a guide. Let’s go.
Take a look at each of the different aspects to consider, and then hopefully you will be better placed to make an informed decision. A few standard guidelines would be to check all freediving equipment in the water before making a purchase. Dive schools and your instructors will be an asset in this regard; use that resource.
We’ll be looking at Masks, Fins, Wetsuits and Weight Systems in the following sections. These are our building blocks towards becoming a colour-coordinated freediver who kills it in all pictures and conditions.
MASK
Two terms, i.e. Low Profile and Low Volume, are critical. Everything else is subjective. Low profile refers to how far out a mask projects from the diver’s face. Low volume refers to the internal volume of a mask once fitted onto a diver.
A higher volume mask, like a scuba mask, will require frequent equalisation and a greater amount of air to achieve the same result. In itself, not an issue when on scuba, however, we’d like to avoid using air too frequently to equalise the mask. God knows the ears are demanding enough, so why bring a mask to the EQ party as well?
Any mask that is Low-Profile and Low-Volume is good. There are inane intricacies related to the silicone, external frame, internal frames, profile, and volumes. Leave them for a quest down that rabbit hole.
Since every face has a different structure with varying cheekbone heights, nose shapes and sizes, it’s imperative to find one that fits you as an individual. The mask should seal well without flooding with water, and it should be easy to pinch your nose to equalise. That’s it. First Principles.
If you, like our Instructors Sergei and Akshay, have decided that facial hair is of paramount importance, then congratulations, you’ve unlocked a hidden difficulty in the game. There are essentially two options.
On the left: Sergei, go the chin strap route. On the right: Akshay, find a mask that fits despite that werewolf-looking fuzz.
Tips and tricks, such as growing your moustache out, applying Vaseline over the mask, and shaving a thin strip under the nose, are all effective tricks. They only work for so long, and it’s another variable that suddenly becomes critical for each dive. It’s avoidable. Keep trying different models of masks to find one that works with your prized beard. Or treat yourself to a razor and a clean shave.
As with all freediving equipment, we will discuss specific brands and recommendations in the following article.
FINS
The primary means of propulsion in the water is also called Bi-Fins, Stereo Fins or just fins, unless mentioned explicitly as a Monofin. They are not Flippers.
Here we start getting into greater permutations than a mask. There is a deeper rabbit hole to explore regarding foot pocket angles, the balance between comfort and performance, your weight, the stiffness of the blades, whether you’re in a pool, open water, competing, or if you’re an instructor or have a natural gift. But again, we keep it simple, and the factors we’ll look at will be:
Fit
Material
Usage
Level of the Freediver
Cost
Travel Considerations
Well-Fitting Foot Pockets
The most critical factor in our opinion. The foot pocket is currently the most vital part of the fins. A well-fitted foot pocket will be a snug fit. A fit that does not chafe or is too tight in the water.
Remember, these will be on your feet for at least an hour. Loosely fitted foot pockets will chafe and rub against the foot, preventing efficient energy transfer. Conversely, too tight a fit can be uncomfortable, potentially causing pain and distraction. Relaxation levels of a Zen monk are hard to achieve whilst in pain.
Like our faces, our feet are all unique. From Tyrion Lannister to the Mountain, everyone needs footwear that suits their feet and use. As with all footwear, look for each manufacturer’s sizing and measurement guide; they are generally quite detailed and probably have an attached YouTube link for visual confirmation.
Wear them in the conditions you are most likely to dive in. If you need 3 mm socks because it’s cold in Australia, factor that in when deciding which fin size to get. Feet on the extreme end of the scales will always have some difficulty, but you already know that. Looking at you, Shaq.
Material, Cost and Travel
Plastic, Fibreglass or Carbon fibre. Listed in increasing order of cost, decreasing order of durability. Plastic fins manufactured today suffice for your foray into freediving. They travel well, don’t cost too much as an initial investment and will let you do almost everything you want.
Quick Tip: Don’t fall for carbon-fibre FOMO. Unless you’re competing, plastic fins are just fine.
At Kaizen Freediving, we train all levels of freedivers. Our flagship program, Zero to Hero, is done using good-quality freediving equipment, including plastic fins, and you won’t feel the need to upgrade. Fibreglass and carbon fins will improve your technique and efficiency without a doubt; however, the caveat of “Is it needed?” needs to be answered. This ties into the next part: Travel.
Travelling with Long Fins
It’s not the easiest and does require a degree of planning. Backpacking across the Ha Giang loop with a pair of long fins, whether made of carbon or plastic, is not going to be easy. Do-able, of course, but do you want to? The more expensive carbon fins will most likely need a hard case to protect them and your heart from the shocks of airport/bus/ferry transport. This is where you need to bring out the weighing scale and decide what’s important and practical for you.
Usage
We like to believe in upgrading freediving equipment in consonance with the frequency and distances you train for. Beyond a certain stage, better gear will reap dividends, and by then your understanding of what works for you will be much higher. Wait it out, upgrade as you go along. It’s also a sound reward system.
This last bit is subjective, but do you really need the $500 carbon fibre custom fins at this stage? If you want it, go for it; follow the old adage of “If you believe it helps, it does”
WETSUIT
The Primary Function
The primary function of a wetsuit is exposure protection. It keeps you, the diver, warm and conserves energy. First Principles. Don’t forget that the bulk of your open water session is spent resting on the surface face down.
The perfect wetsuit for you should be the centre of your Venn diagram of priorities: comfort, durability, and insulation.
Open cell, closed cell, one-piece, two-piece, thickness, wearing only the top or the bottoms of your two-piece, how long each material lasts, etc., are factors to consider independently.
Each one is a variable that will affect the cost. Some materials last longer than others. If you’re considering a wetsuit as a student, instructor, or Athlete, each one will have their preferences. An instructor will prefer one that lasts longer, while an athlete may choose a more streamlined option over durability.
An important side-effect of your choice of wetsuits will be your buoyancy. General Rule of Thumb: The Thicker the wetsuit, the more weights you need. Factoring in travel and your planned dive locations will change all these variables.
WEIGHT SYSTEMS
Buoyancy
Ever since Archimedes came up with the idea, the world hasn’t stopped talking about it. From the Titanic to the titans of freediving. It’s something we all keep fine-tuning.
The amount of weight a diver needs is determined by several factors, including their weight, the type of water (fresh or salt), the wetsuit they wear, and whether they are in a pool or open water.
How the weight is distributed is what we shall discuss. A weight belt is the simplest form of a weighting system. Rubber is preferred because it can expand and contract in tandem with the diver, unlike Nylon weight belts, which are relatively uncomplicated. However, the simplest freediving equipment is not always the most efficient. A larger number of weights on the hips is not only detrimental to hydrodynamics but also uncomfortable.
A neck weight is a great add-on to distribute the weight over the larger shoulder muscles and reduce the amount needed on the hips.
In both the pool and open water, the difference is incredible. Before picking up a neck weight or going old school and making one with a bicycle tyre tube, let’s unpack something.
Distribution
The overall weight worn does not change with a neck weight. How much goes over which body part is all that changes. Neck weights come in varying sizes and weights. Try them out and see how comfortable you feel with 2 kilos on your shoulders. Can your shoulders take that load along with your expectations? Jokes apart, like with all new gear, there will be a period of getting used to it.
Quick Tip
Distribution matters more than the number. Find what feels balanced in water, not just on land.
Travel
Carrying 2 kilos or more of lead weights anywhere is not easy, especially given how some neck weights are pretty expensive. Recently on our way to a pool competition, our three instructor Trainers were carrying their neck weights: a grand total of 15 kilos of just neck weights. Not adding in 3 sets of bi-fins, one monofin and wetsuits. It’s a logistical exercise, and a learning one.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Freediving equipment doesn’t need to be complicated. The ocean doesn’t judge whether your fins are carbon or plastic. But your feet and comfort levels will. Start with the basics, trust your body, and remember: performance comes from good habits, not just fancy kit.
Your instructors (yes, including the ones with high-maintenance beards) are more than happy to guide you through real-world gear decisions. Ask questions. Try things out. Be curious
Coming Up Next: The Real Gear Talk
In Part 2 of this series, we’ll dive into the deep end of specific freediving equipment:
Which masks seal well and survive moustaches?
Fins are our instructors’ swear by.
Wetsuits that will serve you.
Neck weights: DIY and off the Shelf.
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed browsing freediving gear online, we’ve got your back (and your feet, face, shoulders, and hips).
Written by PADI Freediving Instructor Trainer Akshay Tatthe
If you’re considering buying freediving equipment from brands like Molchanovs, 2BeFree, Freexperience, TruDive, or Lobster, use promo code KAIZEN (for Molchanovs, it is KAIZEN24) to get 10% off!
If you have already done your first Freediving course, then you learned that hyperventilation is dangerous and should be avoided before a breath-hold. But also probably seen some elite-level freedivers doing it before their massive STA breath-hold
So, who is right?
First, let’s discuss the theory and then whether you should do hyperventilation or not.
Your breathing rate and depth are mainly regulated by how much CO2 you produce at the moment. Usually, your breathing rate and depth match your current metabolic activity level. But if you voluntarily start changing your breathing rate or/and depth, you are more likely to do hyperventilation.
What are the disadvantages of hyperventilation?
elevated heart rate
cerebrial vasoconstriction
suppressing Bohr Effect
increased risk of Black Out
To learn more about hyperventilation, watch this video.
More about Bohr Effect for Freediving
If HV is dangerous, then why can you see it on the STA competition?
The answer is simple – competitive Freedivers are ready to accept the increased risk of having Black Out to have their urge to breath later (in the attempt of having more extended breath-hold).
And also let’s not forget that the safety during the competition is usually better organized than your regular training session.
If you are looking to buy heart rate monitor, here is the link (Amazon)
If you are already an experienced freediver looking for a new exercise to improve your Dynamic Apnea Bi-Fins technique and results, think about underwater sprints.
There are a couple of reasons why you might include it in your Freediving Dynamic Apnea training
Improve your finning technique
Include anaerobic work for your legs
When you get some experience with this exercise, you can add some resistance to it. For example, you can wear a swimming parachute or swimming drag shorts.
For more information about sprints for DYNb training, check out my video below.
If you are looking to buy a swimming parachute or drag shorts, check the affiliated links below.
What do we know about buoyancy? In general and buoyancy for freediving? You normally learn it on your Freediving course, but lets refresh it here.
Buoyancy for Freediving
Google tells us that buoyancy is the upward force applied by a fluid on an object when the object is put in or submerged in the fluid. In a more simple way for freedivers, it means “sink or float or stay on the same depth.”
Why does it have any meaning for us as freedivers? If you are not properly buoyant, it will cost you much more energy to cover the same distance. But as freedivers, we want to save energy as much as possible, not to spend it.
There are 3 types of buoyancy: positive, neutral and negative.
If we refer to Google again, we can find out that positive buoyancy occurs when an object is lighter than the fluid it displaces. The object will float because the buoyant force is greater than the object’s weight. Neutral buoyancy occurs when an object’s weight is equal to the fluid it displaces. Negative buoyancy occurs when an object is heavier than the fluid it displaces. The object will sink because its weight is greater than the buoyant force.
Positive Buoyancy for Freediving
In more simple words, if the freediver is positively buoyant at a certain depth – he floats up without any effort. If the freediver is neutrally buoyant – he stays on the same depth and doesn’t move up or down at all. I believe we can compare it to zero gravity feeling. I have never been to space yet, but I guess neutral buoyancy is what we might feel while wondering in the universe. Negative buoyancy is when the freediver just keeps falling down if he relaxes and doesn’t move. This “phenomena” is called freefall and for many freedivers, this is the best and most favorite part of dive.
Buoyancy depends on different factors – personal and external.
A personal factor, which influences the buoyancy, is body composition. Different body tissues have different density – bones and muscles are heavier than fat. Skinny people are usually less buoyant then people who have some body fat.
When we are talking about external factors influencing the buoyancy, first we need to think about the environment. In saltwater freediver more buoyant than in the freshwater due to different water density. So don’t forget to adjust your weights correspondingly, if you change the diving conditions. Otherwise, duck dives in the sea will be a real challenge, if you take the same amount of weights, which you take normally in the lake.
The second important external factor is a wetsuit. Wetsuit does affect buoyancy. The thicker is a wetsuit, the more buoyant it is. And the new wetsuit is more buoyant than the old one. Which means, if you are diving for 2 years in the same wetsuit you may need fewer weights after a certain period of time, then you used when your outfit was a brand new one. Just opposite – if you get yourself a new wetsuit – don’t forget that you may need some extra weights.
What you can do if you are too positively buoyant? You can add weights on your weight belt or neck weight. It is more difficult to adjust the buoyancy if the freediver is “too heavy” in the water. The easiest way is a wetsuit – if you put it on – it will make you more buoyant. But, if for some reason you cannot wear a thicker wetsuit – maybe it would be too hot in it, and then nothing could be done. At least at the moment, freediving gear manufacturers cannot solve the problem of negatively buoyant freedivers. Who knows, maybe soon someone will create rash guards with tiny balloons all around? We’ll see 🙂
And now, let’s discuss how we can check if we have proper buoyancy for open water trainings.
First of all, the freediver needs to be positive buoyant on a surface – when he lies down on a surface he is not sinking. The reason for it – you want to be able to rest before and after the dive – before the dive, you want to relax and take time to prepare, and after the dive, you might be a bit tired and want to recover. If you need to kick to stay on the surface – it is not the most relaxing, right?
Except being positive buoyant on a surface you need to be positive buoyant even after passive exhale. What does it mean “passive exhale”? You do full inhale and then you exhale without any force, passively release a little bit of air. After this manipulation you still need to float on a surface – may be a few centimeters below the surface, but definitely not sinking (even slowly) down.
Why?
If the worst-case scenario happens and the freediver loses consciousness on the way up, he will still stay positively buoyant on ascending and the whole rescue procedure will be much easier to do. Because when the freediver loses consciousness, the diaphragm relaxes and goes to the neutral position, which results in a little exhale. So when we do a buoyancy check with a passive exhale on a surface, this is a kind of imitation of air release in case of a blackout.
Besides, the freediver should be also positively buoyant the last couple of meters of ascending. Because on the last few meters of ascend freediver passes the riskiest depth, so it would be more reasonable to save little energy and not to kick hard. In this situation, the freediver can slightly relax and save some energy (read oxygen) on the last 5-10 meters due to positive buoyancy, which helps to prevent shallow water blackout.
Neutral buoyancy should be somewhere around 10 meters. At this depth, you don’t sink or float up. How you can check it? You dive to 10 meters. You slightly hold the line – make some kind of loop with your fingers around the line, so you don’t actually touch the line. And you will see if you go down or up. Ideally, you should stay on the same level – this means you have neutral buoyancy at this depth.
The depth of neutral buoyancy depends on how deep the freediver is going to dive and for experienced freedivers depth of neutral buoyancy might be deeper. But if you are a beginner or intermediate level freediver, you need to be neutrally buoyant at 8-10 meters. There is a one really cool warm-up exercise which our students find enjoyable. If you feel comfortable at 10 meters, try to hang there for a while. If you close your eyes, you can imagine yourself an astronaut in the open space out of gravity. This exercise we call hangs. But don’t hang too long – always remember you still have 10 meters to go up to the surface.
And when the freediver passes neutral buoyancy he gets into the impact of negative buoyancy. At the beginning of 12-13 meters, you don’t feel it much, because it is still very light. If you relax for freefall at this depth, you will fall super slow and just waste your oxygen-treasured time. So I wouldn’t recommend you to start freefall shallower than 15 meters.
After your turn on the planned depth, you need to do the way up which is just opposite to the efforts on the way down – first, you need to kick really good and strong to struggle with negative buoyancy. After you pass neutral buoyancy, you get into the positive buoyancy world and can relax a bit. Last 5-6 meters you may just float up fully relaxed without moving or glide a lot between kicks or between pulls, depending on your freediving technique.
To make a conclusion I would like to underline once again the key points of this article – when you check the buoyancy – you check it first on a surface. Even after passive exhale you should be positively buoyant. If you start sinking after passive exhales – remove the weights. Check if you are neutrally buoyant at 8-10 meters. If you sink – remove some weights from your belt.
And the main things – don’t forget to enjoy your freefall and your hangs in space.
If you are looking for the best freediving float check out 2 Be Free equipment company. Use promo code KAIZEN and get 10 % discount for all their products.
Let me start with a question – WHY do we need to do safety for each other on freediving open water sessions?
Despite it rarely happening, we shouldn’t ignore a slight chance of shallow water blackout on ascend. For this reason, the safety diver needs to dive and meet the ascending freediver at approximately one-third of the depth and escort him to the surface.
Freediving Safety
Let’s have a closer look at the most frequent mistakes.
The first “popular” mistake is not to follow the surface interval between the dives. So, for example, the freediver comes up from the deep dive, and instead of taking full recovery as if he gets ready for his next deep dive, almost immediately, he confirms he is prepared to do safety.
What is the problem here? – Obviously, the freediver hasn’t recovered fully. So when the freediver gets ready for his deep dive, he would rest after the last dive and never dive just after the recovery breathing. It takes a while to remove extra CO2 from tissues and renew the gas balance in the body. So why would the freediver prepare for the deep dive more carefully than for the safety dive? Just perhaps, safety dive to 10-15 meters doesn’t sound like a challenge. And if a safety diver needs to watch and escort the freediver, it is not a big deal at all. But imagine the situation when the freediver loses consciousness, and the safety diver needs to grab him, bring to the surface, and then do all rescue procedures. You know, all this lifting and supporting an unresponsive diver on the surface is a pretty exhausting activity. So make sure you rest long enough to perform as safety and rescuer if you need to. Take your time; no rush in freediving.
Freediving Safety
The second mistake freedivers usually make connected to equipment.
Before your dive, you probably leave a snorkel in the float to avoid dragging. But when you watch your buddy’s dive from the surface, it is more convenient to have a snorkel in the mouth. Of course, you hold the line to know when to start the dive, but sometimes it is not enough – your freediver may forget to pull the line, or he pulls too weak. So looking down is a good idea because you can react faster and not miss your freediver, making the snorkel a helpful piece of equipment.
The same story is with the fins. If you train without fins, you still need them for safety. Even if your no fins technique is brilliant, lifting a blacked-out freediver to the surface is not a piece of cake. You have to swim fast, which will be impossible to do without fins. And use proper freediving fins for safety – scuba fins or monofin are unacceptable; you can use them only for your dives.
The third mistake is to miss the moment when to begin the dive.
How do you know when to start your dive as a safety? When a beginner freediver dives to 20-30 meters, the easiest way to check when you need to start the safety dive is to do the following: you lie on the surface and hold the line when your freediver reaches the target depth, he grabs the line for a turn and pulls it (which is a part of turning technique). You feel this pull, and it means your freediver started the ascend, which is a signal for you to start your dive.
For deep freedivers, it’s a bit different story since they know precisely how long the dive lasts and at what exact depth you need to meet them.
Mistake number four – not to watch freediver till his full recovery.
I guess this is the most common mistake. Freediver comes up, and after he finishes recovery breathing, you stop paying attention to him and do your staff. It’s a huge mistake. Full recovery is not the same as the end of recovery breathing. Recovery breathing is a certain amount of active inhales, and passive exhales and may last only 5-15 seconds. But full recovery takes more time. You cannot be sure your freediver is ok 5 seconds after he breaks the surface and shows ok. Some freedivers have a habit of showing ok as soon as they can. And the freediver could have LMC even after he did recovery breathing. So if you are not continuing watching freediver carefully for a while, you may miss the moment when he requires some support.
Let’s finalize and try to set up four main rules for safety in the open water:
follow surface interval timing for your safety dives same as for your deep dives
check/put on your gear before you confirm you are available for safety dive
start the safety dive in time
Watch freediver till he fully recovers, not till the end of recovery breathing.
If you are looking for the best freediving float check out 2 Be Free equipment company. Use promo code KAIZEN and get 10 % discount for all their products.
It’s hard to underestimate the role of a safety buddy in any freediving discipline.
At first glance safety skill for STA seems to be very easy – you need to carefully watch your buddy and be ready to assist if necessary.
However, safety for static apnea is a unique experience in freediving: only in static safety buddy can talk to the freediver during the breath-hold – give comments, support, and motivate. In this case, the safety buddy in static apnea acts as the coach.
So don’t ignore the requirement to train with a safety buddy – it’s not just about following the RULE No.1 in freediving, which you learned on your Freediving course – never freedive alone, but it is also very convenient to have someone who can tell you “Hold it. Don’t give up. 5 seconds left!”
Except that your safety buddy should be a freediver, who knows how to do rescue in case of LMC or blackout, it would also be good to know how to do CPR. Of course, nobody wants to use this skill, but you never know what can happen.
Moreover, it’s always a good idea to refresh rescue skills from time to time – maybe once a week or once a month – in this case, you can be sure that you remember all steps and can do them even if you are stressed out.
And when I say that you need to watch your buddy, I mean to observe, paying all your attention to the freediver who holds his breath. When your freediver does relaxation breathing, you can relax, but as soon as he holds the breath – all your attention goes on freediver till he comes up and finish recovery breathing. You need to make sure your freediver is fully recovered. You must control the situation even after your freediver showed you the OK sign and a little bit after that. Don’t look around or check your phone when you do safety, as you can skip the moment when freediver blacks out.
I agree that sometimes it is not the most exciting job, especially if your freediver does long tables or a set of long breath holds. But this is a part of the game, and as we say, “if you like to sled, must like to push your sled up the hill.”
The last aspect of safety – your position towards freediver.
What do we do in Crystal Freediving for our pool training sessions – if someone does the maximum attempt or the near-maximum – 70-80%, or trying to set up the personal best, safety buddy stays in the pool next to the freediver. In this case, there are many more chances for some emergency, and the safety buddy’s quick reaction matters.
If we are training easy breath-holds – 50-60% of the maximum, it is acceptable for the safety buddy to stay out of the water on the side of the pool. Still, hand-distance to freediver is a “must”. Although during easy static apnea training, the emergency case is hard to happen, it doesn’t mean you can sit on a sunbed and drink coffee while your freediver is holding the breath. You never know how it goes, so you should be close to your buddy.
In my opinion, freediver’s results depend a lot on safety buddy. If you can trust your buddy, if you are sure that he is attentive enough and will not confuse anything, and will proceed as you agreed, then you can relax much better. And, as you know, relaxation is the primary key to success in freediving.
By Svitlana Gaidai
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Freedivers are blessed to require very little equipment to enjoy the underwater world. We only need fins, a mask, and a snorkel. But do we actually need the snorkel for freediving? Let’s find it out.
Freediving STA
For safety reasons, you have to remove a snorkel from your mouth during any breath-hold. But what about providing safety to your freediving buddy or while relaxation breathing before the breath-hold?
Let’s start with static apnea. There are two options for relaxation breathing before STA. Some freedivers use a snorkel if they prefer to prepare with a face down in the water (it also helps to trigger Mammalian Dive Reflex but create extra “Dead Space”). Other freedivers are breathing, either leaning on a pool wall or lying on the back. A safety buddy usually doesn’t use a snorkel since it is not necessary to put his face in the water.
Freediving DYN
The other pool discipline is dynamic apnea, where a freediver swims horizontally underwater, and a safety buddy follows him on the surface. Most of the time, relaxation breathing is done without a mask, and a snorkel, and the mask can be put on only right before the breath-hold. However, like with static apnea, some people feel more relaxed with a face in the water to get ready. In this case, before the swim, it makes sense to unclip the snorkel and leave it on the side of the pool to prevent unnecessary dragging. Safety buddy in this discipline has to wear the snorkel to constantly watch freediver from the surface, ready to assist as quickly as possible.
Freediving DYN
Now let’s have a look at what we have with diving in the sea.
If you dive in calm water, you can prepare for a dive without a snorkel lying on your back. However, if the sea is a bit choppy, it would not be the best position for relaxation breathing. You can imagine – you lay on the surface, do your final deep breath, and when almost ready to go, some water can accidentally get over your face. So, in this case, it would be easier to do relaxation breathing through a snorkel face down in the water. I prefer to leave my snorkel on a float and not to have it clipped to my mask underwater.
Freediving Open Water
A safety buddy usually has a snorkel to watch a freediver during his descend and, in some cases, watch how the diver is coming up. Besides, a safety buddy doesn’t dive that deep, and snorkel dragging is not a big problem. Some Freedivers keep it attached to the mask; others hold it in hand or put it under the weight belt.
Freediving Open Water
A bit different story is with recreational freediving when freedivers explore the local reef and enjoy the marine life, combining snorkeling and freediving. They dive pretty shallowly, and while they swim on the surface, they look for something exciting underwater. Does it make sense to wear a snorkel? It does! And how to deal with a snorkel during your dive? You have several options – leave snorkel on the float, pass it to your buddy, hold it in hand during the whole dive or keep it clipped to the mask – whatever you find more convenient.
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Quite often, I start a beginner Freediving course by asking my students whether they think freediving is a dangerous activity or not. Some say yes, some say no, it is absolutely safe.
The truth is somewhere in the middle.
If you follow safety rules, Freediving is safe and enjoyable water-based activity. But if you break these rules, then Freediving becomes a Russian roulette without guaranteeing of a happy end.
And one of such rules is – don’t do hyperventilation before a breath hold!
But first of all, what is hyperventilation?
Hyperventilation is over-breathing – when you breathe more than you need to. Usually, the rate and depth of your breathing depend on a current metabolic activity (mainly on how much CO2 you produce). So, more CO2 you make – deeper or faster you breathe.
For example, when you are sleeping, you are not producing that much CO2, and your breath is shallow and quiet. But in contrast, if you are running, you create much more CO2, which dramatically affects your breathing rate and depth.
Back to Freediving. Remember, how breath-hold looks like? Relaxations breathing, breath-hold itself, and recovery breathing after.
Relaxation breathing can vary among freedivers, and we like to experiment with it. And some freedivers intentionally or unintentionally can do hyperventilation instead of relaxation breathing.
Why would someone do it intentionally? Is it an attempt to bring more O2? Unlikely, since the vast majority of O2 in your body is already connected with hemoglobin, this will not be affected by manipulation with breathing.
The answer is that someone does hyperventilation to decrease CO2 in the blood and delay the urge to breathe.
And what about unintentional hyperventilation? It can happen with a freediver who thinks that only fast breathing is hyperventilation. For example, you can hear such advice as “exhale as twice longer as inhale.” This is indeed a mild version of hyperventilation
But why is hyperventilation is not a good idea for Freedivers?
1. HR will go up. If you do deep and fast breathing, your heart rate will inevitably increase. And the heart is the muscle that requires O2. The more it works, the more O2 it consumes.
2. Lower CO2. Think about your urge to breathe as an alarm clock. When you have it, consider it a signal that you might come close to your hypoxic limit. If you remove too much CO2 by hyperventilation, you can come too close to your hypoxic limit and have a Black Out.
3. Also, removing too much CO2 will increase the blood pH level, making it alkaline. It will lead to cerebral vasoconstriction (constriction of the blood vessels in your brain), and as a result – less blood, less O2 will be delivered to the brain.
4. Hyperventilation suppresses the Bohr Effect. The presence of CO2 makes an easier O2 release from hemoglobin. If CO2 goes down, this mechanism is not working that well anymore.
Bottom line – hyperventilation should be avoided by beginner and intermediate freedivers by all means! It doesn’t give you any benefits but puts you at unnecessary risk.
