Crystal Freediving

PADI free diving school based on Koh Tao, Thailand

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- WEEK 1-4

Crystal Freediving

Open water skills

Candidates are learning how to teach in the open water

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"The scuba diver dives to look around while the freediver dives to look inside himself". Umberto Pelizzari

crystal_freediving

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Another trick for your MAX DYNb (at least it works for me) is focus on things which I can control. Examples
* relaxation of muscles around eyes, jaw, neck, shoulders, etc
* execution of each kick as perfectly as possible (yes, the movement itself is automatic, but I am consciously trying to observe it). * same with other technical aspects - arm stroke, turning, gliding etc
If anything from the above is not perfect (lets say last turn was not efficient as you can potentially can do), don't create negative thoughts about it. It already happens. Just observed it neutrally.

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A little trick which I like to use for my max DYNb, this is what I've done on my 170 meters dive.
I obviously knew that it would not be an easy dive. No doubt about that. At the same time I didn't want to experience failure - come up early.
In this case I have two plans - max and minimum plan. If I am going to manage a minimum plan - I won - this was a successful dive. My minimum goal was 150, I done it before a few times and I knew I can repeat it. It is not an easy dive, but it is within my reach.
So, from the first second of my preparation I am "into" 150 meters dive. And only when I make it, I would decide whether to stop (and still be a winner) or do extra 10-20 meters as a bonus.
This trick - a minimum goal works for my pool dives quite well and I often recommend it to try for my Master students. It reducing the mental pressure of max attempt and not putting in a "loser mentality" if come up early (because if you did a minimum goal - it is a WIN)

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Next part of "Be in the present moment" for DYNb. Beginning of the dive.
Imagine the situation. A freediver knowing that he is going to do an easy attempt. Lets say 50% from his max (let it be 50 meters). He is swimming underwater nice and easily, good technique, good turnings, gliding between kicks.
On the next attempt, he is planning to do 100 meters (which is his current max). And what we see - even on the first 50 meters, there is a tension, no gliding, not that effective kicking etc.
Why? In both cases it is the same distance - 50 meters
The problem is, on the second dive, freediver from the beginning ANTICIPATED that it is going to be a hard dive. And now he is nervous and completely forgot about correct technique.
Don't do that. Don't start worry about the end of the dive when you just started. Don't think about future, BE IN THE PRESENT MOMENT.

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Continue about the idea "Be in the present moment" in max attempt in DYNb for my Master students. Today about preparation before a dive.
When you do relaxation breathing, you don't think about distance itself, only about relaxation breathing and current muscle relaxation. Focus on sensation how the air flowing in and out from your nose/mouth. Try to find any muscles tension in your body and relax it. If your "monkey mind" jump on some random thought - it is totally fine, don't worry about it and just bring back your focus on breathing and body relaxation. Don't spend to much time on preparation, 2-3 minutes more than enough (unless you need to recover from previous attempt/warm-up dive)

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You probably heard it before - "be in the present moment". Don't regret about the past and don't be nervous about the future. Good advice. Why not to apply it for Freediving?
If you are interested to know what I recommend for my students (especially Master level) during their PB's in DYNb, then check out our tomorrow's post!

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A peaceful moment before a dive♥️

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Do you remember your first freediving experience? Did it happen in the sea or your tried it first in the pool? Share in comments!😊

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Why quite a lot of Freedivers (not only beginners) don't like pool Freediving?
One of the reason is that pool training also associated with "pushing" part. Which have a place of course. But if your main goal will be improve your technique or relaxation, then you accidentally can fall in love with pool Freediving. Give it a try 😎

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Freediving "hangs" are a good way to warm-up before the main training, but it is also a pleasurable experience. For those of you who don't know what it is - you do relaxation breathing, dive shallow (it is subjective of course) and stay there for a while.
Some people like to base how long they are staying there on dive time (checking the time or to set up alarm time), others base it on their feeling
What about you? Do you like "hangs"? How deep and how long are they?

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There are no secrets or magic workshops or any other shortcuts. If you want to be better at anything, you need to put a lot of work into it. As simple as that. And Freediving is not an exception

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We are practicing rescue skills both in the pool and open water to make sure that our students able to provide safety for their buddies in the future. .
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#thailand2019 #freedivingthailand #freedivingfamily #freedivinggirl #freedivinglife #girlswhofreedive #padifreediver #padidivers #padicourses #freedivinginstructor #oceanlovers #adventurelover #kohtaofreediving #travelbug #kohtaodiving

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Why it is a good idea to have positive buoyancy on the last meters (from 8-10 lets say) of your ascent? Because it helps to save some energy/oxygen and avoid SWB! Stay safe!
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#crystalfreediving #kohtaofreediving #kohtaothailand #travelmode #iloveadvanture #oceanlovers #freediver #padifreediver #padicourses #paditravel #padiinstructors #freedivinggerls #girlsthatfreedive #pinayfreediver #freediverlife #freedivingphoto #solotravel #kohtao2019

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What to do if you are not happy with your DYN/DNF turns? Work on them separately!
I perosnally like to do it as a pyramid:
Push from a wall, glide, do a turn. Have enough rest. On the next attempt do 2 turns. Next time 3, etc.
When the number of turns becomes a challenge, do backward - on each attempt do 1 turn less.
Can repeat the whole pyramid a few times.

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Freediving instructor course. What to expect from it? Ideally, your personal skills set should be already quite good even before it and then you can concentrate only on "teaching part" of it. And this is not an easy part at all!
You will learn how to teach theory, skills both in a pool and open water, providing safety and removing stress from your students. .
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#freedive #freediveearth #freedivegirl #freedivers #freedivinginstructor #padiinstructor #breathhold #apneatraining #padicourse #padicertified #mypadi #kohtaofreediving #thailandfreediving #islandhopping #noairneeded #travellingthailand

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One of the most common mistakes in DYNb (probably second after looking forward) is bending a knee. And quite often solution is a simple advise - "don't bend your knee". But is it a problem or a result of another problem? We believe that in most cases it is a second. And the problem is lack of foot position control
Lets have a look how it works.
When you kick forward, your ankle is straight and couldn't bend in an opposite direction just physiologically. But what happens when you kick backward?
Now your ankle CAN bend in the opposite direction of the movement. And because you have long fins, it happens quite naturally. And then, at the endpoint, to initiate the kick forward you HAVE TO bend your knee.
How to prevent it? Pretty simple - control your ankle position. Your foot should be always pointed (naturally when you kick forward and consciously when you kick backward). .
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#holdyourbreath #maresjustaddwater #lifeunderwater #freediver #padifreediver #padicourse #padidiver #freedivinginstructor #padiinstructor #underwateradventures #freedivingkohtao #freedivingthailand

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What is the point to increase results with just "pushing your limits" without improving your technique? Better technique is making you a better Freediver. PB is just a number.

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On any of our Freediving courses, one of the important skills is safety for another freediver. Quick reminder of how to do it.
1. Meet a freediver on a certain depth (usually around 1/3 of the freediver's depth)
2. Escort to the surface watching for any syphtoms of SWB
3. Keep watching on the surface untill the freediver fully recovered
4. Be ready to deal with LMC/SWB

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From the beginning of this year on our PADI Freediver course, we started introducing some of the skills from open water in our pool (3.2 meters deep). And it makes a huge difference for the student! What are we working on?
1. FIM enters and first couple of pulls with a couple of equalization in the upside-down position
2. Duck dive and correct positioning along the line

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I am surprized why not everyone are using pully system for rope managment on an open water session? Any reason? If you don't know what it is and how to use it - check out our last video about pulling system from @octopus_freediving

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crystalfreediving@gmail.com
+66 857896274

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