Freediving for Surfers – now what?!

Bali Beatings CandidateElite surfers like the Hawaiian Mark Healy are trained freedivers. They know how to handle hold downs and thus they are relaxed and confident, even when they paddle for waves close to their personal limit – or beyond.

Keen and upcoming big wave surfers are often surprised that it’s possible to learn the basic white magic of freediving within a one day workshop. But the workshop itself is useless – it’s the following daily training that makes all the difference! It is possible to gain the same state of confidence like the pros within days, but it has to be earned.

Freediving for surfers is all about getting used to high CO2 in the body. And it doesn’t feel right at all in the beginning! We are hardwired to react on high CO2 with “the urge to breathe”, and if breathing is not possible, panic is just around the corner. Rest assured, “the urge to breathe” is nothing more than a misunderstanding. It’s nothing more than a sensation of high CO2, on which we used to react in a certain way (breathing!), but on which we can learn to react in many other ways like relaxation, save oxygen and simple endurance.

This is the basic principle of a breath hold training for surfers – learn the tools to rewire  reactions on high CO2! It is important to get a basic understanding of what happens in the body during are forced breath hold – and why this doesn’t need to be a problem. Last but not least you will be trained in rescue scenarios to build your confidence in assisting a buddy in trouble.

One warning shall be mentioned here:

Surfers that undergo this training will then charge for bigger waves – and that’s what it’s all about. But fact is, surfers don’t get hurt by hold downs, they get hurt by hitting the reef or the rocks, twisting limbs or getting smashed by their own boards. So, dear surfer, the fear of drowning used to limit the size of waves you were paddling for. Now that you will be trained in breath holding, this fear will be smaller and you will charge for bigger stuff – are your skills ready for this?

Check the course program for more information and schedules.

Bali Beatings Flyer

May the dive response be with you
Oli