This hands free equalization technique for freediving took me to the bottom of Nemo33.
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Join me on this channel as we delve into the world of freediving. Together, we will explore a range of techniques, including expert breathing methods, effective breath holds, and strategies for mastering the mind through meditation. We'll also cover the essential aspects of breath holding and the joys of being in the water. Join me as we master the art of freediving.
Gert Leroy is a certified freediving instructor, 1x national record holder, and a freediving KZheadr. His passion is to bring to you the experience of peace through the practicing of skilled breathing & breath holding techniques of freedivers. He helps you master freediving.
#Freediving #Underwater #Snorkeling
TIMESTAMPS
HANDS FREE Equalization
00:00 intro
01:40 disclaimer
02:16 start feet first
03:17 go slow
03:45 technical explanation
05:09 relaxation
06:00 temperature of water
06:31 head first
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Gert, in hands free, do you put air into the EU tube similar to frenzel? or do you just open the EU tube in handsfree equalization? pls kindly answer
@@notpastranapastrana2403 this video is about swallowing which is more like a hack instead of the standard technique for handsfree EQ which we call btv / otv = voluntary opening of the tubes. For btv / otv it's all about opening the tubes. Keep in mind only a small percentage of all freedivers can actually do this and it's difficult to learn. cheers
@@gertleroy Thank you..I actually feel my EU tubes open in land I can do it naturallu but have not tried it in the water..I can twitch my eyes left to right, move my ears, fold my tongue..I have controls on this...lol..I will let you know if I am able to open it in water..thanks!
@@notpastranapastrana2403 fingers crossed ! haha
Btw. What fo you do when you go back to the surface? Notging or swallow again?
I have taught myself voluntary tubal opening as a kid. The method I used was first block my ears whilst being above water by pinching my nose and making a slight vacuum or suction in my mouth. Next whilst maintaining the suction and pinched nose you equalise by either moving your jaw or swallowing. You will hopefully feel your ears block up. When you can block your ears like this manually you use this to focus on consciously controlling the eustachian tube muscles to 'click' open or contract. It sounds like a click inside your head. I believe everyone hears the click when they equalise, your goal is to do this on purpose. I practiced blocking and unblocking like this for several minutes multiple times per day untill I was able to one day just do it automatically without touching my nose both blocking and unblocking.
Thanks for sharing your story! Great you learned to control the eustachian tubes 👍
I learned this as a kid.... 36 years in and I'm now realizing people don't just do this automatically.
I'm blown away, I always tried to go to the bottom of the deep end when I was swimming (12 feet) and couldn't because of the pressure and I always wondered how scuba drivers did it. 😅 I can't wait to try equalizing
Freedivers equalize differently than scuba divers. That's is because freedivers have only 1 breath of air where as scuba divers can continuously sip on their regulator. That makes a big difference. Please watch my Playlist Equalization for freediving cheers 🙏
I know this was said over 2 years but I'm a scuba diver and it's the same we have air to breathe under water but I just swallow too it's always worked for me instead of pinching my nose. So it's the same as you slow desent and swallow 🙂
Yep, I feel like someone was keeping the secret of equalizing from me. I'm looking forward to the next vacation by the sea :-).
scuba is different because you're constantly breathing air from the regulator. Equalization with scuba is way easier than one breath from freediving. :D
HI Gert, I really appreciate your youtube channel, all things that I search all of my life about freediving knowledge and technique, finally found it here. Thankyou so much!!!
thanks Andi! glad to hear you like my channel! all the best :-)
Thanks Gert! So easy! I learned this technique from another video with schematics of the oral and nasal cavity, tongue, eustachian tubes etc. I forced myself to completely close my throat as if I was making the T sound and the doing the swallowing movement. Your explanation is so much easier! But at least this way I leaned how to do it without even thinking to produce saliva. And it works head first. I'm only a begginer and have been freediving up to 10m to get a closer shot of sharks or some bottom-dwelling fish like rays, so I adopted learning by doing technique instead of doing apnea walks and meditation. The awe of seeing amazing ocean creatures relaxes me in a way I'd never be able to on the surface :)
Great! All the best ✌️
thank you for putting great content out there. totally enjoy your video. it helps alot. keep it going mate.
thanks mate 🙏
Woww!!!! This is the content I need! Before I got a lisensce, I ever had watching movies that showing people can stay for a long time in the water and deeper and then I got the answer from your video. Hopeful I can learn more from your video and also practice this technique! Thank you so much!
thanks. please watxh my playlist equalization techniques for freediving
I'm 71 years old and just beginning to free dive. I don't get very deep now. But I'm working on improvement - not for depth records - just for the ability to see more beauty and to spearfish. I currently use the nose hold to equalize and am not great at that. My deepest free dive is only about 10 or 12 meters. Thank you for this video. I look forward to trying this in the Med in the fall.
that’s incredibly good already. i just did a freediving course and 50% of the young people could not even complete 10-12 m.
@@jfoetidnwo56 Don't be too upset with the kids. Give them another 30 or 40 years and they will improve.
In the past with scubadiving I had always ear and equalizing problems. Even with the swallow technique I couldn't get equalized. What worked for me was starting equalizing before my head goes under water. These days I practice underwaterhockey and have no dificulties getting equalized anymore 😀. Great footage Gert 👌
That's a great tip! We call it pre-equalization. 1 time just before you go down! Awesome 👌
This is also what i have released in my recent dives...am much happier to start equalizing before my head goes down...and what i have seen by doing this way that everything goes automatically in order and nothing realeted with this matter anymore....👍👍
@@ahmetozel3455 awesome! glad to hear :-)
is it only once equalize from the water surface or what??? I also experienced the same thing as you
@@gertleroy can you make video about "pre-equalization"?
Helpful video...looking forward to try it...thanks
cheers 🙏
thank you very much 0 every video I learn something new congratulations
🙏
I have noticed that on scuba trips it is harder to equalize the first few dives but as the days tick by I find that I equalize without even thinking about it. I have also used several brands of vented earplugs which many divers react negativity to... I find they work and can really help getting to that place of just equalizing without any thought or realization it is happening. I don't know if freedivers use earplugs but I wish more people had an open mind to the possibility. I know of people who have given up diving because of problems equalizing. The earplugs are a very easy trick to get past this issue. (and yes, I know DAN encourages people not to use them... based on the belief they could malfunction... but with scuba any malfunction is possible and we train to overcome those issues)
I use hands free without swallowing. I create a pocket of air between tongue, and roof of my mouth. I then press my tongue up agaist the roof of my mouth. Some of the air moves into the ears. Been doing it for years.
great ! how deep can you go with this?
how do you block the nose? if you don‘t block the nose, the air goes out the nose and into the mask….
By moving my jaw I push a little air op into the ear channel. Only works when descending slowly. Never use it when diving with fins since the descending speed gets too fast and you can only equalize a little bit at the time with this technic. Learned this by myself as a kid. I use the same technic when I am flying. Peace 😘
i am taking my level II AIDA course this month! nervous and excited! i have never used my hands on my face to equalize. a combination of swallowing, pressing the soft palate with the tongue, and moving my jaw has always worked for scuba (100 feet, slow descent) or recreational freediving (10 meters, slightly weighted descent). hopefully this capability will serve as i get formal training. but learning frenzel as backup sounds pretty smart as well ❤
great. def learn frenzel. not as backup but as main technique. Handsfree is your backup, not the other way around.
Nice video ,i move my back part of my tongue upwards when i start the dive and when i pass the first ten meters i just bring air to my mouth from the lungs,the deeper i go i refill my mouth with air so i can equalise at the depth i am operating.
I can just pop my ears whenever i want without doing anything dont even know how
That's great. Some people can indeed do it naturally. But most don't..
Same dude
Same
I don't know how but is it the same as going on a plane ride and when you swallow you kinda equalize?
@@bogatejamesryan4971 more or less. it's the same principle, but in the water it always feels different then on dry land or in a plane
Toynbee and Frenzel are the ones I know. Frenzel is about pushing up your tongue against the palate and creating pharynx pressure. Low jaw lateral movements also release pressure on muscles around the eustachian tube and help to equalize. Spearfishing I usually go Valsalva, on scuba I do experiments sometimes.
Yes ✌️ thanks for the feedback ✌️
Interesting, will have to try
Let us know how it went
i love snorkling since i was kid. I never learn how to pop, but i can do it automaticly, since i realize, by putting pressure in my troath, without swallowing, it can equalize well.
great ✌️
Ik denk niet dat ik ooit mijzelf zie freediven, maar ik heb onlangs bij TODI in Beringen voor de eerste keer een persluchtduik met volgelaatsmasker gedaan en ik was er echt helemaal weg van! zeker iets wat ik snel weer hoop te doen. het was echt niet te geloven hoe zo onderwater duiken je hoofd ineens zo klaar van mindfulness maakt. echt een fantastische ervaring!
freediven is next level!
Two thoughts on practice: 1) swim along bottom of 4-5 m pool, equalizing continuously (hands free). This is how I learned initially. 2) On the line, equalize normally at 5m. Then, go down hands free, head up from there. The pressure change is slower, of course - easier to learn.
Thanks for the feedback Dave b! It's all about practise and patience ✌️✌️
Hi Gert, I really like all of your video's!! I have a question about using a noseclip. I'm now in the process of learning to freedive with a noseclip. The moment I start to ascent back to the surface I can feel the pressure in my nose building up. How do you release this air pressure when your are using a nosclip? When I use a mask the air just escapes from my nose to my mask. Thank you! Greetings from Bonaire!
the first couple of times it's indeed a weird feeling. than you get used to it. relax into it. when the glottis is open the air can go back into your lungs, or you might swallow it into the stomach.
I used to dive with a high volume scuba mask that required a ton of air to keep from getting mask squeeze. Once I started filling that thing up with air through my nose I just popping my ears simultaneously. Blowing air into the mask as long as it’s tight works pretty well for equalization
yes. in that case the mask takes over the pinching of the nose.
then you get mask imprints on your face 🫠
Thank you for sharing, I just move my jaw side to side as I go deeper. greeting from Cancun Mexico
great! 👍
Ich hatte mal im VDST ein Joga Kurs über ein verlängertes Wochenende teilgenommen und konnte mich sofort um 40% in der Zeit , und 8meter mehr an tiefe verbessern können. Ich kann jedem nur empfehlen so ein Lehrgang zu besuchen zumal es nur den Schwimmbad Eintritt und Beteiligung an den Sprit und Unterkunft des Lehrers gekostet hatte👍
Hey Gert! I've been able to hands free equalize for as long as I remember. I've been diving following my spearo brother around since I was around 9 (16 years ago) and I don't ever remember needing my hands to equalize. Not sure what technique I use but if i had to describe it, it is like forcing a hiccup, if that doesn't get it done then I do the force hiccup while simultaneously flexing the side of my neck (focusing the on the muscles attached just below my ear to my salivary gland under my jaw, but not the entire muscle going down to the base of the neck). Usually the faster I go down, the easier it is because that extra pressure acts as potential energy that allows me to do lighter "hiccups" and/or side neck flexes. If I had to describe the "hiccuping" it would be like this: 1. Your teeth are not closed and your lower jaw is relaxed open. 2. Very very slightly imagine you are flexing the muscles under your chin to push your lower jaw in back towards your throat. But very very lightly. Even just the thought of trying it should be enough. 3. Flex your throat WITHOUT flexing your neck (except you can optionally flex the small muscles on the side of your neck that go from the bottom of your ear to your salivary gland under your jaw).
Thanks for the feedback Jae! What you are describing is btv: voluntary opening of the eustachian tubes. Cheers 🙏
I’m trying it while reading, learned in 50 seconds
@@tommasoperi2019 🙏
holy heck man ive been trying to do no hands equalizing for weeks now with little to no progress and just doing this method as I read i can hear my ears popping on both sides! Cant wait to try this out in the water. Thank you!
@@Davenport27 swallowing is more like a hack. It's not the typical btv/otv but it works! ✌️
I was able to hands free equalize for almost as long as I can remember. I taught it to myself by trial and error at the age of ~6 to equalize the pressure from tunnels in trains without having to touch my nose. Its hard to describe what I am doing. Its like wiggeling your ears. I would say the following: For me it simple feels like there is amuscle (and there probabply is), which opens up the path to the ears. I think it is importaint to know that this is possible at least in principle (even if you can't controll this muscle right now) So How to get there: Swallowing is a good start I guess. Maybe try to wallow with less and less Saliva. You will sometimes fail to swallow, but justTRY. The funnny thing is: Sometimes or even mostly, you will equalize even if you fail. You can do this easliy at land as well. Just pay atttention to what is going on there (musculr wise). Try to recreate this without actually swallowing at last. Trying this you will can and probably should create all kind of Gurns. Thats what I did in the beginning. By now i can equalize constantly (simple keep the connection open), or open and close it at a rate of about 1.5Hz without showing any facial expression. You can do it as well.
I actuelly use a technique, that is also for a slow descent. You need a nose-covering Mask or having your nostrils facing downward for this. Yahwning ist a thing we all do. But keeping you mouth shut and gently moving your lower Jawbone a little bit forward while doing it, you will notice 1st the little pop in your ears and 2nd the Air moving due to the slow miniature breathwork. You do not exhale while doing this, just relaxing your muscles inyour cheat, lungs and jaw/face-area. It works, but with a fast descend I would pinch my nose so I could push a bit more air into the ears. That gives a bit more time and reduces the risk of trauma to the eardrums. Have a great time diving.
I do think I know how to do hands free, I haven't tried it during freedive yet, I'm still new to freediving. Your videos help, I'll try hands free this coming weekend when I'll freedive. Thank you!
as a beginner freediver please learn the normal conventional way first. see my Playlist equalization techniques for freediving 🙏
I use a subtle nose clamp and that allows me to blow into my nose without touching it to equalize. Very easy haha. I also noticed the more i dive the less I have to equalize. In the beginning my ears started to hurt even at only 2m. Now I barely notice anything before 6m. It's true that relaxiation is key in diving even beyond equalization. If I'm not relaxed my body consumes way more oxygen and I start to panic quickly especially in waters where I can't see the ground.
Exactly! Thanks for the elaboration 👍
Nice video Gert 😉 Actually this tecnique is also called Toynbee manouvre, I guess not so much common in freediving because, as you said, it requires more time to equalize. Anyway, I've used this manouvre in the past in shallow water and also to the depth of 27 m in Y40. Thank you for sharing this video in the KZhead community 😉👏
wow didn't know about the Toynbee maneuvre. I looked it up. It seems the maneuvre requires you to pinch the nose. But the principle is the same off course. Thanks for sharing Francesco!
I use the half-yawn (not sure how else to call it). When I yawn fully, I always hear a popping sound in both my ears. So, I started doing the first movement of the yawn without actually opening my mouth and that again popped my ears. I can now do this equalising almost instantaneous without having to swallow, just a small movement of my tongue is enough.
Great. That is handsfree EQ. If it works in the water,that's awesome 👍
Yes I can start a yawn by tensing the 'yawn muscles' with my mouth closed and I can hear my ears click, which is what I've always done on a plane if doing a steep descent. I'm going to try it in the water, as I'd really like to try scuba.
There are muscles in the throat called the tensor veli palatini and the levator veli palatini that open the eustachian tubes. We can learn to control those muscles with a (partial) yawn or swallowing type action.
I use the same when scuba diving! In case anyone comes across this: if you can't get it working, you can try lightly blowing through your nose (air will come out, but it still gets the job done). I actually prefer this method as I can continuously equalize all the way down and not need to think about it - when I'm having trouble, I'd just slow my descent and/or breathe a little out through my nose (which helps prevents mask squeeze as well). I'm always a little nervous about abdominal distension when swallowing when diving, so it's always been this or the jaw movement.
i use the same method as you but also found moving my jaw as far as it will go left and right can help too
indeed! and it's personal. we are all different.
for this technique to work it depends on other factors. Eustachian tubes can be shaped slightly differently for different people, and any kind of sinus congestion can make it more difficult as well. However, my scuba diving instructors have said that the swallowing method is the safest. The Valsalva method can cause damage to the inner ear if you blow too hard.
correct. the swallowing doesnt always work. for me it does, but not for everyone. Whatever technique you use, always use gentle air pressure. don't blow hard.
Awesome video thanks 😊 I’ve surfed as long as I could walk and never consciously equalizated but recently been trying to dive deeper 👃 plugging is a concept I haven’t been able to grasp yet though last week I was near a diver getting 10m-15m I was invigorated seeing someone so deep I had to get down there managed to find a few swallows but kept getting stuck unable to swallow and sinking to start ear pain, FF> yesterday in my dry breathing techniques(not sure if it will work underwater)I managed to do a pop(equalize) at a rate of about 1x per second by simultaneously making the start of a swallow or yawn 🥱,wiggling my ears(picked that up earlier in the week in another breathwork sesh), flexing only the part of 👅 that is in my throat(causing the space above my Adam’s🍎 to expand) and slightly activating the lower jaw pushing chin/teeth forward(almost like causing an underbite but more energetically than physically pressing). I’ve been exploring this version of popping👂 not only during breath holding but during all parts of several breathing techniques (4part,3part,4/8 etc.) and also practicing isolating left or right only(since I previously practiced moving ☝️👂 at a time). I’ll be attempting this under da sea 🌊 next week after a bit more practice. Question 🙋 do I need to spend months incrementally going deeper or if able to equalize I can just keep swimming?(I have a 3.5 minute dry breath hold so if I figure out equalization I could probably just drop it right off⏬⏬⏬)
Thanks for the feedback. Please watch all videos in my playlist EQUALIZATION FOR FREEDIVING 🙏. Your lungs need to adapt to depth. Your mind as well. That's why you need to progress gradually. With small increments.
I do mostly scuba and some free diving too. I always have had problems with ear equalization, frequently been the last diver in the group to equalize, but I never abandoned any dive for equalization problems. Valsalva maneuver have never worked for me, no matter how hard I tried - hard, slow but long, tried every possible way, no avail. Swallowing + jiggling my jaw and neck is the way to equalize for me - maybe a funny sight to other divers, but it works. When I pass 10-12m depth and manage to equalize, no further equalization problems for whole dive. My buddy has different problem - he can go to 30m with few valsalva maneuvers, but his equalization struggle starts just below 30m. I guess that ear equalization is highly individual, so all available methods should be better addressed on diving courses.
the conventional way to EQ for freediving is frenzel. please watch my Playlist equalization techniques for freediving
@@gertleroy I learned free diving from my father (no course and cert) and then learned scuba the regular way. That's why I overlooked frenzel - it can be very dangerous for new scuba divers, so OW scuba instructors avoid to even mention it and in later courses equalization is not addressed any more. Thank you for the advice, I will look into fresnel and try to master it.
Used to do hands free (swallow with jaw retraction) as a kid to 6 fathoms. Just done AIDA 2 + 3 depth last weekend using frenzel. Will hopefully go back to hands free.
I use handsfree for photoshoots. but it's a bit u reliable. Frenzel is def the way to go for deeper diving
My body provided the best way to handsfree equalization. Its like there is some muscle which allows me to control that thing in ear like a switch. It can be turned on, it can be turned off. Not just like clicking your ears to quickly equalize, but stay in that state for some time (it makes funny echo effect when listening something). IDK when I learned it, we traveled to croatia with family every year when I was a kid and we snorkeled a lot there... Its so effortless and automatic I dont even have to think about it when going down. Tried to about 15-20m max and didnt seem to be getting harder and harder in bigger depth. IDK how it would work in bigger depths, hope to find out :)
Nice! You're one of the lucky few that can do the handsfree EQ technique ( without swallowing)
Thanks for sharing this video. There's just one thing which makes me wonder. You mention 'feet first is easier because the air goes up'. Can you further explain that theory? I think it has more to do with the surrounding soft tissue. Since the body is a closed system underwater, the pressure is equal throughout connected airspaces in the body. Air moves from high to low pressure to create equilibrium. As an example think of two connected balloons. If you turn them upside down, air doesn't go up, it remains the same because there's no pressure difference. I think the soft tissue plays a more significant role here. There are soft tissues in the nasopharynx which surround the membranous Eustachian Tube. No doubt gravity plays a role in their normal functioning. The most likely candidate for positional obstruction is this soft tissue. A sub-optimal position can compromise marginally patent Eustachian Tube.
thanks for the feedback Tangaroa Freediving!
There is a very small column of air in your lungs. Because of gravity, this column of air has a small difference between the pressure at the top of the column and the bottom of the column. This is true whether or not you are on dry land. This means that the pressure difference will be in a different direction depending on your body's orientation. To be fair, this pressure difference is very slight.
@@skepticmoderate5790 that pressure difference is absolutely neglegible on this scale. And even if that would make a difference it should make heads up equalisation more difficult instead of easier.
Still never figured out the Frenzel. I can valsalva by plugging my nose with my upper lip. It works better for skydiving than freediving.
valsalva is limited to shallow depth. you're gonna have to transition to frenzel anyway. better start learning frenzel right away
Your video actually inspire others to do hands free in a wrong way.
There is no wrong and right. If it works it works. I inspire people to try out different techniques, think for themselves and eventually make their own decisions. Peace 🙏
I can also just pop my ears when ever I need to as well. I don't even have to think about it, it's second nature, and I have been swimming since I could walk. I am also a diver and it's hard sometimes because that isn't something that I learned first and it goes against everything I know. I have been doing more free diving lately.
great! always dive with a buddy for safety! cheers
@@gertleroy Yes. Always. I practice in a pool where there is a lifeguard too. I have been getting on my guy, who is a dive master and he dives alone sometimes.
@@Malony29 if he dives alone then he's not a master!
@@gertleroy Preaching to the choir man.
Nice video!I have noticed in depths more than 15-20 meters i have to also equalise the presssure created from the mask pussing to the face. I always exhale a very small amount of air through the nose just before i do the equalisation for the ears, in order to loosen the mask and not to feel this pressure from the mask that can get a bit frustrating. Also i think that a big part of equalising with no hands is being hydrated.
equalization of the mask it is! heavily depends on the structure of your mask as well. cheer s!
Great video. Also cracked me up with the Simon clip at 1:11 hahaha
Glad you enjoyed it
I never had any problems with equalization and can actively open the eustachian tube since I started freediving. I didn't come that far to try out every method in detail, but head first is more challenging. Sadly, after I moved home last year, I couldn't find any buddy in my region :(
aaahh finding buddies is always a problem! before moving, check availability of buddies first! ;-) Hope you'll find opportunity soon !
@@gertleroy Hahah true, but to be honest my priorities were a little bit more on the job side ;). After our 2nd lockdown I will try it again.
@@OffSurfaceAdventures all the best !
Thanks bro god bls
Welcome 🙏
thx
welcome 🙏
I do this technique and found after about 2 hours of diving I begin to have leakage between my airway and sinuses. Usually keep a small amount of water in my mask to clear hands-free with a head movement but this water can draw up the nose. Have not experienced a blockage from this, but it can be uncomfortable.
close vocal chords so the air does not escape from your lungs
Hi, i just finished my intro to freediving and this is how i equalize. I didn't realize this is what I'm doing until I watched this video. However, I am unable to do it continuously (nor sure why) so I can only go as far as 8m. Do you have tips or exercises that I can use to improve this way of equalization?
this way of EQ is just a hack. if it works it works, but you should learn the conventional way, which is frenzel or valsalva. please watch my EQ Playlist
I am not sure how you would call my method. I use muscle memory to equalize my ears. Just works. I taught that to myself while working as dive instructor. One day I just could pop open my ears at will.
There are muscles in the throat called the tensor veli palatini and the levator veli palatini that open the eustachian tubes. We can learn to control those muscles with a (partial) yawn or swallowing type action.
Hi Gert! I have a question. I do something (but i don't know how i did it) and hear something, like click sound or something. But it's not like a bubble popping sound. Is what i do consider as equalization?
if you can relieve the pressure in your ears as you go down, then you equalize. That's how you should assess the situation. If you don't use your hands then it's called hands free. Now just because you hear a sound when trying on dry land that doesn't mean it wlll work in the water. And not every sound means you're equalizing ;-)
Hi Gert Nice vid Personnaly, to use (almost) hands-free : - final breath - waiting 10 sec to reduce stress - pre-equalization FRENZEL above water - heads down handfree - if i get my jaws very « disconnected down » , i do not swallow but a nose pinch every 15 meters
Thanks for the breakdown KIX! Yes you can perfectly mix it up with different techniques ✌️ Pre-eq always a good idea 👍👍
I m a mediocre free diver, 20 m and not wiiling to go deeper but i have control on my eustachian tubes ,opening them whenever i want without any special move ,which is handy to equalize.
great! 🙏🙏
Btw- what watch do you recommend? I used to have a Suunto D-3. I’m thinking about the Suunto D4 Black. What are your thoughts? Thanks!
dive computers are for deep divers, as a recreational diver you don't really need it
Finally a video about this to verify if what I am doing is correct. Haha! I tried freediving last December and cannot do Valsalva to save my life, I just started swallowing and then it worked for me, I thought I was cheating the system this whole time.
swallowing is not textbook equalization. And some people will tell you it's not handsfree, because when we say handsfree we usually refer to btv which is the voluntary opening of the eustachian tubes, and for that you control certain muscles and it doesn't involve swallowing. It's just the way you look at it. Every kind of eq that happens without using the hands (and without nose clip) is obviously handsfree. It's not cheating the system. Whatever works is fine. There is no law that says how you have to EQ. But it's also good to know it's not textbook BTV.
@@gertleroy but can i do it while pinching my nose (pinching while swallowing)? Some people say that it's not strong enough. I find it hard to do ghe Valsava
@@Zaynersyy you can pinch the nose and swallow. no problem. if it works it works. Eventually, when you dive deeper, you'll have to learn frenzel. Please watch my frenzel videos.
@@gertleroy yeah, I've watched and read every Frenzel tutorials out there (including yours), but I still haven't been able to do one. How long does it usually takes?
@@Zaynersyy difficult to say. for me i took me a couple of months: kzhead.info/sun/ZZuOhqWkkYqEnXk/bejne.html
Hey Gert! I have learned so much from you channel as I am beginning my free diving experience. We just came back from the keys and I bought a new mask, it's not a free dive specific mask, but an upgrade from the us divers big box store. It actually sucks to my face if I press on it, even w out a head strap on. Now I noticed now that it makes a seal, I noticed I equalized my sinus as you taught me, but I got mask squeeze and felt like my eyeballs were gonna suck out. So of course I immediately resurfaced so I didn't burst any blood vessels. What are your tips on mask squeeze
good thing you surfaced and didn't hurt yourself. To EQ the mask: blow a little air out from the nose into the mask. ✌️
@@gertleroy thanks! I tried that once when I was feeling the suction but by that time it was too late I assume it's the same like w your sinuses. Thanks again friend! Can't wait to try it out
@@CTRadventures EQ always happens BEFORE there is pressure building up. watch my playlist EQ for freediving
@@gertleroy will do thanks again!!
hey nice video, do you think we could combine this with a mouthfill to push it deeper ?
swallowing not. you cannot combine mouthfill with swallowing, cause then you'd be swallowing the air back in which is exactly what you want to avoid when taking a mouthfill. BTV/OTV however, which is the voluntary opening of the eustachian tubes can be done in combination with moutfill, we call this constant pressure mouthfill. PS. never talk about equalization using the word "push". We don't push anything. We gently open the eustachian tubes to EQ the ears. Cheers
This worked for me but it’s absolutely one of the slowest methods I’ve ever used. You can also use a nose plug to act the same as your hand on your nose.
Great. Yes conventional more reliable method is frenzel
I must be super lucky but of I do that action that makes your ears bob up and down it makes the same ear drum noise that yawning does and that's always worked for me. I can even hold it open for about 4 seconds. Probably longer if i trained it but those muscles tire quickly
some people are naturally gifted in terms of controlling the muscles that open up the eustachian tubes. however they are a minority. 🙏
Love your videos ❤️ I do this but it doesn't work for me after a certain depth, I hope I can find my own technique too ❤😊
this method is more like a hack and not so relyable. if it works it works. good. but you should def learn the conventional way.
Frenzel for sure !
🙏
I’ve faced problems with equalization while diving in which I stopped diving unfortunately 💔 The first thing is while using valsalva it doesn’t work. Second thing when I go back to the surface (just 1 meter below) I suffer from severe dizziness and I don’t know why ! And I have 2 Qs if anyone can help : 1- if i used a diving glasses that has an ear cover with tubes, will it help ? 2- can I use the equalization technique that I use when I go on an airplane? (Just like the swallowing method but I can do it without swallowing 😬)
1/ no. your problem is most likely not physical related. you probably just have to learn the skills of freediving. 2/ you can use whatever EQ technique as long as it works. Practise with buoy and rope. And with someone with you who is experienced.
Thank you for this tips. I recently suspected that I had sinus baratrauma and have problems equalizing. Let's see if this would be a gentler way to equalize for me. :D
no. you have to learn to properly EQ using frenzel. if you have issues with EQ, it's because your technique is bad. Learn proper EQ.
Gert, I don’t know if you are seeing this or not but yes I agree free hands is more great than doing frenzel. I tried feet first with frenzel I stuck on 7 or 8meters. But when I tried free hands I can go until 9meters+ I know it still “short”, but now I know that I feel more comfortable with free hands. Next Sunday I’ll have training sessions, can’t wait to train my free hands. Hope I can go deeper already ;)
the way to go is frenzel. once you figure out frenzel that's the most reliable way to EQ. handsfree by swallowing is a hack, and doesn't always work the way you want it to. Frenzel for sure is the conventional way and you should learn to master the technique
Question: How often do you equalize? Like, how many meters deeper do you swim between two equalizations?
between 0 en 30m: every half a meter to max 1 meter
Was just about to ask this, thanks. Always loved diving, but never really been to places that are deeper than 2-3 meters. Untill our trip to Kroatia last week. And after 2 or around 3 meters it really start to hurt in my ears. Tried equalize for the first time, but it didn't really help, I started equalize first when I felt it hurting though. Will try again, and equalize sooner when we go back to Kroatia in a month. And a question. I'm using diving goggles without a nose piece. Was thinking of trying to dive with a nose clamp, wouldn't that allow me to equalize without using my hands?
Im now using frenzel. I did train to do hands free. Haven't went in the water to test it. The pop doesn't sound like a frenzel. Just a little click. Should the pop sound like a frenzel or valsalva? I realise i auto hands free equalize when i woke up and sometime when i yawn. But. . . . Never did try it underwater
hi daud la! don't worry about the sound. if you can EQ without pinching your nose, that's called handsfree. If that is the case then you're intuitively opening the eustachian tubes so the air can pass from the nasal cavity to your middle ear for equalization. We call this BTV or VTO. It stands for voluntary opening of the Eustachian tubes. If you have to pinch your nose you're using either frenzel or valsalva. If your abdomen moves it's valsalva, cause you're bringing air from the lungs to the mouth. If your abdomen doesn't move, it's probably frenzel cause with frenzel you use the throat/back of the tongue. Hope that helps. Cheers!
Frenzel i do . The past 1.5 year I'm having reverse block when i dive to 20 metres and as time passed i could dive at 16 metres without problems then at 10 and 3 month's before only at 3 metres 😢😢 . I did a surgery at my nose and doctor told me tha the efstachian tubes will be free some months after the surgery so i don't have this problem of reverse block. Do you have friends that had this problem and after nasal septum and sinuses surgery they solved the problem? Thanks a lot. I subscribed now to your channel. Greetings from Greece
hi. welcome 👍. Personally I've never had a reverse block. so I can't really give you valuable info on that based upon my own experiences. What I do know is that reverse block can be the result of bad EQ technique, mainly pushing to hard. So you. might wanna look into that first before exploring the route of physical limitations.
another easy technique that I've discovered is that if you 'push' from your throat, as if you were trying to burp something up, if you burp first then do that same movement again it'll make your ears pop atleast it does for me idk about the science of it i just figured out that makes my ears pop
It's what I explain in one of my EQ videos I call it "squuzing the throat together" which basically comes down to using the back of the tongue to push air towards the ears.
@@gertleroy chewing gum also makes my ears pop but idk if you could safely do that underwater im not even a free diver personally i just live at a high enough altitude where i have to equalize my ears on the drive home and it's kinda dangerous to drive on curvy mountain roads with one hand or your knee like people will sometimes do and i figured out chewing gum is a way to easily constantly pop your ears idk if that could be done safely underwater tho im not a diver so if someone is reading this that isn't a diver and doesn't know if it would be safe or not, idk so don't listen to me like idk you might drown or something don't try it unless ur a diver guys 😭
Any tip how to prevent water from getting inside the ear? Should i try some swimming earplugs?
water will ALWAYS get in your ear. don't use plugs
i have a question? instead of swallowing saliva, can we swallow the water where we are diving? for example i made it in the swimming pool and it worked. But i am not sure it is dangerous or not for our refleks against free diving
I would not do that. Sea water is salt, and pool water has chemicals.
@@gertleroy thank you for replying
I am curious, can you try this with a snorkel or scuba reg in your mouth? I have been trying to do the same while scuba diving as pinching my nose causes my mask to flood, but so far I have been unsuccessful.
I'm a beginner, but swallowing is the only way I can equalize every time head first. My only worry is that I m8ght swallowing air which would limit depth at some point . I'm working on making the swallowing movement only partially, and some air gets into my ears, but not as much.
That's ok. As long as you EQ. But as you go deeper, you will have to learn conventional EQ either valsalva or frenzel
Hi Gert, I am newbie to learn freediving. Can you also make a tutorial video about vasalva tecnique? I never success try this method with baloon.
Hi Kurnia! I'll see what I can do. Ps. no need for balloons. You don't need a balloon. Just try in the water. Please search for thr Playlist EQUALIZATION FOR FREEDIVING
Valsalva is not an effective eq method for freediving. It’s hard, even on land, it’s stressful and also, almost impossible to manage after 3-5m depth, if not impossible at all I talk about it to my students of course, but never bother teaching it and 99% of them never even do it naturally
@@deepsgnips so what method do you teach?
@@ricardobufo hi. Frenzel of course
What / where is this place you did this ? Looks very cool for training.
Duiktank.be
Wow a Merman! 🧜♂️
haha yeah
Is it ok to use earplug when diving? Or it may cause equalisation problem?
don't use ear plugs
My problem is, that I can‘t relax underwater. Can you explain me, how to slow down my heart rate under water and how to relax? By the way: I love your videos😊
Thanks. My channel is full of videos that bring an answer to your question 🙏
I would like, please, clips to adjust ear pressure by diving vertically, then swimming horizontally for adjustment, and so on
you need to learn to equalize. forget about clips.
I adjust over the water, but in the sea while descending head first, I have not been able to adjust. For two years, I am currently trying while descending on the rope, feet first, and I have been able to adjust.
@@amenaalrostom7630 please watch my Playlist equalization techniques for freediving
My problem with closing the breathing chambers of the soft palate is explained in the middle of this video kzhead.info/sun/daWtcpSsn6dviKc/bejne.htmlsi=2GwDhiWNn56iCJqx
@@gertleroy I watched it and mastered it in the air, but in the sea I could not
3:30 is that diver in the back ground having a real emergency where another diver had to assist him to the surface! Cheers, #SeattleRingHunter
it's practice 😁
b can you guide me how to balance the ear with the hands free method . i really need that advanced method .thank .
what is described in this video is more like a hack. the "real" handsfree method is based upon the voluntary opening of the eustachian tubes. only a small. percentage of all freedivers master this technique and it is believed it's more about genetics.
@@gertleroy oh. I am Vietnamese. is a free diver hunting fish. used frenzo depressurization. The pressure release like you has not been used yet.
Bedankt voor de interessante video! How comes you are negatively buoyant in the clip filmed in Nemo33? You're not wearing any weights. Did you breathe out before descending?
Thanks. First of all it's fresh water in Nemo so you sink more easily. And second I took a small breath not a big one.
The first time I freedived naked below 10m, I was shocked because when I stopped swimming, I kept going down; ie I was negatively buoyant. :o As you go down, the pressure compresses the air in your lungs. At 10m, it is as though you have breathed out half your air.
@@ricardobufo Thanks a lot. I definitely see the logic of that, in combination with the arguments given by Gert in his reaction above
Where can I get some Clasess ?
Hey Gert, thanks a lot for teaching us... Me also use this technique... swallowing saliva!!! Works fine for me!!!
Great 👍
i only dive up to 10 m while snorkeling and i use the pinching method. but i do it before decending and not while im going down. am i doing something wrong? i never experience ear pain.
you should definitely EQ on the way down. On a distance of 10m you should EQ at least 10 times, preferrably more.
I cannot even describe how I equalize. I don't swallow, I don't move my jaw, I just click inside my ears xD I can do head first, drop like a stone down to 30+ meter and I have no problems. Just very rarely, when I forgot and dropped too far without equalizing, I have to squeeze my nose. Happens like once in every 10 dives xD
nice. you're a natural 🙏
is all you do swallow spit? and also do you do it whenever your ears hurt or do you do it every few meters?
there is no spitting. only swallowing. for the rest of your question : watch all videos in the Playlist EQUALIZATION FOR FREEDIVING
Another thing.. Do you have any techniques to reduce the leg pain due to water pressure??
there is no such thing. the reason must be elsewhere. probably it's lactic acid from kicking the fins. Train your legs in a swimming pool.
@@gertleroy Thanks a lot... Never mind the half information from my brain..
I’m one of those people that can just pop them on command. But I was told by my friend who freedives professionally that this is bad to do for deeper depths. He said its because its way more possible for them to not fully clear.
yes this technique is a hack, and if it works that's fine, but there is no guarantee it will work, and the deeper you go the more difficult and unreliable it becomes. i use it for photo/video shoots where you don't wanna have your hand in front of you. that being said, I can take it to 20-30m which is probably deeper than most people will ever go.
@@gertleroy good to know. I rarely go passed 30m. Ears have been fine so far clearing hands free.
I have no idea how but I don’t need to swallow or do anything, I can even be talking and equalise, I think it along the lines of tensing up my muscles around my ears.
You talk under water?
So you have any advice for me I'm struggling to equalize right around 16 meters but then becomes impossible when I hit my max which is 22.4 meters and I'm trying to adjust at depth so I can do hangs and equalize better so I can be able to hit 30 meters got anything that can help😅
Watch my playlist EQUALIZATION TECHNIQUES
Thanks 👍 for information 👍👌
Any time 🙏✌️
This is the same location i just found out that i could not go beyond 4 or 5 meters. I kept swallowing but nothing was happening except that the pressure is getting greater.
And what's about diving back up? What do you do there? The same thing?
please watch my Playlist equalization techniques for freediving
I swallow and wiggle my jaw as a scuba diver and it works for me! I’m about to do my wave 1 free diving
Great! Now you also need to learn conventional EQ for your course
i equalize by opening my jaw in the same function as if i would jawn and get a effectect of thunder in my ears if i humm i can ear myself like 10x louder that equalizes me
I can easily open my eustasian tubes hands free, but not the opposite, i dont know how to force air. I Tried closing the nose air passage and swallowing, i hear a click but its not the click you hear when you block your ears, its the one you hear when you want to unblock them. Need help here, im very confused.
Never force air. So if you don't know how to force air, thats a good thing. Please watch my playlist EQUALIZATION FOR FREEDIVING 🙏
When i push my bottom jaw out (mouth closed) and sort of force a yawn my ears pop. Does that mean that i equalized?
more or less yes. it‘s pretty easy to do it at 1 bar (pressure on land) it’s MUCH harder to do it under water and head down first.
The simon clip killed me 🤣
that good old Simon!
I try to practice 5m efficient diving, I can make it to 5m but I am unable to stay due to pressure pain. One method that worked was to blow some air out but that reduces the operation time underwater.
please watch my Playlist equalization techniques for freediving