Do freedivers make better scuba divers?

[dumpsterDiver]

I think that in a perfect world, it makes much more sense to teach someone to freedive pretty well before introducing them to scuba. If they can demonstrate, a good fin kick, mask clearing, efficient equalization, perform increasingly more stressful underwater tasks while holding their breath, there is much less chance that they will bolt for the surface on scuba when the first drop of water goes up their nose.

I taught my kids to scuba dive, but first they had to be good at snorkeling. Especially for young (pre teen) children whose behavior may be harder to predict, I think the snorkeling skills development is very useful. And if they can't master it, then they just practice and wait for the scuba lessons. my kids could dive to over 20 ft before they got scuba lessons.

In the "real world" with the scuba courses being so abbreviated, I think the extremely limited amount of time would probably be better spent on teaching scuba.

[video]https://youtu.be/IyLYmEMoKE4[/video]

 

[TMHeimer]

To me it depends on what you call free diving. If it means snorkeling on the surface then going down 10-15 feet to see/grab something, than I did that for decades before my OW course, and I would think it helped me. In fact, I have always wondered why anyone would sign up for OW without having done that a fair bit first. Yes, I have seen very successful OW students who never did that, but I think those that have done that step first generally have a very easy time with some skills--mask stuff, buoyancy to name two. If by free diving you mean going down 50-60 feet and spearing fish, I never did that, and am not sure it would help any more than going down 10-12. Don't know.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

To me it depends on what you call free diving. If it means snorkeling on the surface then going down 10-15 feet to see/grab something, than I did that for decades before my OW course, and I would think it helped me. In fact, I have always wondered why anyone would sign up for OW without having done that a fair bit first. Yes, I have seen very successful OW students who never did that, but I think those that have done that step first generally have a very easy time with some skills--mask stuff, buoyancy to name two. If by free diving you mean going down 50-60 feet and spearing fish, I never did that, and am not sure it would help any more than going down 10-12. Don't know.

Any type of snorkelling is good because it teaches you to breath out of your mouth (not nose) and breathe through a tube which could easily be substituted for a regulator later, so that's a skill...even though a simple one. I've seen people in the pool taking OW for the first time freak out when they try and put a mask on and breath through their mouth. They're nose breathers and can't get away from that. If they'd snorkelled first they would have known that and either worked through it or not attempted scuba.
Next the ear equalization thing even in 10 to 15 feet once or twice gets your ears ready for the constant equalizations you'll be doing in scuba.
Mask defogging by cracking the seal and purging it.
The 50 -60 foot freedives to spear fish...Yes I suppose it would help scuba if you are going to go minimalist. If nothing else it teaches you body positioning dynamics to make the most out of your streamlining/slipstream, because freediving is all about max efficiency and slipping through the water making the smallest "hole" and eliminating drag. If you're tech diving with doubles, stage, bottles, can lights, etc, then probably not since that's a whole thing in itself complete with different fin kicks, etc.
If you're diving somewhere in a quarry it may or may not help depending on your orientation and goals.
Here in California, especially on the North Coast where the rough water and exposed conditions live, then absolutely yes.
The other place a freediving background may help a lot would be Florida and gulf coast since they don't have to use wetsuits, or at the most a thin one (I'm jealous) and minimalist diving is really a wonderful thing.
Hunting, covering a lot of ground, freediving totally helps.
It also helps you choose gear that just scuba trained only divers wouldn't normally use.

 

[cool_hardware52]

Anything that gets people comfortable in the water is a good thing. Free diving, snorkeling, body surfing (if you plan on shore diving) all help.

Tobin

 

[TMHeimer]

Any type of snorkelling is good because it teaches you to breath out of your mouth (not nose) and breathe through a tube which could easily be substituted for a regulator later, so that's a skill...even though a simple one. I've seen people in the pool taking OW for the first time freak out when they try and put a mask on and breath through their mouth. They're nose breathers and can't get away from that. If they'd snorkelled first they would have known that and either worked through it or not attempted scuba.
Next the ear equalization thing even in 10 to 15 feet once or twice gets your ears ready for the constant equalizations you'll be doing in scuba.
Mask defogging by cracking the seal and purging it.
The 50 -60 foot freedives to spear fish...Yes I suppose it would help scuba if you are going to go minimalist. If nothing else it teaches you body positioning dynamics to make the most out of your streamlining/slipstream, because freediving is all about max efficiency and slipping through the water making the smallest "hole" and eliminating drag. If you're tech diving with doubles, stage, bottles, can lights, etc, then probably not since that's a whole thing in itself complete with different fin kicks, etc.
If you're diving somewhere in a quarry it may or may not help depending on your orientation and goals.
Here in California, especially on the North Coast where the rough water and exposed conditions live, then absolutely yes.
The other place a freediving background may help a lot would be Florida and gulf coast since they don't have to use wetsuits, or at the most a thin one (I'm jealous) and minimalist diving is really a wonderful thing.
Hunting, covering a lot of ground, freediving totally helps.
It also helps you choose gear that just scuba trained only divers wouldn't normally use.

Can't disagree with anything here. Except that on the (NORTH) Gulf Coast in "winter"(Jan. to early March), they DO use wetsuits and at time DRYSUITS. Hey, we're back to Nova Scotia in 2 weeks. I just did my one charter out of Pensacola with bare legs in 64F bottom temp. The DM had a drysuit.

 

[Bob DBF]

Do freedivers make better scuba divers?

Yes!

And no I don't mean they have to be competitive free divers, but the more time in the water and underwater helps. The big lesson when free diving is that you learn what you can do with one breath.



Bob
--------------
I may be old, but I'm not dead yet.

 

[Nemrod]

I was SCUBA certified at 14 so I learned free diving skills as part of my SCUBA instruction. I do not think being able to plunge to 100 feet is required or needed but certainly the ability to free dive 15 to 30 feet is a useful skill and important in my opinion. In fact, I would see a 15 foot dive and recover gear (mask fins and clear) a minimum requirement.

I am at best a mediocre skin diver/free diver. I used to be able to go quite deep but was never as comfortable as I wanted to be especially for repeat dives. I just never worked at it enough to get good at it. I can still free dive 60 feet or so (maybe less, lol) and have some loiter time.

But yes, skin diving skills certainly do influence my minimalist aspirations as does my having learned to dive before much of today's equipment and current dependency upon it was available. I dove for years with nothing more than a single second stage, no BC, no SPG, just a J valve and a watch and depth gauge.

Skin diving, here I am saying it again, it is a water comfort and efficiency and proficiency skill. SCUBA divers who have confident and are comfortable in the water are much less likely in my opinion to panic or to get in trouble. Just because you have a buddy does not mean you MUST be buddy dependent.

N

 

[Redshift]

I think it can make a big difference.

Going first through snorkelling and free diving gives future scuba divers a better control of themselves in the water. They start by noticing their movements, weight, body position, effectiveness of their actions, etc and later apply that to scuba. They also practice things that will make them a lot more confident when scuba diving. If one can clear a mask underwater when freediving, having a limited available amount of air, clearing it later with scuba is a piece of cake. When one can hold their breath and swim around, later retrieving the regulator or doing OOG exercises are a piece of cake. People know themselves better, know what they can do and relax.
And then they actually know how to use that important piece of equipment they are told always to use!

 

[Wojo]

It definitely helped me with the mechanics of moving through the water, and my comfort level at depth. I did find at first that I had to concentrate on breathing at all times. I would catch myself holding my breath, just because that's what I was used to.

I really wondered if I'd still enjoy free diving after taking up scuba. I was glad to find that for me they are different enough that I can still enjoy doing both...that they both offer a different kind of freedom the other can't. Free diving, I'm unencumbered by gear and I can move freely and swiftly in the water. Scuba, I'm slowed down and somewhat hampered by gear, but there's so much to be done with all that time underwater.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

It definitely helped me with the mechanics of moving through the water, and my comfort level at depth. I did find at first that I had to concentrate on breathing at all times. I would catch myself holding my breath, just because that's what I was used to.

I really wondered if I'd still enjoy free diving after taking up scuba. I was glad to find that for me they are different enough that I can still enjoy doing both...that they both offer a different kind of freedom the other can't. Free diving, I'm unencumbered by gear and I can move freely and swiftly in the water. Scuba, I'm slowed down and somewhat hampered by gear, but there's so much to be done with all that time underwater.

And the art of minimalism marries the two together: The freedom and agility in the water with freediving, and the ability to stay underwater with scuba.