Beginners guide to Frenzel equalisation | Learning to freedive

Do you want to freedive but can't equalise?

Freediving as a sport explode over the past few years. It feels like everybody's drawn to the ocean with the fantasy of swimming under the water effortlessly with a single breath.

But, if you feel increased pressure or pain in your ears whilst diving under the surface. Your body is telling you to stop and not dive deeper.

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If you can't equalise the pressure in your middle ears, you can't freediver any deeper. Fact.

I see students from all walks of life wanting to learn to freedive. 

Not everyone was lucky enough to grow up with an aquatic background. Or had a family member show them how to "pinch and blow" to equalise their ears as a child.  

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If you are frustrated and struggling with your equalisation, don't worry, you are not alone. 

As an instructor, I can probably say that 60% of students can't equalise head down on their beginner freediving course.

Some students do make progress over the two days of training. Other students get weighed down with frustration and disappointment as their dream fades.

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Why you feel discomfort in your ears when you dive under the water?

When we dive the surrounding water pressure increases and gases compress, this means air spaces get smaller.

At 10m there is 2 bar of atmospheric pressure, your lungs are made of soft tissue and can compress on their own, so at 10m your lungs are compressed to half their orginal size.

At 20m there is 3bar of pressure and the lungs are 1/3 of there original size, on the way up the lungs re-expands as the surrounding water pressure reduces.

So why do our ears hurt?

Behind your ear drum is a non conpressable airspace called the the middle ear, when this air space gets compressed it pulls on the ear drum, this causes discomfort and can cause injury if the air pressure is not equalised.

When we equalise our ears, what we are doing is pushing air throught the eustachian tubes into the middle ear air space. 

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We must equalise the middle ear often to freedive.

Realistically in the grand scheme of things, two days is not much time to build confidence underwater and learn brand-new motor skills.

But there is hope. With awareness, practice and patience, your equalisation skills will improve.

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We teamed up with Apneista freediving school to share our combined experiences of teaching EQ.

You will also find a FREE training plan at the end of the tutorial to help you prepare you for your freediving courses.

If you have any questions regarding EQ please send a message.

Beginners guide to equalisation | Intro to Frenzel | Freedive course preparation

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