Which FIM start do you prefer?
There are different ways to breathe-up before a dive, which will consequently influence your “starting” technique.
The 3 main breathe-ups are:
– Through a snorkel (which is not very common for deep diving mainly because it makes packing more difficult to do)
– In a vertical position with your head out of the water, either “standing” but most often sitting on a pool noodle (or several of them) for extra buoyancy and comfort
– Laying on your back and rest your head on an inflatable pillow or something floaty, especially if you are wearing a neckweight and/or it’s a bit wavy
Personally I have been a lifelong fan of sitting-on-the-noodle; last year I had this humongous triple noodle that made my whole chest stay out of the water (it was amazing!) but I can’t do that at World Championships, because when there are multiple official lines all close together there is a lot of yelling around and I really struggle to stay in my own headspace and I end up listening to all that is happening around me instead of trying to relax, which is especially traumatising when the guy before you blacks out and you have to hear all the rescuing going on.
Laying on your back keeps your ears partially submerged, and if you fill your hood with water you will be pretty much deaf, which is an extremely desirable state to be in before a deep dive (except you need a coach to scream the count-down at your ear or you will miss your start).
It took me a year of practice before I could become semi-comfortable with this breathe-up (I’m still very far from loving it) and that meant I also had to change the way I start my dives: in fact if I sit on my beloved noodle, all I need to do is to lean forward just enough to fall off of it and use that forward momentum to duck-dive (or to twist myself along the line for Free Immersion).
But when you are laying on your back you dont have that, and you need to roll over before you duck dive. For Free Immersion you have 1 more option, which is also the most popular one: instead of rolling over and start while facing down, you remain face-up, grab the rope behind your head and pull yourself down like that. Even though it is a more visually pleasing technique and some might argue that it is more efficient, after a few months of practicing this I realized there was not way to get over the loathing I feel for this motion, and I finally dropped it and started to roll over instead. It may look more clumsy from an aesthetic point of view but I find it more relaxing and it takes less energy. The other advantage of rolling over is that you dont have to remove your pillow from under your neck, since the pillow is very buoyant it will come off on its own.
You can see both these starting techniques in the comparison videos (at half speed):
-video above: remove pillow and pull yourself down while still facing up
-video below: turn around, grab the rope, let the pillow pop out and pull yourself down
Which one do you prefer?
Is there any specific technique you would like to be explained in further details? You can leave a comment on my IG post (but please be original and don’t say mouthfill because you will be ignored)
