10 Tips to Choose your FIRST Freediving Course ⭐️⭐️

[@gertleroy]

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[@ShintaLISXiao-tz1lw]

Love it, that’s a real true instructor’s advice.👍🏼 Feeling Safe with someone new and something new is an immeasurable. Not every instructor gets that message unfortunately. You just need to fine tune and browse around for an instructor that will fit your need, understand you and have the willingness to be a real guide. Unfortunately, some locations have few options of instructors. But never give up your fun because of one or two bad experiences. 😁

[@gertleroy]

true!

[@freedivemenorca5587]

Nice! (Thanks for the shout out btw 😉) One thing that people never talk about which can be an awesome way to learn after your first course and gain experience is clubs! They’re like an underground network in the world of freediving

[@gertleroy]

Absolutely! That's actually something that is missing in many places but you guys have a great apnea club there in Menorca it was nice being part of it when I was there! Great 11th tip 😉 search for a club ✌️✌️

[@marydipiazza4574]

I love your approach and philosophy.👍. Most important for the teacher to not create more pressure for your students by focusing on the goals rather than the process. Like you said, everyone is different and some may require more time to achieve the same goals.

[@gertleroy]

exactly. it took me 3 months to learn to eq headdown 😁

[@AlienorchestraNetoslo]

great video as always, Gert... Cheers, Jan from Norway.

[@gertleroy]

Hello epic alien ✌️

[@krisb4890]

Awesome, Gert! 👏🏻 Totally agree with the points you discussed.

[@gertleroy]

thanks Kris! always good to hear people appreciate my videos :-)

[@JesusChrist2000BC]

Definitely going to check these places out! cheers brotha

[@gertleroy]

all the best Jack!

[@jodecaesteker]

5 years ago I did an Aida 2. There weren't many choices back then here in West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. First of all, it's a numbers based license. You HAVE to hold your breath at least for X seconds, X m etc... Stuff like this makes me extremely nervous. Add to that an instructor who chose an open water location for the depth exam with water temperature of 7°C and visibility 1 to 1,5m, and you've got a perfect recipe for instant disaster. Even though the second session was in clear warm water (Transfo Zwevegem), the damage had been done and was irreversible... 🥺 I won't mention the instructor's name but I'm very pissed at him because the trauma even makes me panic in my everyday life whenever I'm confronted with a challenge. Whatever it is... It's that bad. It really broke me beyond repair. Freediving brutally shattered my self esteem and confidence entirely. (Edit: after having actually watched the video, it's clear my instructor failed miserably on multiple points... #ssh#le...)

[@gertleroy]

I'm sorry to hear this Jo. Whatever happened in the past, try to give it a place, and hope you can find a way to close that chapter and move on. The good news is: what's broken can be repaired. If I ever come back to belgium I hope I can organize some freediving meetings in transfo and maybe you can join and find back the love for the sport. Cheers and all the best 🙏

[@andrzejfabianski4948]

Maybe trip to some clear water can solve this. Some location with nice marine life or anything to observe under the surface. Then You can focus on observations and depth will become only the side effect :) Of course depth alarm in computer is helpful ;)

[@gertleroy]

@@andrzejfabianski4948 🙏

[@jodecaesteker]

@@andrzejfabianski4948Thanks for the advice but no. Open water is out of the question. It freaking broke me. Even an indoor dive tank is very intimidating. I did do one more session in 2017 after my course from 2015. That extra session was in a tank (Transfo Zwevegem) and it went fairly well. I even had fun and got to the bottom once on FIM with not too many contractions. I was even smiling. It was with a female instructor and I had explained my problems a few weeks before the session. It wasn't about depth and there was no pressure... Anyway, she thought I was doing well and I even started to have some hope, but then she said I should come with her and some friends for open water dives... I immediately panicked and said no thanks... Look, I can't just jump into open water after just one half successful session indoors and expect it to go very well. I need a lot of confirmation. My confidence is gone. I'm going to be very open here so don't take advantage of it: when I was 6, an impatient swimming teacher threw me in the water and I still couldn't swim. So, I have major trust issues. And I've become hypersensitive. Since then, every single challenge in my life has felt like being thrown into the water while not being able to swim. And besides, the biggest problem is that I don't have time. I would need LOTS of indoor sessions and I don't have the time and no instructor or freediver is having this much time either. I've got a busy job and a loving family. Let's just say they couldn't care less about freediving and so it's hard for me to actually do it. I even have trouble to find time to go swimming in the public pool (apart from covid lockdown). Traveling to freedive is also totally not possible. This is the reason why I could only do one more session in 5 years after my course. So, Gert, if and when you are in Belgium, chances are VERY big I won't have time or I won't be allowed to come... and even if it would work out, how many sessions would we be able to do? 2? 3? That's not enough. The time pressure would be there again. Not a good idea. You said it yourself... So, I guess I'm going to give up on it all together. (And no, quitting my job or divorcing my lovely wife are NOT valid options.)

[@andrzejfabianski4948]

@@jodecaesteker so sad to hear that, but that's life. Sometime just not giving us time or opportunity to do our plans. Good luck anyway😊

[@andreykarayvansky9549]

Thank you for your video! My best tip was the 2 websites to search the courses and instructors. I want to do a course with my friends, and we don't know where to do it.

[@gertleroy]

welcome 🙏

[@sangameshr.t.2476]

Great video man ❤

[@gertleroy]

🙏🙏

[@callumthorsen5474]

I had a great instructor.... Martin Uiterwijk from Tangaroa Freediving in the Netherlands an awesome experienced and open minded instructor great with each students individual needs and he emphisizes enjoyment of the proces of freediving and the requirements come by themselves naturally... I can highly recommend him 👌🏻

[@gertleroy]

Good to hear ✌️🙏

[@musikeradaw]

I am a scuba diver and I heard really bad reviews with ssi and padi because some people who took them said that sometimes these organizations make non free diver certified teachers who are scuba diver certified teachers teach the course and it’s disappointing. So I’m taking molchanovs in tulum.

[@gertleroy]

It all depends on your instructor. Good luck in tulum

[@lindanature]

Great tips

[@gertleroy]

Glad you think so!

[@slgarrett]

Suppose you've taken your first course, you're starting to edge up against the maximum depth you're certified to, you're hit or miss in the pool, and you're starting to think about your second course?

[@gertleroy]

between befinner course and a follow up course there's usually some time so you can practice and become more confident

[@afshinz.k4518]

That's exactly what happened to me. I paid $500 and extra for renting equipements. After 2days sessions. He didnt certify me and asks for more sessions to book.

[@gertleroy]

It's a never ending discussion in Freediving community what would be the best strategy, and every student should be evaluated separately, but in my opinion not certifying a student after a course works demotivating. I think the job of an instructor in that case should be to explain the student (s)he is not ready to take the next course, but denying a certification doensnt seem to be the right thing to me. But once again, ever case should be looked upon individually

[@tomomiyoshino5869]

good info and tips !

[@gertleroy]

Thanks Tomomi! How is life in the philippines these days?

[@rayzambrano4282]

Hi, i like your videos. I have one question. I can hold my breathe to 4min in dry static, but in the water i can't last 40sec. I don't know why:( . I hope you could help me with that. Thank you so much.

[@gertleroy]

Very simple: you're not confident in the water. Work on relaxation. Work on making the water your comfort zone 🙏

[@haxificality]

Question of the day: "where the hell I can get into a class with you as an instructor?"

[@gertleroy]

That's a good question... As long as this pandemic goes on, unsure to say.. 🙏

[@haxificality]

hook me up when you return to Philippines. I hope it's in either Bohol or Cebu 🙏

[@gertleroy]

@@haxificality 🙏 let's hope still in 2021

[@richardb7495]

Great video as always. But i tried to search "freediving USA" and got zip! 😉😂

[@gertleroy]

Usa freediving dot com! That didn't help?

[@richardb7495]

@@gertleroy my bad! Found it!!

[@gertleroy]

@@richardb7495 🙏

[@NORWOODShadow]

Idk certifying someone before they are able to prove their ability seems irresponsible however stressful and inconvenient it may be for them.

[@gertleroy]

What is "proving their ability"? How do you define one's "ability"? Ability to do what? Every student is an individual case and if the technique and skill is there that's what we look for.

[@NORWOODShadow]

@@gertleroy "Ability" to safely dive to a certain depth as well as safety others at a certain depth. Otherwise the certification doesn't really mean anything.

[@gertleroy]

@@NORWOODShadow courses in my opinion are about learning things, not about proving what you can do. But it's ok to have a different opinion. That's why there are different organizations so people can choose 🙏

[@NORWOODShadow]

@@gertleroy Yea I'm not saying all courses should require a test, but any legitimate"certification" level course should hold standard requirements for the students to reach. It's a whole other discussion if you are arguing against the need for any proper certifications at all. By the way I love your content and you have inspired me much to take up free diving.