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THE MENTAL – PART 1
For the basis of discussion here, let us define the Mental as our doing and not doing with the mind so as to set up the most favourable psychological state for approaching a performance.
For the last 12 years we have had a saying on our web site We have long since passed that which is achievable by purely physical excellence and are now into the Tierra incognita of our mental potential.
I know of very few other sports where the mental is as dominant. Perhaps climbing approaches it.
Most of our record holders are mature individuals and some positively ancient in comparison with other sports, this in itself makes the point.
In freediving the body is not a slave to be whipped into submission. In order to achieve results we need stress, but stress does not produce results, only adaptation to stress does. Too much stress and a blockage is created or worse collapse – Entropy.
The most favorable conditions are achieved when there is harmony between the mental, the psychological and the physical .
Let us first look at the beginning of mental training in freediving. It begins with the trainer suggesting to the beginner “Don’t look down the line towards the bottom on descent, nor up towards the surface on ascent.” First, what we are requiring him to do is totally unnatural and in opposition to all his former conditioning. As an infant he was constantly reminded to look where he was going. Worse, we are asking him to prioritise this within a series of actions that have not as yet become automatic: the duck dive, the first equalisations and aligning with the line. This is the beginning of mental training, to memorise a command that you give yourself and execute it during the dive.
The next stage is understanding that the equalisation and the duck dive have to be good enough to be shunted to the automatic pilot, so full concentration can be given to not looking down the line.
The automatic pilot is a very important concept, maybe the best way of explaining it is if we cast our minds back to the first time we sat alone in a car after learning to drive; we had to talk our way through actions we had learned, very often with a prompt from the drive instructor.
First let’s check the mirrors and the seat -now for the seat belt. Check to see if the hand brake is on and whether the car is in gear before switching on the ignition. OK, now depress the clutch, ease off the hand brake give a little acceleration, check the mirror – indicate and ease out into the traffic.
And so the monologue goes on all the way to the office. But a month later, you arrive at the office and realise that your mind was totally occupied with the argument you had with your girlfriend before you left the house. Some part of your mind coped with the driving and all the road situations.
THIS WAS THE AUTOMATIC PILOT!
In freediving the more tasks we can put onto the automatic pilot the more efficiently we will operate. Alignment, head position, equalizing, rhythm, stroke force, kick count – must become automatic, something we don’t think about. Later when we add mouthfill, entry into the glide and total relaxation, we can begin to aspire to empty mind.
What is the automatic pilot and where is it in the brain? Maybe the physiologists can help us out here. The PFC – the prefrontal cortex, seems a likely place to start the hunt; the dorsolateral and orbitomedial areas, particularly the infralimbic area 25 Brodmann; somewhere in the dialogue between the Cognitive executive and the Emotional exequtrix… I am way out of my depth here, but it would be fascinating to know!
But if we don’t know where it is, at least we do know some of the do’s and don’ts. We know that trusting it is very important. We know that the ego and the will are its biggest opponents. We must get to 60mts is a recipe for failure, with this expectation we create anxiety and stress – the very opposite conditions for the AP to operate efficiently. The Buddhist attitude of non attachment non aversion is a far better choice. We do the dive to the best of our ability, but we must not become too involved in the success or failure of the dive. We must accept the fact that some days end in catastrophe and some in success, it’s all part of the game. Failure is part of the picture, the possibility must be admissible. To win is to persevere. It is possible to be totally committed to your dive and still not too involved in the outcome.
Some has already been written on focus. Single point focus or dispersed focus? If one was lucky enough to have had training as an Olympic pistol or rifle shot, then there is an immediate understanding that a clear sight picture is only maintainable for less than 2 seconds. If you focus your eyes on a point not more than 1.5 mts away, don’t blink or move your head the focus will dissolve, disperse, and you become more aware of the entire field of view including the periphery. This is the entry into the state we want (It would be interesting to learn if this was entry into Alpha wave predominate in the brain. Can anybody help out there?). It is the state of the Zen Archer, “if the form is correct – the arrow flies true”.
The ideal mental state is set up in every stage of training, and involves a growing belief in yourself. This is achieved by regular gradual progress in consistent, realisable increments.
Continually changing equipment and training patterns – is not a recipe for success. One day nose clip only, one day mask, and one day liquid goggles and nose clip – make a decision and stick with it!
The next part of this article will examine how the mental relates to the psychological, how they can achieve harmony and how they can talk to the physical.
It will also examine how to set up the most favourable conditions in training, how to avoid common traps and build a mind set of steel.
Fire on Monroe Bravo is the latest book in the Jack Collier series by Fred Lockwood. Our story begins with our lead characters, Jack and Sandro, owners of Marine Salvage & Investigation Company, arriving on the Monroe Bravo Oil & Gas Platform in the North Sea. Having secured a contract for their vessel the MV Stavanger to act as support ship to the platform for TransGlobal Oil, our protagonists are on a celebratory visit.
However almost as soon as they arrive a series of explosions rock the platform, causing huge damage, loss of life and the very real danger of a massive human, ecological and financial disaster.
As the danger mounts for both our heroes and the surviving workers, Jack and Sandro will have to escape the inferno, all while trying to save the platform and the men still trapped unable to help themselves.
The disaster sets the scene for the unfolding story lines following the fate of the platform and our main characters, the police investigation into a suspected terrorist act and the actions of TransGlobal Oil as they attempt to navigate the pubic outcry and financial repercussions.
In his eighth book, Fire on Monroe Bravo, Fred Lockwood delivers an explosive thriller, with plenty of above and in-water drama, and our heroes fighting for survival, what more can you ask for?
We thoroughly recommend this read and look forward to the next in the series. For more information about his book series, you can check out the reviews of his previous books here on Scubaverse.
- Title: Fire On Monroe Bravo
- Author: Fred Lockwood
- ISBN: 979-8325324536
Available in a paperback version and for Kindle from Amazon and book stores.
In June we were incredibly fortunate to be invited to dive in Alonissos, a small Greek Island in the Sporades island chain located in the North Aegean Sea. While I have long been a big fan of the Greek Islands as a great holiday destination, I had not had the opportunity to do any diving on previous visits and Mike and I were extremely excited to see what Alonissos had to offer both above and below the surface!
The Sporades are easily accessible via the airport in Skiathos (the first island in the chain), which is served by Jet2 flights from all major UK airports from May through October. Numerous ferries and charter boats make island hopping from Skiathos Town a breeze. After an hour boat ride, the picturesque port of Patitiri was a wonderful introduction to Alonissos, where we were met by our gracious hosts Kostas of Albedo Travel and Dias of Alonissos Triton Dive Center. Mike and I were delighted to be staying at the Paradise Hotel, aptly named for its stunning views over the sea and great location for walking to the waterfront.
Alonissos is beautifully situated in the National Marine Park of Alonissos and the Northern Sporades, the largest marine protected area in Europe. The surrounding seas offer fabulous marine life, including incredibly rare species such as the Mediterranean monk seal. They boast deep walls covered in gorgonians and sponges, stunning topography with caverns, swimthroughs and pinnacles, and the first accessible ancient shipwreck from 500BC!
In locations where historical sites have been reported, the waters are largely restricted, but with collaboration between government, underwater archeologists and dive centres, incredible underwater museums are being created for a truly unique diving experience. Alonissos is home to the first of these, the Ancient Shipwreck of Peristera Accessible Underwater Archeological Site. The chance to dive into history (along with reports of healthy reef life and amazing underwater topography) meant Mike and I were keen to get in the water.
Our introduction to the diving around Alonissos was at the Agios Georgios Pinnacles, in the channel between Alonissos and Skopelos. This fantastic site was named “The Chimney,’ and proved to have a huge amount to see. We got to a decent depth here (over 25m), and marvelled at a colourful reef wall with a wonderful swim through whose rocky walls were absolutely covered with life. As well as brilliant topography there was no shortage of macro life here. We saw numerous nudibranchs, five different species in total. The second dive at Mourtias reef nearby was a shallower dive along a nice wall with lots of crevices. Several moray eels and grouper called this site home. We enjoyed looking in the crevices for lobster and smaller benthic life, such as cup corals and tunicates.
Our itinerary allowed us two dives a day with afternoons left to explore the island with our hire car and evenings to enjoy the famous Greek hospitality. This proved to be a lovely mix of in-water and land based diversions.
The next days diving to the Gorgonian Gardens and Triton’s Cave was to be even better! These two stunning sites are nothing short of fabulous. The Gorgonian Gardens was a deep wall near to the Agios Georgios islands. The ever-present currents in this deep channel meant that the sea life was amazing … the namesake Gorgonian sea fans dotted the wall at a depth of 30 to 50 meters, getting ever larger the deeper we went. Above 30m was by no means less beautiful, with sponges, corals, scorpionfish, moray eels and some rare and colourful nudibranchs.
The second shallower dive of the day was to Triton’s Cave or the Cavern of Skopelos, on the east side of that island. The spectacular rock formations had wild striations both above and below the water making a truly epic topography. The cavern entrance was at 14m, and big enough for a buddy pair, winding up to 6m and passing two beautiful windows out into the blue. Emerging from the cavern, the light at the shallower depths and the incredible rock formations made for a fantastic gentle swimming safety stop and we all surfaced by the boat with massive grins.
Check out our next blog :Alonissos: The complete diving destination (Part 2)” to hear about our amazing dive on the 2500 year old Peristera Wreck!
Thanks to:
Alonissos Triton Dive Center https://bestdivingingreece.com/
Albedo Travel https://alonissosholidays.com/activities/
Paradise Hotel https://paradise-hotel.gr/
Alonissos Municipality https://alonissos.gr/en/
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