how to make bubble rings

On Friday I received my new GoPro camera so I spent the weekend playing around with it. I enjoyed taking videos of the kids, but I’m not going to post that here.  Instead, here’s how I make bubble rings.

​Bubble rings are great fun with kids.  There is a bit of a wow factor and they enjoy swimming through them.  If they are good enough swimmers they like learning to make them.  This is simple fun in the pool without having to go buy anything new at the store.

​With a little practice you can make them anywhere the water is calm enough.  I’ve heard people say you need a deep pool, as in at least nine feet deep.  That isn’t true.  I’ve formed them within two feet of the surface.  The photo above was taken in an eight foot pool.  I have at times blown four or five while rising from the bottom with the last being right near the top.

It’s kind of like learning to whistle, you’ll need to try it a bunch of times before you get the hang of it, but it is not as hard as learning to whistle.

​You will want a mask.  You are going to be swimming upside down.  You don’t want water running up your nose and you don’t want air from your nose breaking up the rings.

​Swim with your back facing the ground.  Try to keep your hands and feet from stirring up the water above your head.  I find keeping my hands down near my waist is ok if I’m pushing water up as long as I’m being careful about turbulence.  Holding them out to the side or above my head is only ok if I’m not pushing water up.

Tip your head back a little so your lips and chin are high up then push out a quick burst of air and slam your lips shut right away.  It’s kind of like saying the letter P, but unlike saying P you need to close your lips right away.  You do not need much air and you want it to come out quickly.  Be careful not to destroy your ring with turbulence from your hands or feet.

If you get a big dome-shaped bubble or a bunch of bubbles instead of a ring, you may have used too much air, blown out for too long, had your neck too straight or too bent (your head should be tipped back a little), or destroyed it with too much turbulence from your hands or feet.

Recently I’ve read that sticking out your tongue and then pulling it in while blowing out can help. I’ve given it a try at the end of this video and you can see that also works.  I didn’t quite clamp down my mouth tight enough after the burst of air on that try, but it worked anyway.

Just keep trying and you’ll get the hang of it.  If you are still having difficulty, try filling your cheeks and lips with a little air and just blowing that out.  Play with the shape of your mouth.  Most of all, stick with it, you’ll get it.