Soft palate equalisation, struggle with mouthfill
I'm at a point in freediving where I want to start diving beyond my residual volume. Up until now I've had no issue equalising, it came quite naturally to me. Now I get stranded at a depth of +- 38 meters, which I assume is where I reach residual volume. The next logical step looks like learning mouthfill, which I have been attempting and getting coaching in.
The only issue is that I have an "unusual" equalisation technique, so it's not the standard frenzel to mouthfill transition and even my coach is kind of struggling because he doesn't have the same soft palate controle I use when equalising.
The technique I use is doing a reverse pack and then compressing the air with my soft palate. I can handsfree equalise to +-10 meters, after that it feels like a combination between handsfree and frenzel where I have to pinch my nose. But I don't use my tongue at all and my throat doesn't make the tell tale movement of frenzel. The main "push" of air really comes from my soft palate. I can also easily inflate a balloon when equalising with the otovent.
So now with learning mouthfill, I can fill my mouth with air. But then when I equalise, I equalise 'behind' my tongue with the reverse pack + soft palate push I'm used to, these moves really feel tied together. The rest of the air just stays in my mouth and it feels like I can't use it. When I try to use my soft palate to push the air in my mouth up without reverse packing, I automatically open my glottis, losing the mouthfill.
Some people have advised me to learn frenzel and then mouthfill, so I can use the tongue push. But even if I try this I have to actively open my soft palate to be able to push this air up. And this seems like such a step back because I can equalise just fine right now.
Any other people who equalise like this or recognize it? Can anyone point me in the right direction? Should I focus on learning a clean frenzel, or try to use mouthfill with my current handsfree/soft palate equalization? Any tips, videos, exercises,... are much appreciated. Thank you!