Fine tuning trim and an odd experience.

[AlwaysLearning]

Hey there fellow divers.
I have recently made a number of changes in equipment. A few weeks ago I was working on fine tuning my trim and trying to find the sweet spot with my tank placement. My weight seems great but I noticed 2 things.
1. My tank is riding a little high as I nose down a bit when I relax and hover. Next week I'll adjust my tank down a little to diminish that.
2. I also noticed when I would hover or during slow light finning, my body would rotate left side down and right side up.

I was diving with the sole purpose of fine tuning weight and trip so I was not wearing additional gear like lights, knives, shears, spools, dsmb's etc that would have altered my balance side to side.

I'm sure the tank adjustments will correct the first issue.
During the dive I was wondering if I had mistakenly placed a 5 lb weight in my left trim pocket, and put a 3 lb in my right. Generally I run 3 lb left and 3 lb right. My pony bottle (23 cu ft hp steal? was down with me suspended from my dive float. To compensate for the body tilt I attached my pony to my right front hoop and lower right hoop. All of a sudden I was balanced perfectly, so I assumed my thoughts about mistaken weights was correct.
I reviewed my weights and their placement in my trim pockets along with the integrated weight pockets. Oddly all weights were accurate to my standard set up left to right.
The question: As a newer diver, is it possible that I missing something within my technique that may be causing this issue? I'd be happy to answer any clarifying questions. I appreciate any input or advice, thanks in advance for your time. AL

 

[BB`]

Any chance you can have your buddy take a video of you swimming around and hovering?


Without seeing it all we can do is take wild guesses.

 

[KevinNM]

A few seconds of GoPro video is hugely useful to you to see what is really going on.

A trick I've seen done is to get close to a platform, stop, stabilize and then pull your fins up to the bottom of your tank by bending you knees. You should go heads down pretty hard. Then push back off the platform, stabilize and extend your fins out straight behind you. You should go heads up.

If you are heads up or down doing BOTH of these you need to adjust weight distribution quite a bit. If you go one way stronger then the other you probably should think about moving some.

 

[AlwaysLearning]

Any chance you can have your buddy take a video of you swimming around and hovering?


Without seeing it all we can do is take wild guesses.

Great idea! I'll do that. Thank you!

 

[AlwaysLearning]

A few seconds of GoPro video is hugely useful to you to see what is really going on.

A trick I've seen done is to get close to a platform, stop, stabilize and then pull your fins up to the bottom of your tank by bending you knees. You should go heads down pretty hard. Then push back off the platform, stabilize and extend your fins out straight behind you. You should go heads up.

If you are heads up or down doing BOTH of these you need to adjust weight distribution quite a bit. If you go one way stronger then the other you probably should think about moving some.

I generally kick with a modified flutter or modified frog kick (depending on how well my right knee is doing.) This is why I am thinking that I need to slide my tank down a little. I didn't try to see if I nosed down with my legs out. I will try that this upcoming week and get some video while I am at it. Thanks for your input.

 

[dmaziuk]

2. I also noticed when I would hover or during slow light finning, my body would rotate left side down and right side up.

I had this when I accidentally placed a 5lb weight instead of 4lb in one chest pocket, i.e. one pound can be enough.

 

[Imla]

It could also be that your wing/bcd? slightly tacos (Doesn't need much) and that you dive with slightly more air in the right side of your wing. Forcefully tipping your body to the right should be enough to move a little bit of the air from the right to the left, and hence get balance. (This is also useful when carrying other heavy equipment on one side. )