soltari675
Contributor
Sometimes you can find bare rock to touch a fingertip to keep from bumping coral with the rest of your body. I have done it to stop and look at certain fish and not get pushed away in the current.
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We teach our students to put a fingertip down, if they stop to look at something. OW students can rarely stop altogether; they usually aren't balanced properly, and don't have the body posture to remain still. It is our feeling that a fingertip is better than failing wildly with hands and fins in a circle, to try to get a look at something. Of course, most of our sites are not covered in delicate structures (at least, the ones OW students get to dive aren't) so it's possible to find a pretty benign spot to put a finger down. Amazingly, students with one finger touching something, have the confidence to relax and stop moving, and they learn it is possible.
There's nothing wrong with just the tip.
I'm in the same boat with you Grumpy If I can't control myself I have failed. However, that being said, I am still pretty new so there are times I am not perfectly buoyant.