How to do that pesky back finning thing

[undrwater]

Does anybody have a good way to attach mirrors at the bottom of a home swimming pool? And what kind of mirrors should I use?

I've heard plexiglass will provide reflection in a pool. I've been meaning to try it, but haven't yet. Maybe I'll head to Home Depot today and pick up a small square for a test.

 

[boulderjohn]

I think the perfect self training environment will be a pool with mirrors on the side where divers can check their trim, equipment streamlining and finning.

<starts dreaming about what he can learn in such a place>

I actually started a thread on that topic in the Instructor to Instructor forum several hears ago, and it was pretty much inspired by something like this. I abandoned the quest almost as soon as I started the thread for unrelated reasons, so I barely paid attention to the replies. I think there were some useful ones, though. It might make another good thread on its own.

 

[beanojones]

I think the perfect self training environment will be a pool with mirrors on the side where divers can check their trim, equipment streamlining and finning.

<starts dreaming about what he can learn in such a place>

Don't ask for much do you?

I think while mirrors would help a lot of things, that the amazingly low cost of GoPros has made video the way to go with this. Mount on on one those pole extensions and you can get feedback on yourself even.

 

[undrwater]

Don't ask for much do you?

I think while mirrors would help a lot of things, that the amazingly low cost of GoPros has made video the way to go with this. Mount on on one those pole extensions and you can get feedback on yourself even.

IF the plexi works, the cost will be much lower. Also, a mirror will give one immediate feedback, which is far and away superior to having to watch the video later.

 

[beanojones]

I know that plexiglass is reflective when what is behind the glass is dark. There are swimming pools in hotels where there is a viewing port for an underground bar to spy on the swimmers. From the pool side all it looks like is a mirror, but that is because of the difference in lighting, not because there is anything special about plexiglass.

 

[Progen]

What I was planning to do was to put my Galaxy Note 2 into a plastic pouch and mount it to the side of the swimming pool with double sided suction cups like what they use to secure self-contained filters in aquariums. Only downside is the few seconds of me swimming away and towards the phone to turn the recording on and off. Those with the GoPro remote will have it easier although it's only rated for 10 feet.

Feel bad about asking friends to record me since I'm the only one having fun and each session is 2 hours odd.

 

[kotik]

Does anybody have a good way to attach mirrors at the bottom of a home swimming pool? And what kind of mirrors should I use?

I used a mirror in a pool in the final tweakings of a DIY sidemount harness. I just bought a cheapo door mirror and propped it up sideways against the pool wall. Drooping soft weights across the top edge kept it from floating away, and lining more weights along the bottom edge kept the bottom from kicking out.

As undrwater says, a mirror gives instant feedback-- it worked great. Completely worth the $7 or so that I paid for it. Just be careful to stay away from it when practicing kicks so this doesn't turn into a cleanup job.

 

[Progen]

... a mirror gives instant feedback ...

Yeah, that's priceless. Sure saves a lot of time instead of you only finding out when you're home with a big screen and going, '****!!! I didn't know I was doing it that bad!'. I do watch the playbacks on my phone for a few seconds each time and try to correct accordingly but most of the time, I have to stay low profile and not be noticed with an image recording device at the public pool. More so since I live in a Muslim dominated country where you sometimes get females who're even more heavily garbed at the local pools than me in my full wetsuit, booties and gloves.

 

[Progen]

[video=youtube;gv5yfksixSk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv5yfksixSk[/video]

I can backfin comfortably and reliably enough now but here's a video to show the mistake I was making 2 months ago which was why I kept going arse first then.

 

[beanojones]

What's your take on what you were doing wrong, and what you did to fix it?