I have tried the banana thing, doesn't work (and I love nanners too!)
I feel like my fins fit me very well, I have a narrow foot and there is no movement in the foot bed at all--I used to wear booties but with all the travel weight restrictions I have pared down the weight and honestly don't know why I didn't try full fins sooner, they are so much easier on a dive boat.
Pebbles, that is some interesting reading....so am I reading that right in that I need to be pointing my toes when doing leg exercises? I seem to remember now that some cramps do happen when finning with toes pointed--and you are telling me focus more on bending the knees. Interesting! Thanks so much!
The problem many people have, is that they have never trained the range of motion where their foot is fully pointed...the calf muscles are not only weak in this range of motion that has never been worked, but the perfusion in this area is poor as well. One of the many effects of intense bicycle training( like intervals) and of doing calf raises at the gym (to absolute maximum contraction/max toe pointing at end of calf raise) is increased perfusion in this area of the muscle...peripheral adaptations to training. Doing intervals on the bike, and supersets in the gym, will cause neo-vascularization ( you get better blood flow and gas exchange in your calf muscles.....less likelihood of cramping). *** As in the earlier post, for cycling to be optimally utilized for fin swimming, it needs to be with a higher seat position than normal for cyclists....it needs to utilize an extreme toe point at the bottom of the pedal stroke, and there needs to be a push forward going on with the quads on the upper part of the stroke, and a pulling back on the lower part with the other leg, at the same time....this is truly a "neuromuscular" conditioning, as the coordination required to do this optimally is extreme , and once learned, is so similar to what we need to do with fin swimming that it becomes a very natural feeling .
When Dan began training kids to snorkel in the Project Seahorse program with Palm Beach County, he noticed that a significant percentage of the kids would kick with their feet at constant 90 degree angles...like the angle you stand at. It seems there is a percentage of people that have either limited flexibility, and or limited calf strength in anything other than this 90 degree angle they have developed strength in from walking. When they attempt to deviate from this well worked 90 degree angle, to the maximum pointing extension, they don't have the strength or flexibility to accomplish this...Those with this issue could try, and cramp, or just fail to go beyond the 90 degree angle.
And of course , many of the kids instantly went to the extreme toe pointing with no problems whatsoever. They ended up with a massive advantage in fin swimming from day one.
This gets into a much bigger discussion of course...something Dan really needs to be doing,not me....I'm really just parroting
But one of the really cool things you get from the optimal toe pointing, is the "Kick and glide". It is crucial to efficiency in fin swimming. You can't glide, if you can't toe point. If you can't glide, you will never be efficient in the water. Imagine riding a bicycle with the brakes on all the time!