Adjusting my trim
- Thread starter Deefstes
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Deefstes
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Some feedback. I went to my local quarry (if you can call an hour's drive "local") on Saturday to try these tips out. I decided that, to start off with, I will try out all of the tips dealing with body posture and technique and if that doesn't work, try shifting weights upwards.
Let me start by saying that it seems I'll have to go back anyway:blush: It seems that before I can really spend too much time working on my body posture I need to master another skill and that is NOT to fin when it's not needed. I didn't actually realise this until after the dive when I spoke to someone else. It seems that, for some reason, I constantly feel the urge to fin, gotta practice that.
What I have noticed though was that my legs certainly does seem to fall down, even when I raise my feet and calves to form a 90 degree angle with my thighs. For the next two weekends I'm busy but the weekend after that I'll go back and practice first of all not to fin but just hang there and second I'll move some weights higher up on my body. Actually, I like this idea of adding flotation (polistyrene or something) to my legs.
Now for the real exciting part of the day's diving. This "other diver" whom I chatted with and who gave me some excellent advice was none other that Nuno Gomes, former world record holder for deepest open circuit dive (318m). What a nice guy, he spent a fair amount of time explaining to me what I should do differently and how I can improve my diving. And just so you guys know, he told me pretty much what you guys told me already so you're in good company
And I got him to sign my log book.
So the quest to get my diving right continues. It seems to be a tad bit more difficult than I thought but I'll keep trying.
Let me start by saying that it seems I'll have to go back anyway:blush: It seems that before I can really spend too much time working on my body posture I need to master another skill and that is NOT to fin when it's not needed. I didn't actually realise this until after the dive when I spoke to someone else. It seems that, for some reason, I constantly feel the urge to fin, gotta practice that.
What I have noticed though was that my legs certainly does seem to fall down, even when I raise my feet and calves to form a 90 degree angle with my thighs. For the next two weekends I'm busy but the weekend after that I'll go back and practice first of all not to fin but just hang there and second I'll move some weights higher up on my body. Actually, I like this idea of adding flotation (polistyrene or something) to my legs.
Now for the real exciting part of the day's diving. This "other diver" whom I chatted with and who gave me some excellent advice was none other that Nuno Gomes, former world record holder for deepest open circuit dive (318m). What a nice guy, he spent a fair amount of time explaining to me what I should do differently and how I can improve my diving. And just so you guys know, he told me pretty much what you guys told me already so you're in good company
And I got him to sign my log book.So the quest to get my diving right continues. It seems to be a tad bit more difficult than I thought but I'll keep trying.
Texasdivechick
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I was only able to get trim and completely neutral after about 50+ dives, which was only a few months ago. It helped when I removed all of my weight (6lbs) from my weight pouches to my cam pockets and shifted my tank up about 2 inches. I also learned to swim with my feet up, knees bent, and my arms out in front of me for ballast (also easier to glance at my watch this way with just a flick of my wrist). I know that many of the posters on this thread have waaaaay more experience than I, but I just wanted to let you know, from newbie to newbie, that one day it will happen for you and once you recognize the feeling of being completely neutral and still, there is no greater feeling in the world. It will get easier the more you dive. If you can, next time you're out at the local quarry, find a platform and just work on hovering and trimming yourself out. Oh, and learn to completely relax in the water. I find that if I tense up, my trim goes out of whack. It is frustrating, but with practice and patience horizontal trim and neutral buoyancy will eventually happen.
Glad to see that you're taking steps to become a better diver and good luck!
Glad to see that you're taking steps to become a better diver and good luck!
Now for the real exciting part of the day's diving. This "other diver" whom I chatted with and who gave me some excellent advice was none other that Nuno Gomes, former world record holder for deepest open circuit dive (318m). What a nice guy, he spent a fair amount of time explaining to me what I should do differently and how I can improve my diving. And just so you guys know, he told me pretty much what you guys told me already so you're in good company
So the quest to get my diving right continues. It seems to be a tad bit more difficult than I thought but I'll keep trying.
Now that's cool, and doubly cool that he took time to give you advice on improving your diving.
When I can't get any "real" dive time (ie, wreck diving) due to work, literally hanging in a quarry for an hour or two is good practice...good luck Deefstes, you're on the right track.
Buoyant1
Contributor
Well the first part of the battle is won, at least you KNOW that you aren't where you want to be trim wise, and are taking steps to improve upon it...
Keep working on it, I'm in the same boat, I see people that look like they are just "laying on their stomachs on the floor" and move with the slightest fin kick...some day I'll be there too.
Keep working on it, I'm in the same boat, I see people that look like they are just "laying on their stomachs on the floor" and move with the slightest fin kick...some day I'll be there too.
What a cool encounter! I'm repeatedly amazed at how NICE divers in general are, even the ones whose achievements might tempt them to be standoffish or vain.
Deefstes, there are two great things about what you are doing. One is that this kind of work makes even a dive in marginal conditions or a fairly uninteresting setting into a fascinating experience. And the other is that, if you keep this up, you'll reach the point where you can simply "hang" in the water, and even today, that's one of my favorite things about diving.
Regarding the finning . . . Some of it may be your body being aware that you are not in a stable configuration. If you aren't balanced, then when you try to stop, things begin to rotate in whatever direction you're out of balance, and you fin without thinking about it, to try to stop the process. You may find that, as you make the weight changes you're considering, the finning really diminishes without you having to work at it.
Deefstes, there are two great things about what you are doing. One is that this kind of work makes even a dive in marginal conditions or a fairly uninteresting setting into a fascinating experience. And the other is that, if you keep this up, you'll reach the point where you can simply "hang" in the water, and even today, that's one of my favorite things about diving.
Regarding the finning . . . Some of it may be your body being aware that you are not in a stable configuration. If you aren't balanced, then when you try to stop, things begin to rotate in whatever direction you're out of balance, and you fin without thinking about it, to try to stop the process. You may find that, as you make the weight changes you're considering, the finning really diminishes without you having to work at it.
mruseless
Contributor
Me too. I noticed it on my last dive trip. I was with a friend who has perfect buoyancy, and I was trying to imitate his trim. I noticed that my trim was good as long as I was slowly finning. Whenever I stopped and remained still, I slowly tipped into an upright posture. Since that dive I've been playing with the position of my weights, but definitely need some more options than my BCD gives me. Maybe an ankle weight around the tank neck, more buoyant booties, shifting my tank upwards a couple inches, or all three. I plan to try this out at our LDS pool first so I can try a bunch of things in short order.
Yeah, all us DIR guys can do this, I'm afraid - the secret is lots of practice.
Seriously though, a large part of it is getting your weight positioned right. you could experiment just by grabbing a couple of kilo weights in your hands so you can easily shift them from your waist to in front of your head - then work out where you need to hold them to keep your trim horizontal. Now you know how much you need to shift your weight around.
Also, you might consider a backplate and wing - the steel backplate has a much higher centre of gravity than an integrated weight vest.
What blew me away was diving with Fred Devos, and watching him log the dive in his wetnotes while executing a flawless ascent with stops, including a 2 minute ascent from 10 feet. As far as I could tell, he was having to pay no attention whatsoever to his buoyancy, while he wrote. I just sat there with my mouth open . . . (Of course, it had a regulator in it!)
You have been given some great info - not much can be added but Lynne hit on a few things that I'll add to - body posture - it has so much to do with trim. Without all the fancy weights perfectly distributed, you should still be able to hold decent trim using body posture. It might not be perfect, and it may require work, but it can be done. Of course having weight distributed properly makes it much easier and enjoyable.
The back needs to be arched. I find that more of a hip thrust forward instead of just arching of the back works best (stand up and thrust your hips forward and see what happens - the back arches and the butt checks come together and could hold a pencil - no I haven't tried the pencil trick).
Add to the back arch, nice flat fins and strong shoulders to create a nice control surface and it will help tremendously.
I'm not going to say practice, practice, practice but instead, dive, dive, dive - oh, and don't forget to have fun - I'd rather have crap trim and a good time than good trim and a crap time.
The back needs to be arched. I find that more of a hip thrust forward instead of just arching of the back works best (stand up and thrust your hips forward and see what happens - the back arches and the butt checks come together and could hold a pencil - no I haven't tried the pencil trick).
Add to the back arch, nice flat fins and strong shoulders to create a nice control surface and it will help tremendously.
I'm not going to say practice, practice, practice but instead, dive, dive, dive - oh, and don't forget to have fun - I'd rather have crap trim and a good time than good trim and a crap time.
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