Hi there! with some newbie questions(trim)

[CY C]

Hi I'm from Taiwan and sorry for my poor English lol.

I'm in a ow course now. It's paid from my aunt because she wants me to be her buddy for trips in the near future. My coach is very strict and he wants his students to practice more. Thanks for that I could go to his swimming pool for free every day.

Next weekends are my first training in the sea and the end of the course. I have done lots of research from the Internet. I knew scuba diving is a expensive sport. I don't think I can afford to dive frequently so I think every diving experience is precious. I really enjoy the feel in the water. And also I need to train myself more.

My question is about trim(so I can use my gopro to get some good shots from below?). I'm using borrowed typical bc and 2kg weight on the belt. Someone said It is impossible to do it right if they are not your own gears(are not bp/w also). It's just a waste of time to practice it in the swimming pool. but my couch said It's all about skills and practices.
This is my practice footage today. As you can see I couldn't trim my body will. Should I lean my head down? bent in my kneel more? put my butt out? I don't know what the specific adjustment I should do.

I would appreciate if someone can give me a suggestion. Thanks!

 

[Compressor]

Welcome to ScubaBoard Cy C. You can have good trim with a jacket BC. Get yourself certified and work on your trim, buoyancy and comfort level in the water.

Good trim means having the right balance of equipment (physical and your own body parts). Where the equipment gets placed in the water (legs, head, weights, other equipment) is something that you will learn in class. If the instructor is not teaching it, then after your class you can find another class for this or learn from friends who have an idea on how to achieve good balance in water.

Hope this helps.

 

[RyanT]

In the video you are trimmed head up. Is this an aluminum 80 you're using, and in the video, was the tank full? If so, the 80 will become more floaty at the tail and that will naturally put you in a more horizontal position as the dive progresses. If the tank was less than half full here in your video (so that the tank was already tail floaty), you might consider moving your weights around to different positions. You might also try putting yourself into a slightly head-down position. The air will move to the highest spot and this will cause the bubble in your BC to shift more towards your feet, making you less head heavy. You won't be in perfect horizontal trim this way, but you may find this holds you closer to horizontal. It also has the benefit of getting your feet away from the bottom, so you are stirring it up less as you swim.


As you mentioned, its more difficult when you are using rental gear as the features of the gear can change as you use different sets of gear. Definitely keep practicing in the pool.

 

[Graeme Fraser]

Hi. Firstly, your English is very good so don't worry about that.

Secondly, your instructor is right, practice and skills are important and the pool is an excellent place to do this.

Although it is nice to have your own gear, whoever said to you it is impossible to do it right in a borrowed BC is talking nonsense. Trim and buoyancy take time to perfect and I'm sure your instructor will work on this with you.

In the meantime, maybe try slowly lowering yourself to the bottom to get a feel for your current trim position. From your video your knees will touch down first, but keep lowering until your arms are also touching down.

If your natural position is still 45° upright, you could reposition your weights from the belt to the cylinder cam band, which will raise your legs and lower your upper body.

Just one other thing; it looks as though you are trying to frog kick. Although a good form of propulsion, it may be a bit advanced at this stage of your diving career and might be making you want to raise your upper body to counterbalance. Why not stick to an effective flutter kick for now, concentrating on your buoyancy and trim instead. This may also help to flatten out your trim and make you nicely streamlined.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

 

[jgttrey]

You are doing well for just having started.

In addition to the comments above, you can also try adjusting the position of the cylinder. Especially with an aluminum tank, the top (where the first stage is attached) is heavy and more negatively buoyant. Moving the tank up in the bc (in other words, attaching the cam bands lower on the cylinder) can redistribute that weight and help get your head down.

That first stage already acts like a 1kg trim weight and repositioning it slightly can help, provided you have room without starting to hit your head on it.

But, you are doing well, very well, for this stage of your training and your desire to improve on the fundamentals this way is great. Keep it up.

 

[Dogbowl]

I thought I saw a fish in that swimming pool.

 

[Scuba Lawyer]

Congrats on learning to dive! Proper trim, so that your attitude is horizontal, takes practice, practice, practice. As mentioned, it also takes proper weighting. Back when I was teaching diving and I saw a student in the position shown in your video, I would immediately suspect over weighting. In other words, too much weight on your waist requires more air in your BC which goes to the high point behind your head, raising your upper body and lowering your mid-section. With 2kg I doubt that is what is occurring here. Also, try straightening your legs and see where that puts your horizontal trim. Good luck. Keep us posted on your progress. M

 

[Mike1967]

I thought I saw a fish in that swimming pool.

Haha I think you're right!

 

[Graeme Fraser]

I thought I saw a fish in that swimming pool.

Blimey, you're right! Narked at 6ft

 

[Heka]

Remember that while in wetsuit your hands are positively buoyant so if you pull your hands closer to your body the positive buoyancy isn't tilting you as much.

A bit hard to explain in foreign language but as your arms and hands are positively buoyant and you stretch your arms long you create a lever like situation that increases buoyancy in front of your body and makes your upper body tilt upwards.

I would also try to move weights upwards on your torso if possible


And yes the main thing is just practice, it'll come in time.