How to achieve good and proper Trim while diving

[Macan]

When you’re out diving with a group, sometimes you immediately notice a few divers looking really cool. It’s certainly not their wetsuit or gear (probably faded and worn down) . But it’s how they are in the water. They’re not vertical like standing, they’re not kneeling in the sand, they’re not swimming in a Sea Horse position. Instead, they’re streamlined and horizontal, almost like a Skydiver or Supergirl. There’s a name for this. It’s called Proper Trim. The benefits of a good Trim while diving are immense: lower air consumption, move faster, less effort while swimming, etc.

This is a video of my student demonstrating good and proper Trim. I’ve turned it into a training video to help others learn this valuable skill. Watch it in HD, see other videos in my YT channel. Like and subscribe to my YT channel for more videos .

 

[KatieMac]

Most of the (few) dives I'm done, I'm going so slow to look at things ... not just below me but also beside and above me. It's not about traveling great distances in a short period of time. I hate playing chase the dive master.

So as a new diver, I keep hearing about trim (and don't have a problem getting in and holding this position when I'm moving) but want to know how much time during any dive a seasoned diver spends in this position.

 

[rongoodman]

85%, perhaps? Unless you can specify some specific reason otherwise, it should be the default.

 

[northernone]

Most dives, 99%.

I like spending as much time with the least effort possible underwater. Particularly when hauling a dslr and strobes on a drift dive.

That means trimming myself so if I do kick, the movement moves me towards where I'm trying to go. Kicking to lift my saggy feet or push up off the bottom is wasted motion and I don't like wasting motion.

With that in mind, my skinniest profile is the one I always point forward towards where I want to go. That way when I kick, I move. Even if the whole dive I'm traveling 200ft and it is all about photography.

(Unless I'm in swift water in Canada and I overweight myself with heavy feet to claw my way hand over hand along the muck/rock bottom to stay safe in the currents. Another time I float like sitting in a chair is when my back gets bad.)

Cheers,
Cameron

 

[KatieMac]

85%, perhaps? Unless you can specify some specific reason otherwise, it should be the default.

I do a lot of drift dives along a wall. I let the drift take me. I look up, down, in front of me - hard to do in a trim position. On these kinds of dives, the only time I'm "traveling" is when I want to go back against the drift to look at something. I can see when I want to move from the wreck to the reef. Sometimes I want to hang upside down to more easily look under things.

I can see when I want to move from a wreck to the reef. But most of the time, I'm exploring the reef and it doesn't tend to happen in a straight line.

I'm not disputing the efficiency of good positioning, but thinking maybe I haven't dove in enough places to really need to. So that means I need to get more dives in ... and in different locations

 

[npole]

I assume what's commonly called "technical position" (because it's optimized for frog kicks) when I don't have tasks to do, it's optimized for "travelling" and stay in the water and for precision movements (cave etc.), it's indeed linked to have good trim and perfect buoyancy but it's not "THE" position.
Most of my dives are performed while carrying a (big) camera gear and that position is not convenient, you normally switch to a "sea horse" position because otherwise your neck and arms will suffer of high fatigue.
Having your feet higher than your chest isn't always the best position, it's one of the many and like many other things in scuba diving, the answer is always: it depends by the situation.

 

[Macan]

I assume what's commonly called "technical position" (because it's optimized for frog kicks) when I don't have tasks to do, it's optimized for "travelling" and stay in the water and for precision movements (cave etc.), it's indeed linked to have good trim and perfect buoyancy but it's not "THE" position.
Most of my dives are performed while carrying a (big) camera gear and that position is not convenient, you normally switch to a "sea horse" position because otherwise your neck and arms will suffer of high fatigue.
Having your feet higher than your chest isn't always the best position, it's one of the many and like many other things in scuba diving, the answer is always: it depends by the situation.

I agree, it depends on the situation. I teach my students Trim. But I also teach them to "Break Trim" as needed depending on the situation .

Take a look at the video below. Its a fun-dive with my students and they're carrying heavy cameras. They're in "Trim" most of the time but when needed, they break trim. What's important is they know how to Trim, they understand the value of being in Trim and will not hesitate to break trim whenever they need to.

 

[npole]

As you can see, trim while using a camera is completely different that the trim in the first video: you have a oblique position and the feet lower of your chest. Bigger is the camera, worst will be to be "horizontal". It also depends if you do videos (like me): your camera is always ready to use, there's no "carry the camera and take it out when you need it".
What I mean is that being in trim doesn't mean being "horizontal", but distribute the weight in the ideal way to minimize the exertion.
This is me and my camera (and it is the common position you see of any underwater photography with an mid-heavy gear), it's far to be horizontal:

 

[The Chairman]

I assume what's commonly called "technical position"

I call it the "Scuba Position". It doesn't matter if you're doing a frog or flutter kick, doing a tech or rec dive, it's the very best way to achieve perfect buoyancy all the time.

 

[npole]

I call it the "Scuba Position". It doesn't matter if you're doing a frog or flutter kick, doing a tech or rec dive, it's the very best way to achieve perfect buoyancy all the time.

It's optimized for the frog kick because of the 90° leg position, to flutter kick you extend your legs obviously.
But talking about the horizontal position more in general, in certain circumstances is a very disadvantageous position (see the previous messages) and you want to have your feet lower than your chest.
I don't think there's THE "scuba position" that is always the best one, as I mentioned in a previous message, it really depends of the task... but I agree that if you are doing "nothing" but moving in the water, that position is the most convenient one to use.