Sinking feet.

[kenny kustom]

I am having problems with my legs and feet always sinking down.
I can hover vertical, but not horizontal.
I dive a full 7mm, hollis f1 fins, steel 130 and bp/w.
I wear 12 lbs on my back and 4 in two belt pockets.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

I have "heavy" feet and legs too. What helps me is bending my knees and doing a modified frog kick rather than flutter kicking, and moving my arms forward (I clasp my wrist, and move my hands forward, this has the added advantage of always having my wrist gauges in view). I've also moved my tank up a wee bit higher.

Hope this helps.

Best wishes.

 

[rongoodman]

Posture has a lot to do with it, legs up and a slight arch in the back/tightening of the glutes. Your body should be more or less flat from the chest to the knees. If you're still feet down after getting the posture fixed, it's time to move some weight, or maybe try a lighter pair of fins. Posting a picture or some video would be helpful.

 

[kenny kustom]

Tank is up high, and I do a frog kick with the f1's.

 

[TSandM]

Trim in the water is always simple physics, but it may not be easy for the diver himself to untangle.

Things start with posture, always; the position of body parts can overrule the balance of static weighting. HERE is a good article about posture and levers. There are several other articles on the same theme on the site.

Once posture has been brought more or less into line, then static weighting is the next issue. With a 130 and weights on the cambands, you really OUGHT to be at least balanced, if not head-down -- and in fact, that may be the problem. If your static weighting puts you head-down, you will almost always react to it by rearing up to shorten that lever arm. That's why most new doubles divers are head up in trim. They aren't feet heavy -- they are feet light, and fixing it with posture. It's hard to convince people of that, but once you talk them into moving some weight DOWN, they balance better and feel much more stable.

The only way to know how to adjust static weighting is to get into good posture and stop. Whichever way you pitch is then what you have to fix. In your case, you have a fair amount of weight to move around, and fins you can change, so it's almost certain that there is a good answer to your problem.

 

[kenny kustom]

Tank is up high, and I do a frog kick with the f1's.

Tsandm.

Weights are in pockets on halcyon infinity.
Around my waist.

 

[TSandM]

Well, you said you had 12 pounds on your back -- since most backplates are around six, I assumed you had some other form of weight on the cambands or plate.

At any rate, you have a couple of options. You can dive with a buddy who can give you feedback on your posture, and then see what happens when you get yourself horizontal and stop. Or you can get somebody to shoot some video of you and you can post it here, and we'll look at it. My guess is that you might be head-heavy and rearing up to compensate, but the other possibility is that your posture is faulty. I can't imagine you are feet-heavy with a 130 and 12 pounds on your back, and only 4 on your waist, but I suppose it's possible if you are built rather oddly.

 

[Instructor_Tom]

like you I dive LP108/HP130 with my recreational rig and I had to play around with miner configuration changes to get my trim just right.

if the tank valve is already at the back of your head, then you need to try the try one of the options below

1. move your whole rig down make sure the waist strap is on your waist and shorten up your crotch strap. biggest mistake most people make is to constantly tug on the shoulder straps and move the whole rig up causing there feet to drop as the center of lift moves up the body.

2. if your still feet heavy then you need to switch to a lighter fin. I use the dive rite exp fins on my recreational configuration because of the same reason you do. I only use my F1 fins when I'm diving my doubles or diving dry because I can put more air into my legs and float my feet.

hope this helps.

T.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Imla]

I am with TSandM here... Having experienced the "thinking feet are heavy" for my self, and having my fundies instructor adamantly telling me i needed to shift weight down without believing him, I sure got a wow-moment when I did as he said.

Try it....

 

[kenny kustom]

Thanks everybody.
I'll see what I can do to get a video.