I'm guessing that the fin movements are a result of you feeling unstable for some reason, and the forward movement is just a side effect. I think I've seen the GUE guys refer to "busy feet". Maybe one of them will chime in.
Staying Still?
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I will give that a try.
I have been working on that. At the time of that video I never tried to backfin nor did I know it was an actual kick. When I relax and concentrate on the leg movement for the back-kick I can do it, but if I am not thinking about the motion I get nowhere.
Those gloves are not on the suit anymore but I should note I had no liners on either. After that dive, one of my gloves was full of water. The gloves I have now are maybe too small. They work with no liners or a thin liner but I will need to get a larger set of gloves for the warmer glove liners.
This is what I was originally thinking but on my last pool session, I didn't feel unstable. It just seemed more like a habit. As I noted in my original post, I have to think about not moving my fins.
Thank you. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 it is hard for me to get into open water since no one is available to watch my kids and my wife-buddy doesn't want me going diving without her. Using this Intex pool has me thinking about upgrading to a new pool with a 7-foot deep section in a year or two. I will get some new video later this week but it will be without the drysuit since it is in the shop being looked at.
Ayisha
Contributor
You did great. What I see in that video is that you are fighting a little positive buoyancy. You seem to have a bit too much gas in your wing and every time you start to rise, you compensate with your fins and hands. You also seem to be slightly feet light, and as soon as your fins start rising, you compensate by kicking and sculling. Notice the rocking of your upper to lower body when kicking. Fine tuning your weighting amount and placement will probably take care of this, otherwise possibly heavier fins with the drysuit in the future.
I have always had very fidgety feet in life and it transferred to my early diving as well. Well before I took GUE Fundamentals, I had stopped probably 90% of my busy feet. With the course, getting my weighting dialed in and practicing static trim at various depths and consciously stopping all movement, it became nothing to stay perfectly still. It's a lot easier when you are balanced not only in your weighting for a full to nearly empty tank, but also with your weighting placed appropriately specifically to your body and equipment.
Good luck!
First I want to thank everyone for your help. This was bugging me. It is clearly not what I originally thought. I have a weight/trim issue.
I hopped into the pool with just a swimsuit, tank outside pool with a 25-foot hose, and tried a few different things. Wanting to kick is clearly a weighting/trim thing. I will post the video later. While not the same with a drysuit or a wetsuit, what I was finding is my feet wanted to sink which was causing me to feel the need to correct by moving my feet. Changing a few things I got to the point where my feet wanted to go up resulting in the same desire to keep moving my fins.
Can someone point me to a thread about weight placement and how it affects trim? I was guessing while in the pool.
I hopped into the pool with just a swimsuit, tank outside pool with a 25-foot hose, and tried a few different things. Wanting to kick is clearly a weighting/trim thing. I will post the video later. While not the same with a drysuit or a wetsuit, what I was finding is my feet wanted to sink which was causing me to feel the need to correct by moving my feet. Changing a few things I got to the point where my feet wanted to go up resulting in the same desire to keep moving my fins.
Can someone point me to a thread about weight placement and how it affects trim? I was guessing while in the pool.
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https://www.makospearguns.com/Freedive-Weight-Belt-p/mfdwb.htm
Nah, just weight yourself so that you are roughly neutral when you are at the end of your dive. BUT, put the equivalent weight of your gas (full fill) onto one of these. You can fuss right-left/head-fins to your heart's content with that belt.
If you somehow manage to splash with your gas off just drop the belt and you are neutral. Boogie to the surface...
I spent a little over an hour in the pool. I started with 4 pounds with my Scubapro Go Sport fins. I then switched to a pair of XL Jet fins I had laying around (I do not like the jet fins. I think it is too much fin for me to use well). After spending time with the jet fins I decided to drop two pounds from the weight belt. I then tried it with the Go Sport fins. I felt like I had air trapped in my shirt (I did not feel it in my suit...that is funny looking) so I decided to drop the lava core shirt. Lastly, I just took the weight belt off and held it in front of me.
It seemed that my knees want to drop and when that happens I felt the need to kick my fins a bit to keep them up. Keeping the weight in front seemed to do the most for keeping my feet from dropping. Removing 2 pounds seemed to help as well. As I noted before, I am not sure what it means if my feet want to drop or raise. Does it have to do with weight, weight placement, or a combination of both? On my tank straps, I do have trim pockets on both cam bands. When I am in open water I don't notice my feet unless I am at my safety stop trying to stay still or doing drills.
It seemed that my knees want to drop and when that happens I felt the need to kick my fins a bit to keep them up. Keeping the weight in front seemed to do the most for keeping my feet from dropping. Removing 2 pounds seemed to help as well. As I noted before, I am not sure what it means if my feet want to drop or raise. Does it have to do with weight, weight placement, or a combination of both? On my tank straps, I do have trim pockets on both cam bands. When I am in open water I don't notice my feet unless I am at my safety stop trying to stay still or doing drills.
GJC
Contributor
Buoyancy Sessions 4 – Improve your trim - Scuba Legends Dive Center Lanzarote
Everyone is different and you need to figure out where to place your weights to get the best trim for you. This may include heavier or lighter fins, ankle weights, weight in cam band pockets or even in shoulder pockets. But the first thing to do before you start relocating weight is to make sure that you are not carrying too much weight to start with.
Keep in mind that after you get your weights positioned and you are balanced perfectly, things are constantly changing during your dive that you will have to make adjustments for:
Every time you inhale and your chest fills with air, your head will rise and your feet will tend to stay in place.
Every time you exhale, your head will sink and your feet will be higher than your head.
As you consume air, the bottom of your tank will become more buoyant than the top.
As you you descend and your wet suit compresses, your legs will be less buoyant and tend to sink. And as you add air to your BCD, your upper body becomes more buoyant.
If you dive in a drysuit you really need to be aware of how much air is in the suit and where the air goes when you change position.
The bottom line is that you will never be able to have perfect trim with no movement 100% of the time throughout your dive. The goal is to minimize the energy you need to expend to maintain trim as much as possible.
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