Swimming too much?

[Crewfish13]

Another thread got me started thinking, and I wonder if I'm swimming too much while underwater. I've always been at home in water, and consider myself a very strong swimmer (graduated every level of swim lessons offered as a kid, wished I grew up somewhere with a swim team).

When diving, I seem to outpace most others around me. At one point during OW checkouts, our instructor had us circle a submerged boat, holding steady depth. Vis was 10', tops. Basically, for me the exercise turned into swim forward 10 seconds, stop and wait for the rest of the class to appear and catch up, and repeat. At least I didn't panic the first time I turned around and realized I couldn't see anyone! :cool2: And before anybody takes aim, when with a buddy, I always stay with them, but I have to constantly remind myself to slow down.

I don't actually exert very hard or kick very fast, but seem to get a lot of thrust. My usual technique is a slow, sweeping flutter kick with my knees all but locked and everything coming from the hips. I'm using paddle fins that are supposed to be pretty fast based on what I've read (Oceanic Vipers).

Basically, what I'm getting around to is, should I be concerned about this for open water diving, and try to slow it down? I also feel like I tend to "cheat" when working on non-static buoyancy (swimming set depth from bottom), as I bend a bit at the waist and swim up or down more than controlling depth strictly via breathing. Poor technique, or perfectly acceptable?

 

[JamesK]

It's either you are to fast, or they can't kick. I say slow it down. Scuba is not a race. The more you slow down, the more you will see. I am what you could refer to as a lazy ass diver. I don't want to do anything. To borrow a line from a great song, "move like a jelly fish, rhythm is nothing, you go with the flow". If I have to kick constantly to keep up with people, they are kicking to hard. They must all dive at my speed or I am taking my toys and going home.

Of course it could be that they just have VERY horrible kicking technique and are undoubtedly using split fins! LOL....

Basically, what I'm getting around to is, should I be concerned about this for open water diving, and try to slow it down? I also feel like I tend to "cheat" when working on non-static buoyancy (swimming set depth from bottom), as I bend a bit at the waist and swim up or down more than controlling depth strictly via breathing. Poor technique, or perfectly acceptable?

If you feel like you are cheating, you are cheating. As a new diver, your buoyancy will not be perfect. Work on it every dive. You want it at the point where you can stay at any level in the water without any effort. Of course as you are moving, kicking a little up or down to go the way you want to go and pointing your body that way is just fine. JUst keep working on it and enjoy the glory that is the underwater world.

 

[g1138]

You've got legs and fins and you know how to use them.
The main issue I see here from your description is you have a great kicking technique while your buddy's do not. Since you're kicking long and slow you're gliding more. Your buddies on the other hand are probably kicking more or less constantly which isn't allowing them to glide forward; so they spend more energy and don't get as far.

Use this time to practice your buoyancy and try looking at the micro detail of the area around you.

Try learning the frog kick, it's easier to pull off variable thrusts with that kick without a significant change in effort. If you want to move far you can do a full extension frog kick. If you want to move forward just a little bit, flick your ankles.
It also uses a different set of muscles which may tire you out more in the beginning. But that will probably just force you to hover in one spot more often which is what you're going for right?

 

[fisheater]

It's great that you have the speed to get to someone who needs help or to fight a current.

However, you'll find that your speed causes fear in the critters we like to see while diving. You look too much like a predator, so they hide. You'll see a lot by going a lot slower. (Your air and your dives will last longer, too!)

When done right, scuba diving is lot more like floating than swimming.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[krukster86]

I am a competitive swimmer and I can relate. I have somewhat powerful legs that are used to the maximizing the short power stroke of the "flutter" kick. In my first dives, I found myself zooming to the front of the group as if I was competitively racing them to the finish....and I was the first one out of air! My gf/dive buddy now always tells me to slow down and I try to kick slowly and use a very long stroke (rather than short stroke like in swimming), and my air consumption has gone down significantly. I stopped looking at diving as a "race" and now am just taking in the scenery at the back of the group.

 

[Scuba_Noob]

I don't think speed should be valued too much in scuba diving. If you go fast, you use more air and you miss a lot more details/creatures than if you go slow.

I like to go very slow and look for various marine animals. I scuba dive to relax, not exercise. It's good to be able to go fast when you need it (current, etc.), but generally, I like to do a frog kick every few seconds at the quickest. Being able to constantly move slow helps me improve my buoyancy and helps with photography.

 

[Teamcasa]

Swimming, or fining around quickly produces nothing but an irritated buddy who wants nothing more than to go slow and enjoy the little things, it wastes your air and again, you have an unhappy buddy. But more importantly you are missing out of how much more you will see when you are not zipping and flitting around.

A quick story: Situation: The wife was a fast swimmer and the husband would blow though his air in nothing flat. This caused his anxiety level to increase and made him think his skills were not up to snuff. Their normal dive time was always less than 20 minutes. They frequently got lost and were just not having much fun.
The wife I was asked if I would lead them on a dive so I could access her navigation skills and maybe help her husband calm down. I agreed but first, laid down the rules of the dive. Stay with me in a position where I could see them. Let me navigate. We also went over some basic hand signals and so forth.

Well the dive went great. I pointed out many things they had never seen, even after diving this same site many times. The husband turned out to be a competed diver when not rushed. The wife was thrilled to see so many things plus she learned a few new navigation tips. But most of all, the dive lasted 50 minutes. The longest dive they had ever had, despite spending some time at +80 FSW.

The point is again, slow down - speed is bad - enjoy the dive.

 

[freewillie]

One of the exercises for Peak Performance Buoyancy class is to hold your position in a hover practicing buoyancy control. You are correct in feeling like swimming fast is 'cheating' your buoyancy skills. They faster you swim the easier it is to mask poor buoyancy control.

The other advantages of swimming slowly is better air consumption, improved SAC rate, and seeing all the small creatures like nudibranchs and very small fish on the reef you might otherwise have missed.

But, when you need that burst of speed to catch up to a turtle or manta ray at least you know you can get their. Just make sure to wait for your buddy to catch up!

 

[James R]

A lot of new divers I dive with seem to be in a race...the only race they win, however, is "who can run out of air first."

The faster you go, the more things you will miss and the more air you will use. Slow down, look around, you'll be surprised what you may see.

 

[TSandM]

I have a bunch of reactions to the original post.

One is that a LOT of the new divers I work with can't kick to save their souls -- if the OP has an effective kick, he may not be flying around. He may just be MOVING!

The second one is that people vary in how they like to dive. I don't like to move fast, because I love hunting for camouflaged sea life and finding it. But I know other people who like to cruise (and some who won't dive if they can't scooter). The important thing is pairing up with a buddy who likes to dive the way YOU do. Yes, you'll burn through gas faster, and no, you won't see the porcelain crabs, but that may be okay with you.

But I will address the swimming for buoyancy thing. That's not personal preference; that's just inefficient. If you are swimming up because you are negative (or down because you are positive) you are expending effort for no net displacement in the water column -- and every bit of that effort costs you gas. It's well worth the effort to balance your equipment and learn to hover quietly. That way, every bit of kicking you do is because you want to get somewhere.