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Flapping hands might mean discomfort, with or without buoyancy/trim issues, but it might also mean they don't know they are doing it, are quite comfortable in the water, and just need some good feedback and suggestions. Wasting energy is a good reason to stop; stopping because your buddy thinks you look dorky is not compelling.
This guy. Uses hands.
..I wonder how many posters here that advocate fins only could have kept up with ole Clark?
Using hands to scoop into surge may be better than using fins, but unlikely. In that case it is a deliberate action, albeit an inefficient one, though there may be instance where you an't use your fins due to the size of wherever you are maneuvering.
I'd take that challenge, even at 58. Having used force-fins (tans), I would go head to head with my Jets, or my H.Dessault's any day. Hell, I would even used my zoomers that I use for kick sets swimming masters against Force-Fins.
Force-fins, IMHO, are one step above split fins.
The question of efficiency depends on the amount of force and whether the force used will work in time to be usefull. Picture, if you will, a diver in 10 or so foot surge and 5 to ten foot viz, once you see the object there is a limited time to avoid it. Due to the placement of fins on the body it will take a lot more force to direct oneself from an object dead ahead than using ones hands against the water to redirection the body, using the fins to complete the move. Efficiency should also include whether the move can be made in time, not just whether it could be made.
My buddy missed a move and got a bloody nose for the error, don't ask why we were there. Most of the time we dive there conditions are better, or we move to another area.
As before, I do not advocate using the hands to no apparent purpose. As a diver gets experience they should be able to tell what moves are a waste of energy, and discontinue their use.
Bob
Why, in ocean, would I want to? What's the point??? Go half the speed and see four times as much. That's another thing about flailing: wave at a fish and watch them leave. The slower you go, the less aggressive you appear to underwater fauna. It's a big ocean. No one's going to see it all in one dive, so why rush?He touches the bottom too! How clumsy and inexperienced he looks. I wonder how many posters here that advocate fins only could have kept up with ole Clark?