A skill many photographers might enjoy...

[danvolker]

The Reverse kick and Helicopter turn. Borrowed from Cave diving. this video shows how these techniques can have dramatic effects on your photography.
Demonstration by a GUE instructor at the BHB in Palm Beach, Fl.

YouTube - Great skill for u/w photographers..the Reverse Kick !

 

[ramasule]

Thanks Dan,
The music was what really did it for me though

 

[Bogie]

Great video. It is nice how long the video is. It gives you time to study the kicks.

 

[danvolker]

Great video. It is nice how long the video is. It gives you time to study the kicks.

Thanks. When I went about learning the reverse kick, I needed to get the motion required burned into my mind --- watching it like this seemed a good way for the video, rather than forcing people to replay a one minute clip over constantly.

Anyway, when you first try it, I think most will NOT feel this is an intuitive or easy coordination to generate. It is just so opposite of the way we usually kick. Also, the muscles that you use for this are not typically conditioned well for this kick. As a cyclist that does 30 miles per day on a bike, I was shocked at how easily I was cramping the first day I tried this....of course, that was doing it again, and again, and again, etc., and it was the first time my muscles had ever been used for this specific motion.....So, what I am suggesting, is don't overdo the motion the first few times--let your muscles adapt to it. Once this occurs. it is no longer going to be a muscular endurance issue ( no more cramping)...it will just be a case getting your muscles to fire the way you want them to ( getting this kick to be smooth), and not having it make your body climb toward the surface in reverse ( a common mistake most get when first working on this).

Now that I have the skill, I find it great for video where I have to constantly adjust my position for a moving animal or for when a current is NOT helping me

 

[hammerhead man]

Great video, thanks for sharing. It is a skill that I would definitely like to learn. Also, danvolker, thanks for the tip about cramping when you first start. I get cramps occassionally, and they are not fun underwater.

Regards,

Bill

 

[danvolker]

Great video, thanks for sharing. It is a skill that I would definitely like to learn. Also, danvolker, thanks for the tip about cramping when you first start. I get cramps occassionally, and they are not fun underwater.

Regards,

Bill

Hi Bill,
Yes, cramping is no fun
This has you using some of your hamstring muscles that you almost never use, or at least, has you using them in an angle of motion the muscles are unfamiliar with. My cycling did NOTHING to assist for this. However, it is a muscle that adapts very quickly, so if you try this a little bit each dive, after several dives the muscle actually feels good when you do this, and no cramping results.

I am certain you are familiar with electrolytes if you have had cramping issues in the past.....as a cyclist, and tech diver, hydration and electrolytes have been important to me for a long time. Sugary drinks like Gatorade actually pull water OUT of your muscles, and need to be avoided.
The best drink I have found for cycling or diving is called H2O Overdrive. Landing Page Almost no sugar in the bottle, with 24 grams of complex carbs and 8 grams of protein...and the best spectrum of electrolytes I have seen in any sports drink. On a dive boat or on a ride, I mix this 50/50 with water ( also the manufacturer recomendation for this type of activity--cycling or diving..bodybuilders and powerlifters use it at 100% ). It will actually push much more water into your muscles than is possible with pure water alone...the electrolyte load helps protect from the mineral imbalances/insufficiencies that cause cramps, and the protein and complex carbs keep you from getting starving hungry on the dive boat--and eating every cookie, cracker or doughnut in sight

 

[danvolker]

Just so that you guys know, I am a tech diver just getting into u/w video.....not a videographer getting into diving....in other words, I would hope you look past the technical shooting and production issues for the moment, and look at this for the perk that it can be for diving skills many could enjoy.
I do appreciate any suggestions by skilled u/w videographers/photographers on how I "produce" follow-up videos to this.....there are quite a few GUE skills with huge implications for recreational diving, and for photo/video uses.

 

[TSandM]

BTW, for those of you who want to play with this . . . I tried to learn it in full gear, underwater, and it's fairly difficult. My husband went to a swimming pool, with a bathing suit and no fins. He played around with the motion on the surface, with a kick board, until he could swim laps backwards. Then he put on fins, and still on the surface, practiced until he could swim laps in reverse with the fins.

When he then put on scuba gear and tried it, it was easy.

However -- If you are not horizontal when you are trying to do this kick, it won't work. It can draw you backwards and upwards (we veterans of the GUE classes call that the "shrimp dance") or not move you backwards at all. So figuring out how to be more or less horizontal is a key part of mastering the skill.

Honestly, I don't know how I dove before I had a back kick. I'm not even a photographer, but it's one of my most highly valued skills!

 

[triggerman365]

Thanks, can't wait to give it a try.

 

[Matt S.]

These kicks are incredibly useful and not just for photographers. Everyone should learn them. (ESPECIALLY all the people in my dive group on vacation, so they don't silt out the critter that the DM just pointed out to us.)