Cramps with force fin pro's

[Frogman82]

I have a pair of force fin pros, but haven't really used them much. Couple of dives ago I decided to use them, which resulted in severe cramping in the back of my thighs... What am I doing wrong? I suspect that because of the fins being so lightweigt the muscles in my thighs are stressed trying to keep the feet level. Has anyone else had this experience? On my last three dives I used jet fin clones, and I feel that I get a better position in the water with those fins. And I didn't cramp up. Maybe ankle weights would solve the problem?

 

[ickis]

you feel less stable with FFs because they have no side ribs, so the stabilization work is a bit more difficult.
i heard of this before but its perfectly normal.
what you should do is go to your nearby pool and swim underwater with them for a while. force fins kicking style is more of a swimming two-flutter-kick style rather than the conventional stiff-leg kick.try this for a while and you should get the hang of it
adding more weight can only make your dive more dificult resulting in negative buoyancy/over-weight and breathing difficulties (from a former over-weighting victim).
i hope i managed to help you out

 

[meesier42]

your crimping down on the blade with your toes. relax and things will get better. Try pulling your toes up a little and wiggling them about while you are kicking. This is not really a problem with the fins or your technique, its coming from bad habits that other fins have taught you that fin "should" feel like, you are trying to "feel" the fins with your feet, you should feel the power of the fins with your ears (you will feel the water rushing by), not your feet. Force Fins feel very different and with the way the blade flexes away from the ball of your foot they feel really weird, just relax don't crimp down on the blade with your toes and just let it flex.

 

[Frogman82]

Thanks for your answers! I actually took my force fins and the jets to a pool and tried them out in different ways, the force fins felt much more natural to swim around with and the only significant thing was that they didn't frog kick as well as the jet fins. But they frog kicked better than I thought they would.

Is it common to wear ankle weights with the force fins when diving with a drysuit?

 

[uncleavi]

I have about 1,000 dives in a drysuit and yes it is common to wear ankle wts with Force Fins as well as the bad fins I used to wear.

 

[Blair Mott]

Frogman82,
Glad you have had a chance to get back in the water and try your Force Fins again. Meesier42 hit it on the head. Just relax and understand you are using a totally different design in fins. Relax and keep getting wet with your Force Fins. As far as ankle weights go they really are a personal preference. I do not use them, but some divers do. Most of the Force Fin users I dive with do not use them, but again it is personal preference.
Good luck and safe diving!

 

[Frogman82]

Thanks to all of you for great help! I'm definitely going to spend more time with my force fins and hopefully get used to the different feeling. About ankle weights I really want to avoid them if I can, I just thought that force fins being so light weight required this in order to get decent trim. Most of the people I dive with don't use them though.

 

[meesier42]

If you are talking about diving dry, then I have to wear ankle weights to trim out in my drysuit, at least when wearing heavy insulation. less so when in warmer water with less insulation.

If you are trying to compare the relative "negative buoyancy" of FF verse Jets. Then you might be surprised to see just how little negative the Jets are, only about 1- 1.2# negative per pair. I have weighed 3 pairs now, (2 in fresh water, 1 in salt) using a fish scale. Sure, they're heavy as hell on the surface, but they're just vulcanized rubber which is a mere 10% more dense than water.

But when it comes down to it, if you need ankle weights to trim out, then you need them.