Musing about trim

[Subcooled]

In order to get Perfect Trim and minimal drag the diver should straighten his/her legs and use either dolphin/flutter kicks or frog kicks with straight legs. Move the tank(s) under the arms for better streamlining. The diver would be 10 inches tall. To further lessen drag ditch the drysuit and get a wetsuit

Ok, I can see a point in forcing the diver to look forward. But should this not happen without hand positioning too? A good trim should be felt in a drysuit. That position (minus the legs) would be good in strong current.

 

[LiteHedded]

ahh GUE ARMS!

it's the worst and i cringe every time i see gue divers doing this (it's almost always GUE divers)

 

[Lorenzoid]

AFTER I pass Fundies, I will be glad to sit back and muse about trim and the Superman position. But right now, I find that the arms-extended position is one of several tricks that help me maintain my balance. If I feel myself starting to pitch, having my arms already in front of me enables me to quickly move them slightly to compensate.

 

[TSandM]

Litehedded, I used to associate this with Bob Sherwood's students, but I guess it's generalized now.

 

[kafkaland]

I'm still very new to diving, and I appreciate good trim and the feeling that comes with swimming effortless, but one thing that puzzles me is that some seem to insist on near-perfect trim even for emergency drills like alternate-air ascents. I imagine that if I ever were in a situation where I needed it for real, maintaining and looking fabulous trim wouldn't matter at all. All I'd care about is making it safely to the surface. So why focus on it during practice, and not just on the essentials of what it takes to ascend safely?

 

[Lorenzoid]

I'm still very new to diving, and I appreciate good trim and the feeling that comes with swimming effortless, but one thing that puzzles me is that some seem to insist on near-perfect trim even for emergency drills like alternate-air ascents. I imagine that if I ever were in a situation where I needed it for real, maintaining and looking fabulous trim wouldn't matter at all. All I'd care about is making it safely to the surface. So why focus on it during practice, and not just on the essentials of what it takes to ascend safely?

See TS&M's signature about when things go "tits up." My understanding is that by practicing maintaining as close to perfect trim (and buoyancy control) as possible during drills, such as an air-sharing ascent, then when things go, uh, tits up, you will have "truly mastered" being in at least good enough trim that you can share air or perform other tasks to deal with the situation without having to concentrate on both those tasks AND sticking there with your buddy.

 

[vinegarbiscuit]

I'm guilty of doing the arm extension thing. Main reason is, is that I have dreadful posture - doesn't matter if I am topside or immersed. If given half a chance, my head will flop, my shoulders will hunch, and my bum will droop. Stretching out is a good way for me to be vigilant about where I am in the water column, especially in caves. I'm one of those people who will beat myself up endlessly over stirring up the tiniest puff of silt or whatever, so if this is the best way for me to be hyper-aware of everything from the position of my fin-tips to the position of my shoulders - well, why not? I've also come to find the posture quite comfortable - weird, since I can't even sit properly at my desk without wanting to break position and hunch my shoulders, the way (my) nature intended.

 

[Storker]

I'm one of those people who will beat myself up endlessly over stirring up the tiniest puff of silt or whatever, so if this is the best way for me to be hyper-aware of everything from the position of my fin-tips to the position of my shoulders - well, why not?

I'm neither a cave diver nor a DIR guy, but even if I try - almost all the time - to have good trim and buoyancy control, I start wondering if that mentality sort of... takes away the sheer joy of diving? When I was at my worst WRT technical issues, one of my clubmates told me how much she loved to dive with another of our club's members. Because they were always goofing off and having fun instead of being all serious about the diving!!!!!111!!! That was sort of an eye-opener to me: We're diving for fun, not to be serious. Serious, that's for professional divers, not for us recreational (i.e. dives for fun, not in the meaning of "opposite of tech"). And when my son/regular buddy decided to doff his fins on a rather unspectacular and slightly dull dive, just to walk on the bottom and have fun, I was grinning so wide I could hardly keep my reg in my mouth.

What I'm trying to say is, don't become so serious that you lose the fun of diving. Because that's what diving is: Fun. Great fun. At least for me.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I prefer "body control" to "trim." Depending on what I am doing at the moment, and the overall purpose of the dive, I may have my arms and hands a variety of places. I am also in to comfort. That means varying position, as well as being relaxed. I think the position in both photos is just fine. Do what works, and what keeps you from touching or kicking things ( like the reef and other divers and the bottom) that you do want to touch or kick.
DivemasterDennis

 

[rongoodman]

I'm still very new to diving, and I appreciate good trim and the feeling that comes with swimming effortless, but one thing that puzzles me is that some seem to insist on near-perfect trim even for emergency drills like alternate-air ascents. I imagine that if I ever were in a situation where I needed it for real, maintaining and looking fabulous trim wouldn't matter at all. All I'd care about is making it safely to the surface. So why focus on it during practice, and not just on the essentials of what it takes to ascend safely?

It's not about looking fabulous, it's about avoiding the incident pit and making things worse. e.g., you're in a cave over a silty floor, you buddy comes to you for gas, and in the process of getting it to her, you both break trim, kick up the silt, and blow the visibility. Now you're not only looking at an exit sharing gas, but you're going to have to do it blind, in touch contact with each other and the line. A simple problem is on the way to causing a truly bad day.