Odd trim problem - Make me a better diver

[johndiver999]

So some of the advice is to:

Clench up your butt muscles (for the whole dive).
Swim around with your legs in a weak and inefficient position?
Hold your arms in a position that makes them unable to do any real task other than hold a light or camera?

All this to "correct" a few degrees of tilt that greatly reduces neck stain and actually lets you see what is in front of you more easily?

I have to say clenching my butt cheeks and cranking my neck back for an entire dive would greatly reduce my enjoyment of a dive. I don't see a problem in the picture.

 

[tursiops]

I don't see a problem in the picture.

Even if you were following the OP doing a flutter kick in a swimthrough with a sandy/silty bottom?

 

[MichaelMc]

(humor)

Even beyond the smooth efficient no silting kick, or the hands where you can see compass, dive comp, or DSMB. The key, is toning your butt.

I read in the news that women would be more interested in pictures of men's eyes or butt (not other stuff). That's what I read.

So..., if you're under water anyway, might as well spend the time toning up those assets!!! It builds character, strength, and you know, your butt.

 

[johndiver999]

Even if you were following the OP doing a flutter kick in a swimthrough with a sandy/silty bottom?

I didn't see all that in the picture? But in that situation, I might be checking out his gluteal muscle tone.

 

[tursiops]

I didn't see all that in the picture? But in that situation, I might be checking out his gluteal muscle tone.

No, you are right, he was not in that environment in the picture he provided. But if he were to dive that like in that environment, would you be OK with it?

 

[johndiver999]

Certainly, a bent leg kick or frog kick might be needed in a tight, silty spot.

 

[Ayisha]

...The part, however, I don't agree with is the stuff about stretching out horizontally. You want to be in-trim when you're properly postured, not planking. Get the posture perfect, including bent knees and hands and then see if you tip, then fix from there...

Stretching out horizontally includes the hands in front and is part of being in trim. People used to say to hyper-extend the back to achieve a certain level of trim, but in the last decade it changed to stretching out. Look up TSandM's (the late Dr Lynn Flaherty's) posts recommending not to hyperextend the back which can cause back pain, but to stretch out instead.

Doing that motionless hover without correction can be one of the first insights in a DIR course to see exactly what is going on when someone is even slightly off-trim. It is not intuitive and the answer is often surprising to the participants.

 

[Divectionist]

I am in the camp of letting the gear dive me in a sense that I want it to push me nice and horizontal as soon as I tip forward during the first couple of metres after thumbs down. That's the starting point to then trim from using my limbs and arching the back.

From a weight distribution induced horizontal position, I find it much easier to then vary my trim slightly using a bend in the knees or positioning of the arms, rather than struggling to push this body trim effort to its maximum throughout the dive, that is a sure way to miss what I am actually there for. It is effortless if your gear does most of the initial work for you, I'd argue that it's exactly what it is there for!

I believe in streamlining for propulsion, but as soon as I am looking at something in a wall, I don't mind dropping my fins and bringing my arms down to have an easier time looking at something straight in front of me without straining my neck. When I am looking down, I tend to keep my knees bent and fins up when hovering. Fins up and hands out front gives me a slight head down trim, which is also very nice for certain situations.

Once you add finning to the equation, these trim subtleties are overcome easily anyway, so the biggest benefit for me is to work from a neutral basis when taking it slow.

So to deviate from the pursuit of tech diving posture excellence, the picture the OP posted looks comfortable to me for where he is and what he is looking at in that one shot. If he was hovering over that thing, looking down at it, I'd like to see a more horizontal or even slightly head down trim.

I am sure with a bit of lead further up, arms out front and fins up all the way, he'd be pretty much flat anyway.

Edit: when working with weight, also look at rotation when hovering. Move things around until you don't slowly rotate, this will allow you to do with even fewer corrections and lock you right in place.

 

[happy-diver]

Ok folks, thank you for the input and advice. It is much appreciated. Now please be kind to one another and avoid barbed passive aggressive comments. Life is short and I’d rather enjoy it amongst friends.

Hey preach, have you tried some booties

but then again they don't really work for me

there is a reason all of the "DIR Diver" pictures you see have their hands out in front of them. It helps greatly at countering heavy feet.

geez tbone1004 thanks, and here I was all this time thinkin they're doin it to part the sea

 

[seeker242]

Put yourself in a position where you feel like you are way head down, and then you'll be in trim. It's not the fins. These are jet fins, some of the heaviest out there. It's all about body position.