Problem with lateral rolling

[shakeybrainsurgeon]

Occasionally, I think because my right leg is much stronger than my left, I will have a tendency to roll left as I swim forward. Always left. I found that frog kicking, instead of flutter kicking, prevents this, but it is still a nuisance. I have switched to aluminum tanks, thinking that having a more buoyant tank may help (it does to some degree) and have just begun to use the Glide Plus instead of the classic (I have been told that the classic has more of a tendency to roll because it allows air into the anterior chest region and because it lacks shoulder straps, allowing the tank to shift laterally as the diver rolls). When diving quarries and wearing 20 pounds, I equally distribute the weight between front and rear trim pockets. When using less weight, I put if all upfront. The distribution doesn't seem to affect the roll. One instructor suggested using a tank weight to centralize the rear weight in the midline instead of laterally in the trim pockets. others suggest going to a straight back-inflate bc.

I need to work on getting both legs equally strong, but in the meantime, anyone else have this problem and any ideas to correct it?

 

[redacted]

If the frog kick works then use it rather than the flutter kick. I have a tendency to roll to my left when I carry a pony. It is easily corrected by rotating my weight belt to shift that weight to the right.

 

[Santa]

if it's related to your finning style then it's probably more a question of technique than strength (although a faulty technique may lead to more force being applied or transferred by one leg).

Water is terribly unforgiving when it comes to channeling energy into into actual propulsion. Technique counts for way, way more more than strength, which is why strutting bodybuilders always go dead after 25 metres of crawl.

I work substitute as a lifeguard and has nothing to do but watch swimming styles and most people with no swimming background just do very different things with their left and right sides and waste tons of energy that way (Bad technique is good if you're dieting).

Since you're into tank considerations I guess it's not a weight-distribution problem?

My advice would be go to a pool, without scuba but with the fins you use and have a lifeguard or coach look at your tecnique.

 

[namabiru]

It's all the beer in your stomach making you veer left... I have the same problem.

In all seriousness, though, I have the same problem, and I've just chalked it up to my left leg being weaker than my right--plus with a bad left knee I tend to not do things that might make it act up, so maybe psychologically I'm not kicking as hard as i should...

 

[spectrum]

My advice would be go to a pool, without scuba but with the fins you use and have a lifeguard or coach look at your tecnique.

I agree. Spending some winter evenings at the Y doing skin-dive laps did wonders. Managing yourself in the swim lanes will get you trued up and the activity will also square away your strength. You will then be cramp proofed.

20 minutes at your fastest confortable pace followed by at least 20 mminutes of breathold swimming makes a nice work-out.

I dive E7-80s in a Sherwood Avid (Jacket) and have no rolling problems. I wear 4-6 pounds in my trim pockets, the rest on my belt positiond on the lower quadrants. The Avid trim pockets are flat on my back, not up on the tank bands, so they do not exagerate the top heaviness.

Are your fins in good shape? I've seen some poorly stored fins that were so twisted they couldn't possibly propel equally.

Pete

 

[shakeybrainsurgeon]

Thanks. The bottom-line is I need to improve my finning ability and not rely on equipment changes.

 

[divingjd]

I usually find that difference in leg strength causes a diver to swim in an arc rather than a straight line rather than to roll laterally. You can really see the effect when open water students are doing their navigation runs in limited vis. Without the visual references available in clear water, it is very had to swim in a straight line, particularly when the diver hasn't yet learned to trust instruments.

If your kicking is causing you to roll laterally, I would suspect there is also a weighting or trim problem that makes you less stable in the water, leading to the kick effect. For example, if your weight is biased toward your back because you are using a steel tank and very little weight on your belt, you are really doing a pretty delicate balancing act to remain in a horizontal swimming position. Anything that causes you to lean a little to one side can start a roll. I discovered a similar issue when I took a buoyancy class and found that going to a lighter tank cured the problem. My guess would be that you should have more weight in the front pockets than in the trim pockets. If you have the weight evenly distributed between the main pockets and the trim pockets, you will have a back-bias. I think going to an aluminum tank is a good idea and playing around with weight distribution should also help.

I use a Scubapro Classic Plus and don't have any problem with the tank shifting. If the BC is loose enough for the tank to shift, it's not fitted properly. The Classic does have an aircell all the way around your arms, so it does allow air into an anterior position, but when you are horizontal all the air is going to flow to the back. The Glide is a good BC, but I'm a little puzzled by the comments on the Classic.

 

[jbd]

Shakeybrainsurgeon,

Have you tried getting UW, establish neutral bouyancy and go completely limp/motionless in the water and see what happens? If you do this and still roll then there is a balance problem with your gear. If there is no roll in this situation then its either your leg strength differences as younoted initally or there may be some slight differences in your fins i.e. one may be slightly stiffer than the other.

 

[ToddK]

I agree with jbd. Make sure that when motionless there isn't a tendancy to roll left. I've found that even one pound out of place can cause me to roll. Regards, -Todd.

 

[TSandM]

I had an awful problem with rolling when I started. It got better with time, just like one's balance on a bicycle gets better.

But I learned something interesting when I was practicing for my swim test for Fundies. I found that, if I floated on the surface of the water in the pool, I FLOATED left side down. It was easily fixed by adjusting the muscle tension in my lats and abdominal muscles, but it was definitely there. Discovering this and putting that insight to use underwater really helped stop the rolling tendency.