Problem with lateral rolling

[Cacia]

hook your fins into the water column to stabilize.

Using the flat planes of the fins, you will get more resistance. Maybe like a wingflap on a plane...

Watch garden eels and how they hook in to the current.

If you see how this diver (Rockjock) is positioned, and think about your issue in terms of resistance, you can imagine how hanging with the planes of your fins might add another element of stability. I know most divers spend lots of time weighting and distributing and a dry suit is very different, but in warm water I do not think it is the first line solution, myself. Work with your core and the physics of your orientation is more my solution. The reason back frogs will help you, is that it forces you to be cognizant of your fin planes. You might just try it as an exercise to get your brain/ skeletal muscles working together on that pathway. Once you have that wired, you can use a more subtle motion, maybe even imperceptable to "correct" your lateral roll.

I am only offering an opinion because since I don't have the training, I have just another way of describing it. Sometimes that is an advantage in strange way.

 

[shakeybrainsurgeon]

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.

Come to think of it, the roll does still affect me to some degree even when hovering and not finning at all. And there have been dives when I don't notice it and dives when it takes all my effort to keep on an even keel. I don't think the BC fit is wrong, I just don't get it snug enough sometimes and I found it helps to go to the floor at the start of the dive and re-tightened the straps and cumberbund with the wetsuit compressed. The self-adjusting claim for the waist straps is nonsense.

The classic, with the baffling system may not cause roll but it seems to accelerate it once you start going over.

I also thought about trying an AL50 tank for short dives to see how the tank weight affects me.

I'll keep experimenting... thanks for the help

 

[EvaL]

I find that when I'm horizontal, having more weight higher up (in a XS Suba weight pouch attached to tank strap) helps reduce rolling movements when I'm finning. Doing this also helps with weight distribution as I'm bottom heavy and tend to have feet down when I'm neutrally buoyant.
Dive safely.

 

[asaara]

I do this too sometimes, but it's to the right, which makes sense as it's my left leg that's stronger. Doesn't happen when frog kicking. My weighting is such that my gear really doesn't care which way up I'd like to be at any given time, and I'm just fine with that, especially as I seem to often end up at the right side of the buddy/group/interesting rock/whatever and looking in that direction for a moment doesn't hurt. Life's too short to just face down all the time!

 

[divingjd]

Trying the AL 50 may help you isolate the problem. I went from a steel 72 to an AL50 in my buoyancy class to cure the problem. With a steel 72 and a 3mm suit in a pool, I was negatively buoyant with no weight, so I couldn't really get the trim right. I always use the AL50 tanks for pool classes now.

 

[radinator]

I was diving with someone who would roll as soon as he tried to be motionless. Every time he would roll onto his back.

I asked him where his weights were distributed, and they we all as far toward his back as possible. He had a backplate, a steel tank, and all his weights as far back as he could make them.

I suggested he move his weights on his belt farther forward (which would be 'down' when he was horizontal), and he was instantly much more stable.

Keep in mind that trim is a 3-dimensional concept. Head to toe, left to right, and front to back.

 

[Santa]

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

Pete

That's some serious apnea right there dude ;0)

'spect