Should your hands ever be used for movement or to hold position?

[billtodive]

When stopped, if i want to move only my upper body only 3 inches left, my left hand may well be the most efficient way to do it, fish, fowl or fool.
BTW, sometimes we judge other divers by their "inefficient" movements.
One fellow saw me "thrashing in a sea of silt".
He later saw the anchor I pulled out of the mud. If you are not silting/harming anyone/anything, enjoy!

 

[Soggy]

I'm by no means the perfect diver and have plenty of skills to continue to work on, but I can honestly say that I haven't used my hands to fin once in the most recent 200 or so dives. Maybe there are reasons, but I have yet to see one.

Hands work well for grabbing and pulling, but not for finning.

Whatever the reason, there are situations. Look, I wasn't saying you would need to use your hands much of the time, maybe not at all on most dives. But it could also be a failure on the part of your buddy for blocking you in and having his face next to your fins. Right or wrong, I don't want to kick anyone in the face. Even if it's your own failure, that will happen now and then, unless you are the perfect diver. Who here is?

 

[ChillyWaters]

You want to be swimming around kind of like docking a boat, where you don't make a lot of sudden movements. Generally people who use their hands aren't being deliberate about it...

I like your analogy.

Most new divers have a problem of slowing down. So, perhaps people should think about slowing down first, then not using hands? Once you're moving rather slow and deliberate, I doubt one would even need to use their hands much.

- ChillyWaters

 

[ChillyWaters]

Hands work well ... but not for finning.

Do you think I could get a pair of splits fins for my hands?

- ChillyWaters

 

[Soggy]

Do you think I could get a pair of splits fins for my hands?

You could probably go find the penguin costume they used in Batman Returns and use that. Penguins swim with their hands, so we should emulate them, right? :1poke:

 

[ReefHound]

Generally people who feel the *need* to use their hands are compensating for lack of skill. You can see this in video reviews comparing them side-by-side with people who don't. Plus, learning to avoid the use of hands builds up skills in being deliberate about your motions underwater, which is the huge payoff. Once every motion underwater is a deliberate, conscious motion you get much more relaxed and then see the benefits of lower SAC rates and less flailing around. You want to be swimming around kind of like docking a boat, where you don't make a lot of sudden movements. Generally people who use their hands aren't being deliberate about it...

Generally, I agree and I think my comments were taken the wrong way. I'm not advocating that one barge through the water with all four appendages flailing, just saying that in some situations for some people, hands are more *effective*, albeit less *efficient*.

The fact is divers are and always will come in a variety of skill levels, and few can lay claim to perfection.

 

[ChillyWaters]

If you are not silting/harming anyone/anything, enjoy!

Well said! If you think you can't use your hands, and then whack a bunch of life off a wall with your fins as a result, then that's bad. I don't care if you didn't use your hands.

But be careful with the hands, the motion can also silt, or knock life off a wall.

- ChillyWaters

 

[lamont]

I like your analogy.

Most new divers have a problem of slowing down. So, perhaps people should think about slowing down first, then not using hands? Once you're moving rather slow and deliberate, I doubt one would even need to use their hands much.

- ChillyWaters

right. first you need to learn to never use your hands. then once you've grown up you can make your own decisions about when and where to use them.

 

[Soggy]

The fact is divers are and always will come in a variety of skill levels, and few can lay claim to perfection.

Yeah, but the question was "should your hands ever be used..." not "can your hands be used..."

Divers with poor skills should work on improving.

 

[GreenDiverDown]

You could probably go find the penguin costume they used in Batman Returns and use that. Penguins swim with their hands, so we should emulate them, right? :1poke:

I prefer to use my ears.