Surface swimming is tough

[castanagajt]

Meesier42, I saw your post about surface swimming but darn they are tough with the Pros. Can you have Blaire Mott or perhaps yourself to make a youtube video on how to do the proper technique to utilize the force Fin pros for surface swimming.

The Force Fin Extra force is actually my favorite fin on the Force Fin line. It feels traditional to a sense with a bit of Bob Evan's touch that makes things much better. For me to do a surface swim I click the whiskers 1 click out because it seems to slow down my kick and help me get the right form so the fin does not come off the water.

I am not sure why there are so many people who swears by the Force Fin Excellerating Force. It just feels funny to me. It feels like it bends at three places and the rebound kick is the most responsive. Plus, it hurts on the side of my feet. Upstroke is the best on these fins probably because of that water channel.

So, that seems to be my review on my Force fins.

I wasn't able to really try the foil force enough and the originals can you clue in how they may feel?

Once again, it will be nice if you can put a tutorial on how to surface swim with the Force Fin Pro on youtube.

 

[meesier42]

I don't have a video camera, so this may have to be punted over to Blair, maybe when I go visit Kimball St. Blair and I can try, just need to figure out when a good time will be.

The Pros are easy to surface swim, I have been swimming 2-3 miles a day, 2-3 days a week for the last couple of weeks. Not sure what I do differently, but I have no issues with them. The Extras are much harder, due to their extreme size and power. I am going for a swim later today with my Excellerators, but this is a dynamic apnea workout, so I won't be doing a lot of yardage, or surface swimming.

 

[mikemill]

Flip on your back and swim like that

 

[Blair Mott]

Castanagajt,
Thanks for the post. Once I learned that I just had to put my energy into the down (power) stroke and not into the recovery or up stroke I was able to use Force Fins at the surface without problems. With most of the fins on the market you feel every part of the kick cycle. In a nut shell with Force Fins you kick down the fin snaps and the shape and rebound of the fin helps to naturally bring the fins back to the starting position ready for another power kick. Practice and lose the feeling that you need to feel the fin.

I will look into a video, but it comes down to getting in the water and changing the way you think you should feel the fin. Get in the water as much a possible. Some people adapt quicker than others and some just need more time. I know it can get boring swimming in the pool, but keep trying. When you get out to one of the lakes near you swim as long as you can (of course swim with a buddy and stay close to shore- BE SAFE) The longer you swim the easier and faster it will be to understand the dynamics.

 

[Bob Evans]

Mikemill, right on. Better yet, with years of diving in kelp beds and the White Sharks I like to go down the anchor line and return back up the anchor line. If I mess up on the return trip I still will stay at 15 feet using a compass once I locate the dive boat..and if I happen to run short on air due to some great photo situation I roll over so the weight of my tank acts as a heel. I remember the Navy study which showed smaller fins did much better below the surface and longer blades performed better on the surface than below.

 

[SanFranDiver]

Just got my Original FFs yesterday and snorkeled around the pool. I could swim on my back, do frog kicks, helicopter turn, reverse, BUT NOT SURFACE FLUTTER KICKS.

Seems with my booties and the FFs, my feet are right at the surface and I was stuck in neutral and/or my fins kept shooting out of the water on the recovery stroke. Unless I solve this "little problem" I could have trouble swimming from the back of the boat to the anchor line in challenging seas.

 

[uncleavi]

Turn a bit on your side and your fins will not break the surface.

 

[jester1226]

Try bending your knees and kicking downward.

 

[SanFranDiver]

Try bending your knees and kicking downward.

If I bend my knees, my feet/fins will be completely out of the water.

 

[meesier42]

ok, so trick number one is the simple one, turning slightly to one side.

The real trick is relearning how to kick a fin. Most fins make you pull the fin up to the surface and conditions your mind and leg into working against the fin on the recovery stroke that you have little or no real strength to kick with. So to kick successfully in Force Fins while on the surface is really quite simple, stop kicking on the recovery. Just kick down naturally and RELAX, you will find that your leg will naturally find its way back to the top of the power stroke, ready for you to kick again.