The Learning Curve

[Blair Mott]

Concerning the learning curve. I have found if you take a new diver, a
diver who has never used Force Fins or any other type of fins, Force
Fins are the quickest to adapt to and easiest to use. In fact, dive
dealers and their instructors have found that if they line up all the
fins available at their store or in their locker, and let new divers
choose which fin they prefer, most, if not all will choose Force Fins
because they are very easy and natural to kick. Force Fins simply make
sense.

The learning curve only exists if you have used other fins and
conditionally interpret the strain in your lower legs as power. It is
the diver who has built in mental and physical conditioning using
regular paddle fins that has a learning curve of about 4 dives to get
used to not feeling the strain and stress associated with normal paddle
fins. As Susanne, Bob's wife and partner, stated in Chris Kostman's article
Force Fins

".... when you 'feel' your fin, it gives you a lot of security. We're
terra creatures. Our whole frame of reference for moving forward on land
is resistance points on our feet. But when you're moving efficiently in
the water, as with Force Fins, you don't actually feel your fins working
for you. You have to use other independent cues or frames of reference
to know that you're moving efficiently. Force Fins are the only fins
that you don't feel when you're using them, because they're the only
ones moving the force vectors off your legs and onto the blade of the
fin. So the paradox is that you have to use other cues to feel your
momentum instead of the resistance points on your feet."

The best way to short cut this learning curve is to start out by kicking
while on your back. Then your eyes will tell you what your feet and legs
are missing. Seeing the boil of water following the Force Fin as it
moves you forward should help the diver who is conditioned to using
other fins relax on their first dive. It still might take a few dives,
especially for the most experienced to enjoy the freedom of diving with
Force Fins, but, after that, they'll never go back.

Just another reason why I say that Force Fins are a Smart Fin.
The Truth About Dive Fins

 

[meesier42]

".... when you 'feel' your fin, it gives you a lot of security. We're
terra creatures. Our whole frame of reference for moving forward on land
is resistance points on our feet. But when you're moving efficiently in
the water, as with Force Fins, you don't actually feel your fins working
for you. You have to use other independent cues or frames of reference
to know that you're moving efficiently. Force Fins are the only fins
that you don't feel when you're using them, because they're the only
ones moving the force vectors off your legs and onto the blade of the
fin. So the paradox is that you have to use other cues to feel your
momentum instead of the resistance points on your feet."

I have been trying to think of a comment to go with this, but I think Susanne nailed it. The concept of "feeling your fins" is a reoccuring theme here with FF. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/force-fin/229121-feel-power.html, but then I think I got it from Susanne in the first place.


I have been thinking about exercise theory some, which is really at the heart of the "learning curve". Basic exercise theory states that if you repeat any movement (exercise), no matter how well or poorly, you will learn to become very efficient at doing that movement, independent of the form that you use to complete it. That doesn't mean that you can't perform the same work (forward progress) more efficiently, just that you have maximized the efficiency of the method that you are using.

How does this relate to the topic. well...
the average paddle fin (and for the most part splits) utilize the hamstrings and calves for power. Although its a mechanically poor method to propell yourself through the water, you can learn to do it well. Probably one of the reasons the the frog kick has found its way into recreational diving, cause it is just plain hard to maintain a flutter without pain and cramping.

vice, ForceFins that shift the load to the quads, abs, and glutes. This allows much larger muscle groups to perform the load. By using large muscle groups to perform the same amount of work they are never tasked very heavily. BUT... this is a very different exercise than what paddle fins.

So... back to exercise theory, since the movement that ForceFins use is very different than the movements used by paddle fins, there is a "learning curve" for those trying to transition to ForceFins, unless of course you haven't learned the habits of paddle fins. What does that mean to me, well it means that basically every test done to date that doesn't allow long enough familiarization with each and every fin, not just ForceFins will be an invalid data point, as the personal preference for the style of kick used by their fins, will be most efficient with them, even if other fins are better, they will not perform as well, as they will be fighting their own preferences.