Use of hands when diving.

[Zippsy]

No hands is big time BS. Fish have fins other than tail fins. Using your hands to perform quick turns or stablizing yourself is natural. I have fun using my hands in the water and wearing my mask on my head when not diving, it upsets the fanatics.

You're going to die one day. You're a menace to all other divers and marine life. You need to retake your open water class. I bet you were PADI trained. I would never be on a boat you were on. I bet you even helped hide Osama in your house. Etc., etc.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

From my experience I'd say if you guide/instructor/photograph in the ocean, there will come times when hand finning is the proper choice.

Most of that rare "proper choice" hand finning is more of a positioning thruster than a forward motion thruster.

 

[WetBoy101]

I like to hook my thumbs in my shoulder straps. My elbows are close to my side and it takes no effort to keep everything quiet.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

This hand swimming debate has come up before.
I spend time on the vintage forum and we discussed the hand swimming that was common in the Sea Hunt show.
The final word on this I believe was that hand swimming was done to increase showmanship and drama; that no real divers of the day did any such sort of nonsense.

In my real world of diving there are times of hand use but not always for propulsion.
I'm an avid hunter so my hands are tied up guiding a spear gun around. Sometimes a quick directional change will require a movement of the hand. I don't care about perfect trim and all the fanatical obsessions with absolutely no hand work at all like I'm in some sort of English horse riding school,.. hogwash.
I've adopted my own technique of freestyle diving. I do whatever it takes for the task at hand. If that means I just shot something and it has buried itself back in a hole or I'm chasing after a lobster, I'm all over it any way I can get to it. Most of the time that means perfect backing up manuevers and picture perfect helicopter turns are out the window. Screw it, when the adrenaline and excitemnet kick in if I need to I use my hands!
That's where big tanks and big fins pay big.

But if I'm just cruising and on a looky loo dive then my hands are at my sides where I can make the most out of my slipstream and get the best mileage.

Hands use up a huge amount of energy and air, but sometimes the trade off is worth it .

 

[AfterDark]

Might want to think about your analogy. I have yet to see anyone make a quick turn using graceful slow hand movements like the pectoral fins on a goldfish.
It's more akin to Mike Tyson getting that winning punch in PUNCHOUT
Absolutely no hands is BS.

BUT if you start to rely on your hands too much, when you really need quick maneuverability, you'll revert to quick large hand movements. That's what gets most "fanatics". Getting hit in the face by a full strength swing is no fun. It hurts, it dislodges your mask and reg, and it makes the "finner" look like a the most unelegant goof in the water.

You're fully capable of making quick turns on a dime using the proper capable fins such as paddles and jet fin types.
For real small corrections of a degree or two in calm water, yes hands can save you energy, especially if you have long fins. but other than that if you want to correct your position or change it drastically in a new direction, fins are by far safer to those around you, to the wild life around you, and by far more effective to you.

Until you can develop fins on your hands, you're not going to be able to make big changes in your position with slow fish-like finning movements with your hands.

After 40 years and almost 2000 dives I have developed fins on my hands! It’s one of the reasons I type so slow. The webbing between the fingers gets in the way.

After all that time I haven’t: started to rely on your hands too much, when you really need quick maneuverability, you'll revert to quick large hand movements.

Maybe it’ll take another 40 years

 

[Hatul]

I think if you get into the habit of using your hands for propulsion and stability you'll have problems if you need your hands to manage a camera or other gear.

The exceptions are heavy currents and surge where you may need to hold on to the bottom to control your position.

Adam

 

[DevonDiver]

After all that time I haven’t: started to rely on your hands too much, when you really need quick maneuverability, you'll revert to quick large hand movements.

Speak for yourself.

I can helicopter turn 360 degrees, on-the-spot, in a heartbeat.

I can also do that whilst holding a camera, deploying a DSMB, or within the enclosed space of wreck - whilst running a line.

So can many other divers... many of them with a fraction of your experience

Maybe it’ll take another 40 years

With the mindset that you display in your posts.... probably.

It kinda strikes me as odd, that in 2000 dives, you didn't pick up such a simple skill set.

 

[JaneMitchell]

I reckon everyone's different. What you don't want to do is expend more gas than you need to, or touch or kick something that's around you. How you hold you're arms is a matter of comfort. If you need or want to use you're arms to help move yourself around then so be it.

My experience in diving is to listen to what other people have tried and then work out what works for you. Personally I tend to fold my arms (mainly because I get cold) and I wear my computer on my wrist so I can see it with a quick glance down. But it took me a while to get my buoyancy and trim right to the point where that's naturally where I have them. It's comfortable for me, I can see what I need to but that doesn't mean it's right...and that can be one of the frustrating (interesting) things about diving.

 

[Davemohio]

I try to avoid using my hands whenever possible. I keep my arms folded or behind me near my rear end. However, sometimes you can't avoid using 'em. Like in a crowd of other divers observing something. It is the only way for me to avoid clobbering someone or some thing with a fin. I use my hands sometimes when there is a current and I am trying to avoid hitting coral formations.

 

[Quero]

I think a distinction has to be made in terms of the answer to the question. Reading literally from the opening post, I have to say that there is no absolute prohibition against occasional use of the hands for specific purposes among experienced divers who have good finning technique and buoyancy control. But I think it's a completely different issue if we consider inexperienced divers.

I discourage hand swimming with my student divers. Inexperienced divers are not hand swimming for any specific reason such as trying to move through an overhead environment without the risk of their big fins dislodging surrounding material--they are using their hands because they haven't yet learned how to use their fins and their lungs for maneuvering. If I don't discourage the use of the hands, my students' progress will be slower since they can "fudge" it with hand swimming to a certain extent--"pulling" themselves down with hand/arm movements rather than fully exhaling to descend, for example. (Similarly, I also swim very, very slowly with my student divers on the tour portion of the dives, so that rapid forward motion doesn't compensate for poor buoyancy control.) Furthermore, as mentioned several times above, movements of the small muscles of the hands and arms are not very efficient for propulsion, yet these muscles still need oxygen to fuel these movements. The more a diver uses his/her hands and arms, the quicker their air is consumed. Most of us like nice, long dives, and the #1 frustration of most divers I've worked with is air consumption. Just stopping arm/hand movements makes a huge difference in this regard.

I don't care where divers I'm working with put their hands, but if they are having trouble with foot-heavy trim and need to change their fulcrum point, I have them extend their arms in front of them, among other adjustments.