I think that most novice divers have an instinctive tendancy to try and 'swim' underwater. Who can blame them? They spend years swimming with both their hands and feet, but have to re-learn technique when they transition to diving in fins.
Exactly ... you're dealing with "learned" behavior, and it takes some conscious effort to change what you've learned in the past. In order to do this you have to understand why it matters that you change it.
Added to that are the natural tendancies for novice divers to feel 'unstable' in the water. Use of the hands often represents an attempt to 'balance' in the water column. Obviously, there is no actual 'need' to balance underwater... and as experience develops (plus better trim of their equipment), the diver graduates out of this tendancy. It comes with relaxation.
Well ... I think it's more accurate to say that as experience develops, the diver graduates out of the "need" for this tendency. The problem is that ingrained habits become unconscious behavior, and divers will often continue the behavior well past their perceived "need" for it simply because it's something they've always done.
The biggest problem with developing sloppy habits is that once they become ingrained, they're much more difficult to "unlearn".
There are a number of reasons why over-use of the hands for propulsion and control can be negative for a diver. The primary one is that it is an inefficient physiological method, that ultimately requires more O2 metabolization in the body and, hence, more air consumption. It also decreases streamlining and increases water turbulance, slowing the diver.
Ah ... someone finally brings up the most desireable reason to give a new diver when they ask why they shouldn't use their hands ... because it forces you to use up your air faster. You're generating more body movements and creating a larger surface area that needs to push water out of your way to move forward. Both of those things cause you to breathe harder.
Wanna improve your air consumption? Great ... consider what it takes to reduce the amount of work you're doing while diving. Limited use of the hands may be justified under certain conditions. Habitual use of the hands just burns calories with very low return on investment.
In addition, the use of hands can lead to silting/bottom disturbance. When diving inside wrecks or caves, this can present an actual danger to the diver. In other situations, it will simply lead to a deterioration of the quality of the dive, as visibility is lowered. For underwater photographers, it can lead to filling photos with backscatter/particles and also scare away the target of their photo.
Well now ... that depends on circumstances. Inside wrecks and caves is sometimes a legitimate place to use your hands ... for pulling and gliding. But that is really situational, as it depends on the conditions as well as what you're proposing to grab ahold of. Using pull and glide will often depend on whether or not you CAN use your fins, and whether or not the surface structure allows it ... clay walls or encrusted surfaces just fall apart if you grab them.
There are also many activites underwater that require the use of the hands for other purposes. Cave/Wreck divers will be using torches and lines. The hands won't be available for sculling. Photographers and videographers will also have their hands full.
If you want to take pictures (at least, if you want to get good at it), then learning how to maneuver without using your hands is an absolutely essential skill.
It is absolutely fair to view the limitation of the use of hands for propulsion/control as a 'best practice' mentality in scuba diving. A responsible instructor will communicate the reasons for this to their students and help them, through drills and practice, to develop appropriate scuba techniques that do not utilise the hands. Divers who do over-use their hands on dives may be judged appropriately by their peers and dive pros - it is seen as a mark of inexperience.
The simple fact is: you don't need to use your hands for control or propusion underwater. There are drawbacks to doing so...and techniques that exist which allow better function using the fins alone.
Eliminating a reliance on your hands for sculling requires some dedication to perfecting proper techniques.
I completely agree ... as with most things, eliminating the need for hand sculling is essential for a diver who is serious about developing good habits. That doesn't necessarily mean that you won't ever consider doing it ... but that you will consider it based on circumstances. Think of it like a tool that, as you develop other techniques, gets used less and less often ... because you have better "tools" at your disposal.
I find it hard to understand why some posters in this thread would discourage such a mentality!?!
... because to those who use their hands, saying you shouldn't feels like an insult ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
