How to stay straight while sinking?

[Pekka]

I have not had this problem but my brother has.... as you stop kicking and you start sinking, how do you keep yourself in the right position...head down, fins up... If I remember right, I read about one deep dive, about 80m where the diver found himself sinking in skydiving position belly first...that must have slowed the descend down....
experiences and advice appreciated..

[Amphibious]

I do a very very slow scissor kick, I find my legs will make small adjustments to keep me strairt. have you tried neck weights? I've also seen people sewing a small pocket just below the back of their neck and putting a small weight (1 or 2lbs) there.

Willer

[laminar]

Don't look down,
Look at the line
Or keep the gradient of light to dark
Even.

Use a neck weight,
(scuba ankle weight
1-2 lbs)
Put your arms overhead
To distribute weight towards
the deep.

(I never said I was a poet).

Pete

(next time I'll write a haiku, blank verse is a cop-out, for me anyway)

[Erik]

I use a 4lb neck weight in dynamic and for rec diving, but they are not allowed in CB competition. It really helps tp point you straight down, especially with the monofin.
Cheers,
Erik Y.

[Tom Lightfoot]

I tend to have the same problem, especially early on in a descent.

For a stable descent you want to be as much like a lawn dart as possible. That is, your centre of mass should be well ahead of your centre of lateral resistance. As Erik and Peter say, neck (or wrist) weights would help if you're not in an AIDA style competition.

When I first dove with Eric he had an inventive system where he would let his weight belt slide up his chest for descent. He soon abandoned the idea though.

Bigger fins might help to shift the centre of lateral resistance backwards but I haven't experimented much with different fin sizes to say.

My own solution is to kick very gently to maintain a vertical position until I descend further. As my lungs compress and I drop faster, my centre of lateral resistance shifts backwards and descent becomes more stable for the rest of the descent.

Tom

[Crispin]

I've never experienced this problem at all - how odd!!!



I hereby declare that you are all wierdy twisty turney Freedivers, and should employ the "Beavertail" method, whereby you fin headfirst till negative, then turn and fall feetfirst!


Interesting though wierd.....you learn something every day I spose.....

[Pekka]

I just might try them neck weights.... I have some little wieghts from a car tire company that are easy to put on a little belt or what ever I might come up with..
Crispin, I have not had the problem...yet, but I believe that I will when diving bit deeper than I have been diving..(-40--->) but I won't know till summer actually arrives to UK and Finalnd...
I gotta go......pool training and one more silly question...how do you blow nice air-rings...mine usually brake into a small bubbles, but I have seen a rings that stay as one big circle almost till surface..

[Chefkoch]

Hi Pekka!
Here's my method for doing the rings:
I go down to 5m (nice training pool in Munich) and lay on my back.
Then I wait for a few seconds and check the currents: the water should be very calm. I bring my head into horizontal position, pump air into my cheeks and then do a "Boo" (the lips form a circle).
It is very important to have no currents and to have your head horizontal. People often tend to slightly point their chinn in direction of their body in order to see what the heck is going on with those bubbles - just relax and look straight upwards, to the shining surface
This works pretty fine for me...hope I could help you!