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Angled descent during CWT dive

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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daforg

Member
Feb 4, 2018
26
4
18
A couple of days back I filmed myself during a couple of CWT dives. I realised from the videos that I'm not finning straight down, my body is at an angle, with my head close to the rope and legs away from it. Could this be from the position of my weights - I'm wearing them on a belt, 3x 2lb - one at the back and one on each hip. Any other ideas?
 
A neck weight is better for that kind of diving. Also think about head position. Are you looking down a little bit or keeping your head straight and looking straight at the rope?
 
A neck weight is better for that kind of diving. Also think about head position. Are you looking down a little bit or keeping your head straight and looking straight at the rope?

I found myself straying towards the rope quite a bit. I guess a symptom of the weird angle. It looks like my chin is tucked in, I find that bit easy to remember as it aids my equalising.


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A couple of days back I filmed myself during a couple of CWT dives. I realised from the videos that I'm not finning straight down, my body is at an angle, with my head close to the rope and legs away from it. Could this be from the position of my weights - I'm wearing them on a belt, 3x 2lb - one at the back and one on each hip. Any other ideas?
Could you maybe link a video in this thread? It could be quite easy to diagnose based on seeing your technique?

Usually this problem has 1 of 3 causes, or a combination of them in the worst cases.. 1) your back has a curve in it putting your feet behind you (farther from the rope) and is caused by bad diving posture which usually requires a lot of FIM to correct. 2) you are bicycle kicking/too much knee bend, and the lack of efficiency in the front kick forces you to keep your legs far from the line so that you don't tip over into the line. Or 3) (this requires video analysis) you have some other alignment issues in the amplitude of your finning (ie; faster back kick, more powerful front kick...)

One of the main causes for this is lots of shallow snorkeling or pool training without enough weights. Both of these activities require a legs above the body position, or one of the other kicking issues I mentioned to help fight buoyancy and stay below the surface. Obviously in a vertical position the buoyancy is parallel to your direction, not perpendicular, but the technical habits of fighting perpendicular buoyancy will remain.. and there for push you into the line.

Another common cause is fins that are too stiff, too long, or with too much of an angle between the blade & foot. These can also force big knee bend and cause one of the above mentioned problems..
 
I found myself straying towards the rope quite a bit. I guess a symptom of the weird angle. It looks like my chin is tucked in, I find that bit easy to remember as it aids my equalising.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I found myself straying towards the rope quite a bit. I guess a symptom of the weird angle. It looks like my chin is tucked in, I find that bit easy to remember as it aids my equalising.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It sounds like a problem with head position. If you're straying toward the rope it's likely your head is moving toward the rope. It could be that your chin is tucked in a little more than it needs to be. Subtle movements of your head can steer you. It would be helpful to have someone take a video of your descent to see. Practice steering yourself with your head. This will be a very useful skill once you start to freefall.
 
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Could you maybe link a video in this thread? It could be quite easy to diagnose based on seeing your technique?

Usually this problem has 1 of 3 causes, or a combination of them in the worst cases.. 1) your back has a curve in it putting your feet behind you (farther from the rope) and is caused by bad diving posture which usually requires a lot of FIM to correct. 2) you are bicycle kicking/too much knee bend, and the lack of efficiency in the front kick forces you to keep your legs far from the line so that you don't tip over into the line. Or 3) (this requires video analysis) you have some other alignment issues in the amplitude of your finning (ie; faster back kick, more powerful front kick...)

One of the main causes for this is lots of shallow snorkeling or pool training without enough weights. Both of these activities require a legs above the body position, or one of the other kicking issues I mentioned to help fight buoyancy and stay below the surface. Obviously in a vertical position the buoyancy is parallel to your direction, not perpendicular, but the technical habits of fighting perpendicular buoyancy will remain.. and there for push you into the line.

Another common cause is fins that are too stiff, too long, or with too much of an angle between the blade & foot. These can also force big knee bend and cause one of the above mentioned problems..

Thanks for these ideas. I don't have a video that shows me finning, only the one I took myself. I'm diving again tomorrow so I'll ask my buddy to record me.
 
It sounds like a problem with head position. If you're straying toward the rope it's likely your head is moving toward the rope. It could be that your chin is tucked in a little more than it needs to be. Subtle movements of your head can steer you. It would be helpful to have someone take a video of your descent to see. Practice steering yourself with your head. This will be a very useful skill once you start to freefall.

Thanks for this, I think its highly likely I'm tucking too much. I was playing with short freefalls (+-10m) and felt my body turning in the water. So it may be a steering issue. I'll post a video if I get one filmed tomorrow.
 
I didn't get any video today, but I took into account the feedback I got. I worked on my head angle and that seemed to make a lot of difference. I could manage my position relative to the rope a lot better and my free fall was quicker.
 
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