How to kick with bi-fins

[blueface]

I video taped myself free diving and noticed that my fins/ankles twist slightly. I would not have known unless I saw myself diving. I think this would cause some inefficiency. My partner also does it to a lesser extent. Is this a common problem? How can we correct it?

Is there any video links to propper bi-fin technique?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Skip

 

[sgnips]

Hi Blueface, this problem is usually due to:
-weak ankles
- low tone of the shinbone muscles
- lack of action control :martial
- too long blades
- too stiff blades
- no water-railed blades

now you have to find out which of these refers to you... and solve the problem!!!

 

[blueface]

Hi Blueface, this problem is usually due to:
-weak ankles
- low tone of the shinbone muscles
- lack of action control :martial
- too long blades
- too stiff blades
- no water-railed blades

now you have to find out which of these refers to you... and solve the problem!!!

Thanks! I think it might be lack of control. The fins have rails but they are small. I know if I straighten this out I could get down faster.

 

[sgnips]

you may start to correct you kick in the pool, getting it on tape again, focusing ONLY on your kick, NOT on distance
you have to remember two things:
1) an error you make on your kick is an error you are repeating many many many times, once on each of your kicks, once on the left and once on the right
this means you need lot of practice to remove it and getting used to the new movement
2) you can't correct such an error while looking for perfomance in you dives or dyn: when you are getting over the good feeling your breathold is giving you, that's time to get breath again, otherwise you will lose attention upon your kick and start concentrating on performance, and your feet will turn back to the way (the wrong one) they feel more comfortable with

watching you on tv is the best way to realize both errors and improvements: any buddy (even with the best intentions) won't be able to describe our finning the way we can see it with our own eyes...

hope this helps

 

[blueface]

I've been practicing watching my kicks on the way up and down. I can prevent the twisting just be coordination and my partner says I look "efficient" but on the static phase of my decent I sometimes go crooked (upward from head down perspective). Maybe this deserves a whole new thread but it's all related to my new wet suit and weighting.

As long as I'm paying attention I go straight but if I'm really trying to relax I close my eyes and that's when the drifting occurs.


Thanks!

Skip

 

[sgnips]

you may try to look at yourself while finning on the surface: that's easier than doing it during descent/ascent (and a lot safer)

as you're an experienced diver, i guess you are able to feel how your foot moves inside the pocket, and if it is pulling/pushing straight or not: then you wouldn't need to stretch your head that much

try this way: while finning, imagine your hallux is actually making all the effort on the towards and the backwards movements
you shall feel its is pushing on the sole of pocket and pulling against the upper part of the pocket, such as you are trying to "twist" your feet (and fins) outwards

let me know

 

[vali]

it is hard for me to tell what the problems are unless i can see your video
this is me going down with dolphin and regular kick....

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i guess that at one point my fins are twisting also...
when i go down i do the leg movement with higher amplitude because i have short legs...
the larger amplitude is, the big effort are...the muscles contract are higher and the posibility of twisting is little
i suggest to put some strenght in your ankles because they must work hard in the rear part of the kick [when i bend the knee 4 forward stroke, the ankle don't work so much...when i stroke rear, the entire leg is straight, but the ankles are bend and must work]
my english is not so good, but i think i made myself clear

 

[sgnips]

i can see in the dolphin kick part of your dive, the same problem reported by Blueface: you lose your ankle aligment (i can also see it's not so bad anyway)
let me say you bend your knee a LOT!! both in dolphin kick and in std kick

when i go down i do the leg movement with higher amplitude because i have short legs...

it's hard to see in this video (i think you mean the bi-fin kick here), you're pretty far from the camera

last thing: i tend to prefer a more relaxed kicking, rather than the high frequency you give on the ascent
on leaving the bottom it may be ok, but when you're done with that and got a decent speed, you may take it a little easier

bye

 

[blueface]

Thanks for the responses! I will try to take another video. The one I've got is not so clear. Vali, your ankle twisting is not nearly as obvious as mine and I've put some more effort into my ankles which helped a lot. Sgnips, thanks for the help!

Skip

 

[vali]

i can see in the dolphin kick part of your dive, the same problem reported by Blueface: you lose your ankle aligment (i can also see it's not so bad anyway)
let me say you bend your knee a LOT!! both in dolphin kick and in std kick

it's hard to see in this video (i think you mean the bi-fin kick here), you're pretty far from the camera

last thing: i tend to prefer a more relaxed kicking, rather than the high frequency you give on the ascent
on leaving the bottom it may be ok, but when you're done with that and got a decent speed, you may take it a little easier

bye

i have very stiff fins
and the amplitude i reffering is not at the dolphin...when i kick normally i spread my legs wide

 

[vali]

my fins are also preety heavy

 

[blueface]

Here is my dive to 40 or so ft. You can see the twisting is very bad. I've managed to correct it quite a bit since then. This was about a week ago.

Skip

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[vali]

i can-t see the movie

 

[blueface]

i can-t see the movie

I think
I fixed it . try again please.

 

[vali]

i saw it!!
indeed the twist is obvious!
all u need is practice!
the knees must remain in parallel planes...you spread your knees to much....not good
keep your knees as close as your fins allow them to be

 

[vali]

what depth was there?
in my video 17 meters

 

[blueface]

what depth was there?
in my video 17 meters

Maybe 14 meters. I'm not so sure. not more than 16 I know.

 

[blueface]

i saw it!!
indeed the twist is obvious!
all u need is practice!
the knees must remain in parallel planes...you spread your knees to much....not good
keep your knees as close as your fins allow them to be

Yes, I can do it a lot better but (in the video) I'm not thinking at all. Just relaxing. My legs are like jello!roflI would never have known if it weren't for the video. Thanks vali!

 

[vali]

with great pleasure!!!

 

[sgnips]

i see you also bend your knee a lot, i would fix this first, the ankle should follow (not 100%, but more than a bit)
Vali is right, knees are wide and this comes from you: i bet you felt you fins touching each other the first time you wore them!!

try this: while finning THINK of your legs as if they have no knee and try not to bend it, your legs have to be straight and rigid :crutch
this is not what you actually want to achieve, but it helps reducing the bending of the knee

after that you can go for the ankle (see first posts):ko