New to Monofin swimming

[goochi]

Hi Everyone

I am from Fremantle West Australia and have just received my Leaderfin Advanced Monofin from Estonia in the mail yesterday. I had researched which fin the get from reading several threads posted on this site and links to different web pages.... so thank you.

With great excitement I set off to the pool as soon as I had taken it out of the box. I slipped into the monofin (which were very snug fitting) and took off under water, I surprised myself when I resurfaced 25m down the pool. It was wonderful and quite simple to use. I got out of the 25m pool and jumped in the 50m pool and found with a liitle practice I could swim 50m underwater reasonably comfortably. There were looks from all around the pool and questions as no one had seen a monofin before (I'd never seen one except on the Internet and in "the Big Blue").

My question is : my feet were quite sore after only a short period, is this normal and will it get better with time and practise or are the foot pockets too small (they fit me perfectly). They are open footpockets with the heel strap. Also does anyone have any training tips for using a front mounted snorkel - do you dive under water and re-surface or do you stay on the surface?

Cheers

Gooch

 

[iceselkie]

Hi Gooch!! Welcome to Deeperblue and congrats on your new monofin(ning)

If your footpockets fit you perfectly (nice!) then it's just the feet adjusting to the new work. They absolutely WILL get better with time, if they don't get worse first. The reason I say that is because after vigourously swimming with the monofin when I first recieved it, I had some muscular pain, but then after pushing it too hard and not warming up properly first I got a nasty bout of tendonitis. I could barely walk, my achilles were burning! Now, I always make sure my feet are good and warm (I even use 2mm neoprene socks if possible, you might just need some skinsocks) and that will help with the feet getting used to the rubber rubbing against the skin. Also, try excersises like standing flat footed and then raising up onto the balls of your feet or wearing the monofin and sitting on the side of the deck and bringing it up through the water to the surface.

For the front mounted snorkle, if you have a cap on the tip that keeps out water but lets in air, go for it (normally NO snorkle for training underwater), otherwise it's great for swimming at the surface.

Happy finswimming..

 

[samdive]

The foot pockets will be sore for a while - but just wear it as long as you can stand it and gradually increase the amount of time. If its really sore, you could try wearing socks or toe socks (just cut the toe part off a pair of old neoprene socks up to about half way along your arch)

The exercises Brianna suggests are also great - before and after using the fin

I never got on with the front snorkel so just did everything in apnea - sorry but I can't help. The thing is a torture device as far as I am concerned. I think you are meant to go underwater with it though and just blow it clear each time.... I ended up inhaling half the pool when I used one....

S

 

[OceanMan]

I think that the front snorkel, as finswimmers (not freedivers) use it, never goes underwater while swimming.
But not too sure about it.

 

[X-Fins]

Goochi, for shure you will get better feelings in your foot with training. Nowadays I´m been swimming for hours with this footpocket, so train and little by little you get better.

The front snorkel will help you to get force in your muscles and will be good to do sessions of finswimming in order to get better performance in your kick. I recommend finswimming practice to Freedivers in order to improve style, better style, better movements, better distances in less time with less oxigene. That doesn't mean you will turn in a Finswimmer.

Enjoy your mono, !!!! Luis

 

[oferdegi]

Hi Gooch, welcome aboard, and congrats on your new mono!

I've been practicing with my mono for a few months now, and find the center mounted snorkel very valuable - it enables you to go on for a long time without having to spoil your rythm to surface and breath. Swimming on the surface with the mono is much harder than just going underwater, but it teaches you economy of movement, and that's what makes it such a good drill to practice. real finswimmers hardly ever dip the snorkel's tip in the water, but that requires a really awesome style, that comes only with lots of finswimming practice. I just let it dip, if so it happens, and then just blow the water out as I surface. I've noticed that I seal the end of the tube with my tongue as I dip, then release it to blow & breath, etc. When you get the rythm right it's rally not hard. You can also do drills like 4-5 strokes underwater, then surface for one breath through the snorkel, etc. That's a lot of fun. For dynamic practice, better go without the snorkel - it just creates extra drag underwater and you really don't need it.

When my feet started getting sore from my footpockets, I adopted the habbit of putting them in plastic bags. I put on two layers of the kind of small plastic bag used for sandwiches, covering the front of my foot. That is very efficient in preventing chafing. I try to take good care of my feet, preventing any "hotspots" from developing. I also do a lot of stretching, shoulders, back, glutes, hamstrings, and especially calves and feet, and try to see if any parts of my body get overstrained. The movement should really be generated along the whole body and not just the legs, otherwise something may give in - it's a lot of blade to move around in the water!

Hope you have lots and lots of fun with your new mono - it's awesome, and just gets better with practice.
Ofer

 

[goochi]

Thanks everyone,

your advice has been great. I will try the plastic bag idea when I am at the pool tomorrow and keep in the mind the 'half sock' idea that Sam suggested. I will have a play with a front snorkel and use the concepts Ofer talked about.
It's winter here at present, so it is all pool work. Can't wait til summer to try the monofin out in the ocean.
Cheers

Goochi

 

[speedy611]

Hi Gooch,

I'm a newbie here also, and in Australia. I've just PM'd you about your experiences getting a mono in Oz - I'm trying to get one too.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[monofin_diva]

i get pain sometimes. i notice it helps me if i oil my feet first (i use a pro latex/rubber lube to slip in ALL the way).. the better your feet are in helps a LOT.

i get questions too and i'm all too happy to let people try my mono, but they say it feels weird. i notice the kids that i let use my 5 year olds monofin tend to take to it better.

honestly. i swim like poo without my mono. but i have a MEAN doggie paddle!

try to make sure your foot is all the way in.. if you still get pain, you may need a larger footpocket. or maybe you're swimming too hard for the stifness you have or vice versa-maybe the stiffness you have is too hard for the environment you're using it in.

i dunno..

but keep it up.. i've had my mono for over a year and my feet still cramp up sometimes, although i notice the more i use it daily.. the less it cramps.

welcome to the forums!

 

[pelagicbeing]

It all sounds like a pain endurance test! I know its not much use now, but IMHO it may be worth you considering a full foot pocket mono next time round....

I have had a full foot mono (omer' footpockets size uk 12) now for approx 4 months or so, and it is fantastic :inlove , from day 1 i have never experienced any discomfort at all (worn with 3mm or 5mm socks).

I freedive recreationally, and comfort for me is imperative, as i wear my mono from 4hrs + in the sea at a time on a weekly basis, and any discomfort can ruin a days diving.

They say that you lose performance with full foot pockets on mono's, which unfortunately i cannot comment on as i have never worn any open heel mono's for any depth diving + i am no where near that kind of level to judge.... But my full foot has no problem coping with the depths that i manage, with the added bonus of being comfortable enough to forget it is stuck on the end of my body and not a part of me ...

Just my two seahsells worth

pelagicbeing

 

[monofin_diva]

my biggest worry is getting a big cramp.. like 15 meters deep.

if it's the difference between OUCH.. oh my foot hurts.. or..

oh hell.. i'm about to drown..

i can deal with the foot cramp.

in a pool.. or something less severe.. it's just a pain in the 'you know what'

has anyone else experienced a cramp in the deep in a mono?

how did you guys handle it if so?

 

[Matu]

Hi

You have to eat a lot of bananas and drink a lot off water.That will help you avoid your cramps

my biggest worry is getting a big cramp.. like 15 meters deep.

if it's the difference between OUCH.. oh my foot hurts.. or..

oh hell.. i'm about to drown..

i can deal with the foot cramp.

in a pool.. or something less severe.. it's just a pain in the 'you know what'

has anyone else experienced a cramp in the deep in a mono?

how did you guys handle it if so?

 

[pelagicbeing]

i agree with Matu, plenty of water and particularly in the winter when the sea is pretty cold here in the UK, i always eat a couple of banana's which stops me getting cramp (something to do with potassium levels i believe), that and a softer fin.

pelagicbeing

 

[BennyB]

Hi Gooch,

I'm a newbie here also, and in Australia. I've just PM'd you about your experiences getting a mono in Oz - I'm trying to get one too.

Cheers,

Mark

If you guys are in the same area, why don't you do a bulk order. It's what we did in Sydney (3 monos from Waterways) and we saved quite a bit in postage.

Definitely not impossible from Australia but just do a bit of homework first. You see 2nd hand mono's pop into dive/spearfishing shops from time to time as well.

Cheers,
Ben

 

[Stanton Foster]

i agree with Matu, plenty of water and particularly in the winter when the sea is pretty cold here in the UK, i always eat a couple of banana's which stops me getting cramp (something to do with potassium levels i believe), that and a softer fin.

pelagicbeing

_________________________________________________________________

The bananas and plenty of water intake over the day are great. The full-proof surfer's secret is to add a calcium/magnesium tablet (morning & nite) to your diet. Your cramps will be a distant memory. Try it!

Stanton Foster
Santa Barbara

 

[demasoni]

I realize this is a bit late to respond to this thread, but to add my 2 cents, I recently got a Leaderfins Freediving mono with wings (soft stifness) with OMER full footpockets that I love to use in the ocean for CW.

I also have my buddy's FINIS Competitor (Waterway made blade-medium stiffness) with open heel pockets that IMO provides superior performance than the Leaderfins. However, I can only wear the FINIS for 20 min before the arches of my feet absolutely kill whereby the pain is extremely distracting and subtracts substantially my breathold ability.

I guess the point of my reply is that if I were to only do one max dive + warm-ups from a boat and then pack it up, I would use the FINIS. If I were swimming from shore I would drag my FINIS out to the dive site while swimming with some kind of bi-fins. Anything else, out comes the Leaderfins with full-footpockets; I would happily trade some performance for comfort.