Small fin monofin training?

[Simos]

I recently had to buy a pair of Speedo BioFuse fins as they were the only type of fins they'd allow me to wear in our local pool. :-(

BioFUSE Training Fin - Buy Online at Speedo.co.uk

They are actually hard work and the feeling is different than other swimming fins like Cressi so not sure if working on dolphin kick with them on will help or whether I'll end up with even worse technique.

They seem to give little propulsion and are quite heavy. Surprisingly (because my dolphin kick is bad!) I could move at a decent pace in them underwater but not sure if it's because I was kicking with the knees.

Anyone had experience in training with these or similar fins?

 

[chrissie]

iv used fins simalar to these when swiming traning, and still use some now, there disigned as a tranning aid for swimmers, so work well with shallow fast kicks not deep that you would tend to use for diving.

theres nothing to stop you using them with a dolphin kick i find mine quite helpfull but that could be as im used to them, you just have to rember when kicking to make the kick come from the hip not from you knees, with dolphin the bend in the knee should be slight and a follow through from the hip movment. if it helps i can look though a teaching note book on dolphin leg work

hope it helps

 

[Simos]

Thanks Chrissie - I've used small fins (slightly bigger) for a while (and very often at freediving training) but never got a decent dolphin kick.

The consensus seemed to be that they do teach a much shallower/frequent kick - which is true but then again, when I saw swimmers with a great swimming dolphin kick that came to our club they had no problem whatsoever to adapt to a monofin with really good technique, so my conclusion is that I doubt the small fins are the main issue with my lack of technique improvement.

Having said that, rubber fins would have been best but they're not allowed in the pool so I guess it's these fins or nothing.

Do you have a swimming background? Did you find it easy to adapt your dolphin kick for mono?

 

[chrissie]

yes i used to swim, and im lucky to have a good strong dolphin action, however iv not actually had the chance with a mono yet…..…… my first ** free diving course was in the summer and only had bi’s available to use and we found that even with them a scissor kick just did not work for me I struggled to get over 30m in the pool so dolphin it is for me I just need to glide a little more



I think one of the ways to do it is to slight Over-exaggerate the action with a slight flick at the knees keeping it slow yet still powerful and getting used to that action. but like I said iv not actually had the chance with a mono just my smaller scuba ones and my old short training fins, im looking at getting a mono soon and will have to sweet talk my leisure centrein to lettign my try

 

[Simos]

Make sure you have a buddy in the water, lifeguards are not really proper safety for freediving... If you used to swim you'll find the mono ok, it does take a bit of getting used to though...

Is there a club you can join? I think it's worth trying other monofins first before getting your own. Apart from getting the right fin, even footpocket size you need to get a feel for I think...

 

[chrissie]

yes of coures, i have a friend whos been told waht to do that comes with me.

as for a club all my nearest ones are 2 hours drive in every direction i think, theres not much about oxford unfornatually, so i think its good old butterfly traning for now and to keep asking

 

[growingupninja]

I think you would definitely see monofin benefit from training dolphin with swim-stubby fins (or even no fins)--in many respects they are harder to work with and if you can get them going then adapting to a mono should be pretty easy. I don't own a mono but train dolphin kick frequently in my spearing fins, and when I have the opportunity to try somebody's mono it doesn't usually take long to figure out the quirks of their mono... Butterfly was my stroke way back when though so that doesn't hurt

One thing that swimmers who come to dolphin kick without ever using fins vs freedivers who start out on monofins seem to have learned is that the kick should really snap through/accelerate all the way through to the feet. With larger surface area (mono or longfins) this is much less necessary, and may even be counterproductive. But without fins you won't really go anywhere if you don't snap the kick through... in my opinion if you are used to kicking this way, when you strap on the mono it is very easy to tone it down, but if you are not used to kicking this way it may require some relearning.

Also, in my experience bi-fins do not allow you to glide anywhere near as effectively as with a good mono, and shorter the fins are the less effective the glide becomes.

Do you train for core strength, Simos? I don't think a nice dolphin kick is possible without a strong core...

 

[Simos]

I think you would definitely see monofin benefit from training dolphin with swim-stubby fins (or even no fins)--in many respects they are harder to work with and if you can get them going then adapting to a mono should be pretty easy. I don't own a mono but train dolphin kick frequently in my spearing fins, and when I have the opportunity to try somebody's mono it doesn't usually take long to figure out the quirks of their mono... Butterfly was my stroke way back when though so that doesn't hurt

One thing that swimmers who come to dolphin kick without ever using fins vs freedivers who start out on monofins seem to have learned is that the kick should really snap through/accelerate all the way through to the feet. With larger surface area (mono or longfins) this is much less necessary, and may even be counterproductive. But without fins you won't really go anywhere if you don't snap the kick through... in my opinion if you are used to kicking this way, when you strap on the mono it is very easy to tone it down, but if you are not used to kicking this way it may require some relearning.

Also, in my experience bi-fins do not allow you to glide anywhere near as effectively as with a good mono, and shorter the fins are the less effective the glide becomes.

Do you train for core strength, Simos? I don't think a nice dolphin kick is possible without a strong core...

Thanks for the advice - makes sense. I don't do any special core training (well climbing does help I guess but not doing much at the moment).

Oddly (or not) with the small fins I felt I had to kick more and work my core more to move but I need to video myself or something to see exactly what I am doing.

Although longer rubber fins are better in many ways, I did also find that you can get lazier with longer fins and get propulsion with little core movement. My lack of technique shows when I dolphin kick with no fins and I go nowhere.

I think spine flexibility is an even bigger problem with me and not sure to what degree it can be corrected but it's fun trying anyway

 

[growingupninja]

Thanks for the advice - makes sense. I don't do any special core training (well climbing does help I guess but not doing much at the moment).

Oddly (or not) with the small fins I felt I had to kick more and work my core more to move but I need to video myself or something to see exactly what I am doing.

Although longer rubber fins are better in many ways, I did also find that you can get lazier with longer fins and get propulsion with little core movement. My lack of technique shows when I dolphin kick with no fins and I go nowhere.

I think spine flexibility is an even bigger problem with me and not sure to what degree it can be corrected but it's fun trying anyway

Yeah, I'd try to build core strength. Besides obviously swimming full stroke butterfly, kettlebells are terrific for that as well as gymnastics, dance, martial arts... Might be good to work on your dolphin with shorter fins/no fins+kickboard. For spine flexibility/strength my swim coaches used to make me do a lot of Roman chair exercises since really you need functional strength at your limit flexibility for a great dolphin kick, so if you work on a Roman chair and then do stretches afterwards you will probably see faster gains. Stretching and yoga might be necessary to work up to Roman chair exercises.