Quote:
Originally Posted by BentFishBoy 
Design end? Are you Mad???? Ala's are a shabby design that's 20 years old, the only reason anybody thinks they're any good at all is because they're the only fin in the last 20 years made of rubber that was designed to go fast. Before they realised that all divers are fat and slow and only want to wander around the bottom for no energy expenditure whatsoever... One day fins designed explicitly for hockey will make us all realise how shabby the humble Ala has always been. sigh...
B |
Hmmm, strange... I found ALA to be moderately fast fin at best, and its not their main feature at all. I doubt they were ever designed for scuba, skin diving is more likely. Manuverabillity is the prominent factor, and ala's have very good start acceleration in the first two-three kicks, but lacks the stiffness - material hardyness - when it comes to full-end speed. Also the design of the foot is, at leats in my case, one of the better ones. It connects good with my feet, though far from perfect. Ala's beeing all-rubber fins are very friendly towards other players. Having said that, there is a room for improvement for sure. But the main design features of ala's, in my view, are a must. I know that ala's are 20++ year old design, but well thought over. The fact is, that ala's are the mainstream fins in UWH and UWR.
I personally think that carbon, fiberglass or vitroplast fins are a fetish, at least the way they are beeing used in todays designs. They tend to have just one prominent factor depending for their use - Specific kick performance, that in UWH is all but specific, throwing away with the rest of the good factors in fin design. Who knows, maybe at some point in the future, our decendants will use monofin design for UWH play. The way that the play is progressing, I wouldnt just throw away this possibillity.
But hey, I've been known here to have some "strange" ideas about UWH, now havent I?
