Fiberglass Hockey Fins

Yes Tuck, sure I used monofins. Not to push the puck though, but I have no doubt that its possible to do it much faster than with bi-fins. I do a lot of monostyle with puck and bi-fins... there's difference in stabillity as is also with higher speeds using monofin vs bi-fin. For uwh monofin, there should be some vertical stabilisers on them, but the rest should be in the hands of person using and training with them, to get it right. The stabillity of a monofin is surely a consern here! Also the abillity to push&control the puck on the stick at those speeds is a potential problem.

You know, when I saw the 2 meter long flick for the first time, I asked the guy: Can you teach me this trick you did with a puck?... His answer was: What trick? I havent done any...?

Again, only tests will tell the story. For the right results, the tester should use monofin for short distances. They are smaller and tougher than what you might be using now... also the stabillity issues are going down, as the speed gets up.

Gear drag is important when entering the speeds of the monofins. Drag goes up exponentially with higher speeds.

Sorry Flk, you're right. Not sure why, maybe it's the good crack I've been using in getting ready for World's, but I missed that you said quattros and somehow put freedive's 1.5 second reference into your post and the closest I saw was the mono vs the games. But now that it's worn off and I'm seeing clearly I would suggest that you don't compare using a silicon cap and googles to full hockey gear.

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Just in case you weren't sure, it's official -- CMAS sucks.
Oh yeah, and now they're broke.

can someone who has used monofins a lot tell us, is it possible to swim sideways with monofins? is it necessary to turn sideways to get a big dolphin kick going while close to the tiles in order to avoid cramping the stroke against the bottom and banging your knees?

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it's more polite on the grating than on the subs bench

No problem Duck... easy on that crack, dude

Atapene... tommorow I'll be able to answer it for you. Its time I put on monofin again. I'll test radius swimming, near bottom sprints with puck, and If I'll have enough time, I'll test 25 with puck&mono compared to 25 with puck&black alas. My technique is far from perfect since its been 10 years since my last finswimming session, so any timeings I'll do, will be with large margin on the side of alas, and not mono's. But for refference it will do!

The way you ask the question the answer is yes. If you get rid of the close to the tiles, or assume that it just means in reach of the bottom, the answer is no. I rarely dolphin so I can't give you much from my personal experience except that I have seen many deep dolphin kickers move the puck nicely from a bit higher up the water column. You just need to bend a bit more at the waist and your kick will want to push you down so you have to resist that.

To work on it, start slow and really focus on the feel of your body. The kick will be a bit different than a regular dolphin since you are bent a bit more to begin with. You won't have the same range of motion extending up into your rib cage so your kick will be more from the waist down. You still want to keep your head and shoulders still. It should take time to make the adjustment and get the feel of it so keep working on it.

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Just in case you weren't sure, it's official -- CMAS sucks.
Oh yeah, and now they're broke.

Yes, you can swim sideways. However you're probably still slightly better off in the normal position. In reality, I swim my dynamics with mono about 30cm from the bottom with no problems with cramped stroke.

About my new fins, the process of tooling for new fin has been hard to make, to say the least. It took me 3 months, and some 20 tools after, I'm about to make the real thing. Unfortunatly, I will not be able to send the test fins before Durban or Istanbul, as the prototype fin will only come out just before the tournaments. That aside, I'll send the test fins as I promised to those I did.

When I make the prototype fin, I'll let you know in a new topic together with pictures.

Just got myself an extra hard pair of these

LeaderFins.com

I think they will snap my legs

Extra hard? What possessed you?!?

I'm probably ordering a pair of mediums with seatec footpockets. I take it you have the standard Omer pockets?

Yea, I thought there would be a bit more flex in them but they are like 2 steel plates First test run tomorrow, expecting my feet or legs to cramp up in 10 minutes haha.

I have a high bridge on my feet and the Omer footpockets actually feel really comfy so I shall see happens tomorrow.