Tails, Monofins, Drag and You

[Echidna]

Hello avid tailswimmers!

By now, I've swum in several different monofins, with or without tails, and I also swim underwater dolphin without any accoutrements.
While a monofin speeds me up, I don't feel that big a difference when swimming without one
unless it's a competitor.
However, I've noticed that wearing a tail slows me down very much, as opposed to just using a monofin, or even nothing if the tail monofin isn't that great.

So now I'm slower with a tail than without :/
Naturally, I don't like that.
I'm looking for solutions.
I think drag is the problem, and I don't understand how a close-fitting tail without any sidefins or dorsal can add so much drag I feel encumbered.

I tried swimming in my snaketail without the monofin in, and I hardly moved forward :p
Not fun.
Now, I know the snaketail is a bit longer than the usual mermaid tail, but the length is still modest.
I don't have fringes or cantilevered flukes on my tails, no trailing stuff, it's all pretty basic.

So where's that drag coming from? :(
Can it be because it's fabric (it's all bathing suit fabric though), thus soaking water and getting heavy?
Would I have less problems regarding this with latex or silicone?

I'm grateful for any input.

[Anahita]

Fabric would seem to be the culprit there. I think construction plays a bit of a role too. If you haven't done it already, I would try to open up the end of the snake-tail a bit more to let out the water that's getting trapped.

[Echidna]

The snaketails' ends are completely open, so water can flow freely through.
My fluked tails have flappers; none of them are completely closed.

Really curious now how different swimming in a latex or silicone tail would be.

[Anahita]

Weird... It really shouldn't be making it that hard to move in then. Although, I do know the difference between my old regular fabric vs. my old neoprene backed caulking tail was pretty noticeable... Even though I was using the same competitor monofin in them. The plain fabric definitely had drag, but not so much that I was having difficulty with it... I just couldn't act like a dolphin in it, lol. :(

Another thing maybe, once you're in the pool do you re-adjust the waistband? Maybe the fabric is creating some weird suction thing that's slowing you down. I know when I was on swim and water polo we used to adjust our swim suits once we got into the water because sometimes air got trapped in weird places. I'm not exactly sure if we adjusted for comfort or for hydrodynamics though.

[Mermaid Octavia]

That is very bizarre - I've done dolphin without anything, with the monofin and with my tail. My tail creates some drag but not enough to slow me down and I'm usually like a rocket in it. I wonder if, like Anahita, your tail has some weird air pockets or bits of drag? Usually you're supposed to be much faster in your tail than without it!

[Anahita]

It's definitely "bits of drag" on mine, lol. The fabric tail had a bunch of pretty flowy things on it. Which wouldn't matter, or even be noticeable I think for a regular/average swimmer; but for someone like me, who is used to darting around and moving very fast, ANY amount of drag is noticeable. I do move much faster in the monofin than without it, but the fabric tail is slower, which is very noticeable to me. Hopefully once I finish my molds and get the silicone tail out I won't have to deal with that amount drag anymore.

[Echidna]

It's definitely "bits of drag" on mine, lol. The fabric tail had a bunch of pretty flowy things on it. Which wouldn't matter, or even be noticeable I think for a regular/average swimmer; but for someone like me, who is used to darting around and moving very fast, ANY amount of drag is noticeable. I do move much faster in the monofin than without it, but the fabric tail is slower, which is very noticeable to me. Hopefully once I finish my molds and get the silicone tail out I won't have to deal with that amount drag anymore.

^^My feelings exactly.
I like swimming fast and fish-like, and I notice differences in speed/mobility keenly.

I'm still faster in a tail WITH a decent monofin than without anything.
Some of my monofins are really crappy though, so I'm not slower without any monofin or tail if one of those tails is the alternative.

The hardly-moving-forward thing happened when I swam in my tail with the monofin taken out xD

I'll try it again once I have some more muscle built up, but I'd really like a tail which speeds me up rather than slowing me down lol.

[Azurin Luna]

I've swam with my monofin alone, in a neoprene tail and in a fabric tail. My fabric tail is slower then my neopere tail, but I'm as fast in my neoprene tail as with monofin alone. I think that because there is more stretch in my fabric tail it creates more drag, because the fabric billows around my legs, even if the tail is a tight one. Water and currents do strange things on fabrics

[Sammi Ray]

Have you tried a belt round the top to stop the water from getting in too much?

[Echidna]

Have you tried a belt round the top to stop the water from getting in too much?

Actually, I'm always wearing a belt. The tail is really tight on top, though, so even without belt it shouldn't be an issue.
I think it's as Luna said; fabric just soaks and billows more than other materials, even neoprene.

Might make me reconsider my stance toward latex and silicone tails, they're surely less prone to drag.

[Sammi Ray]

Sorry i didn't see it in any of the pictures. Yeah the material is probably causing it. I'm making mine from neoprene and i'm probably going to have the same problem. Hope you manage to sort it soon.