The Official Underwater Tricks Thread!

[malinghi]

Jesse, that looks awesome. what's the bottom of the spring like? It looks smooth. Is it sandy or rocky?

[Thalassa]

Anybody know what Melissa's doing with her fingers in these pictures? It's from moment 3:31 in this video, where she's blowing bubble rings. It looks like she's plugging her nose or using her fingers to shape the bubble (because her hand seems to be right in front of her mouth?), but I can't tell which.

[Mermaid Jewel]

She's probably plugging her nose. I do the same thing when I do them, because I can't do the thing where you block off your nose ^.^ It's kinda hard though cause you have to be careful your hand doesn't break up your bubble ring!

[Thalassa]

Any tips on how to do that, Jewel? Do you blow your bubble ring around it somehow or do you sort of position your hand out of the way? I'm looking for as many options as possible to address the nose discomfort issue. XD

[Raayvhen]

So weird question, is it easy to stay above water in a tail?

[Ilonka]

So weird question, is it easy to stay above water in a tail?

My tail floats so for me its too easy. But I can stay above water easily without a tail and with a monofin on with ease, you just have to know how to do it. It's impossible for allot of people.

[Lyna]

i can't wait to get to a place with calm water to try this!

[Lyna]

ok so yay! got in the water today in my tail! in a pool i should say...first time in a pool in a decade. (only have rivers and falls and lakes with crazy waves here) i tried bubbles rings and melissa's hearts....problem is...my husband couldnt get at any angle to see what i was doing with the hearts. and the bubble rings...i'm not sure what happened there. i was laying on my back underwater and i could easily release one very large bubble at a t ime..and i could clearly underwater see the individual bubble rise. and to me, it looked like a ring...but maybe it was such a clear sphere the edges looked...idk. because the husband just kept saying all he saw was a bunch of bubbles breaking the surface. i wish i had someone to stand over directly down and snap photos or video so i could see what it looked like from the surface and alter my technique accordingly.

[Winged Mermaid]

It helps to have goggles or a mask so you can see if you're doing it right while you practice. I use a nose plug too. The good rings are the ones that stay rings until they burst in a ring shape on the surface. The weaker ones are obviously rings when they start but they don't have enough air so they break into a bunch of bubbles and kind of disintegrate before they hit the surface.

[Mermaid Crystal]

I will try to do bubble rings next time i swim

[Mermaid Kassandra]

Hi I have some question to ask about tricks....
I practise underwater in the sea without monofins and other things I only use goggles, but I can't manage to plug my nose (I mean wothout plugging the nose with your fingers or other things) while swimming on my back and I can't lay on the backdrop so I wonder if someone can suggest me some exercice to improve my skills.

What's more when I try do do a bubble heart kiss I notice that the central part of the heart (the one that is similar to a "V") seems not to exist, I mean that only the rest of the heart is visible and I don't understand why....
Talking about bubble rings I can do them but they seems to be formed by a group of little bubbles not only a single bubble ring-shaped what can I do for that?

This is the last question I promise!
What can I do to improve my ability to hold my breath?There are some exercice to do or I only need to practise and try to hold my breath each time more and more until I manage to stay for a long time swimming without getting out to breath?

[Winged Mermaid]

Only having half the heart (lower half) means that you're not using enough air for it, and/or you're not doing the shaping motion quick enough. It needs to be a very quick fluid motion. You may want to try and practice that out of water to build muscle memory.

The bubble ring issue can be from a lot of things. Not shaping the ring right can be one of them, the other is the amount of air that goes into it. Not only too little air but too much air can make it multiple bubbles instead of one. You really have to toy with it to find out what a "good" bubble ring feels like in terms of what you do with your mouth and how much air it takes. All I can say is keep practicing. If something isn't working, tweak it and try again. My problem with bubble rings is that I tend to over think and try and do too much with my lips to form it, when it's really more of a tongue thing. I've also noticed if I tilt my head backwards a little it helps with the shape, maybe because it comes out more horizontal. Also moving water can mess with them, which is why mers who do it either do it in pools or tanks or in deeper ocean water.

With breath hold a lot of it is just practice, practice, practice. Dry land (or "static" breath holds, meaning not under the water) practice. Just be sure to rest at least as long if not long then your breath hold. The other part is exercise, cardio to be specific. People who are serious about things like freediving and other breath holding work out a lot, and it pays off. Other than that, you can google breath holding freediving techniques and it'll give you loads to look through.

[Mermaid Kassandra]

Thank you very much Wingéd Mermaid! This afternoon I'll practice again with bubble rings and bubble heart kisses

What I can do to learn how to lay on the backdrop?I saw lots of mermaids doing this but I can't.....it's like I'm a hot air balloon when I try to do it

[Winged Mermaid]

Ilonka gave a tip on getting to lay on the bottom on the first page of this thread. Beyond expelling all of the air in your lungs to help you sink, I don't know much. Some people are floaters, some people are sinkers, some people can do either but they have to work at both. It's just a matter of body types. Generally the people who sink better are all muscle and very little fat, so really athletic people. Being thin isn't enough, the muscle weight is what makes you sink. There are a lot of mers who have issues sinking. Some get weight belts to help with this. Some even decorate the weight belts to make them look mermaidy! Such as the ones Neriene sells.

[Mermaid Kassandra]

Oh they look wonderful!!!

I have another question that came out watching at the photos posted at the top of this threaad and in the first one there is a mermaid doing a bubble kiss...
now my question is: it looks like a bubble ring kiss do anyone know how to do it? Or it's just a bubble kiss that seems to be a ring?

[Winged Mermaid]

It is a bubble ring kiss! You can see a video of Raven doing one in this video at ) 00:15 seconds in.



My guess would be I'd be like mixing a bubble ring and a blow kiss. You'd need extra air and force of the hand movement to get the kiss "out" though. That's only a guess though!

[Mermaid Kassandra]

It's magnificent! I'll try it when I go to my next training session

Wingéd Mermaid thak you very much for all your advices and your kindness!!

[MermaidAqua]

I followed Mermaid Sirena's advice and found an easy way of knowing when you do it right! When you blow bubble normally you can usually hear the ripples it creates when you blow a bubble ring correctly I find that you can physically hear the THUMP sound when you blow it, I hope this helps. I used these tips to teach my little sister, and now shes super confident in the water and loves doing tricks!

[AniaR]

I can do bubble rings and bubble hearts and bubble kisses. I dont find I need to plug my nose unless I lay on my back which I don't do very often anyway because it bothers my ears for some reason. I have yet to get a descent photo doing it- but someone who's GREAT at that stuff is Star

[Mermaid Wesley]

for bubble rings I got them right away! I think i use my tongue to make the hole.... lol maybe no tho i imagine making room for a doughnut at the front of my mouth and then kinda PUSH the air out... i can do pretty big ones now! thats what happens when you slack at swim practice! haha