I was reading the rules and need to know what type of kick you can use of the start and the turns. The rules are not that clear.
btw, i swam my first meet in 13 years on Sunday. had serious case of the buterflies but all that left when I was on the block of my first race. did better than I expected.
When I went to a swim camp a lotta years ago. Misty Hyman was just starting out that dolphin kick on her side (what pretty much made her famous). We were watching her do it I told myself I would try that in my next meet. It's totally awesome. Till they put that ban on it (the same in backstroke) where you could only go so far down the pool before you had to come up. That is the fastest kick I've ever had. Even faster than my flutter kick. Might play around with that one. Just takes a lot of lung capacity. It's fun too cause you can see all these people behind you doing the whole stroke and it's just funny.
Kelli,
What type of kick you can use at the start and turns depends on what stroke you are doing.
If you are doing breaststroke you must use the breaststroke kick in a particular order to the arm stroke. If you are doing butterfly you must use the butterfly kick- as many as you want before, during, or after the stroke.
Backstroke has no particular kick nor does freestyle and you may do what ever you wish.
After the start and after each turn, only one breaststroke kick is allowed prior to the arm pull that brings the swimmer to the surface. You can do as many dolphin kicks as you want, provided you come up before the 15 meter mark.
I have found that dolphin kicking on my side or back is faster. When I kick on my stomach, the natural lifting action of the dolphin kick combined with normal buoyancy brings me to the surface unless I’m in a down angle position. However, for butterfly, your shoulders must be at or past the vertical toward the *** off after the start and turn, so no kicking on your back and kick on your side at your own risk.
Originally posted by Scansy
Is the dolphin kick on the side faster than on the stomach? What about on the back?
I think the theory is the standard up-and-down kick sends more wave action against the bottom of the pool, so kicking on your side is slightly faster.
For Butterfly, you can use either dolphin or breaststroke kicks off the wall.
Can you really use breaststroke kick off the wall in Butterfly? I know there was some debate on this a while back.
Michael
Look to the 2004 United States Masters Swimming Code Of Regulations And Rules Of Competition, rule no. 101.3.3 regarding the butterfly kick:
"All up and down movements of the legs and feet must be simultaneous. The position of the legs or the feet need not be on the same level, but they shall not alternate in relation to one another. The breaststroke or whip kick may be used exclusively or interchangeably with the dolphin kick while doing the butterfly stroke at any time during the race. However, when the breaststroke or whip kick is used, the arms must be recovered over the top of the water with each breaststroke or whip kick, except after the last such kick before the turn or finish. A scissors kicking movement is not permittted."
carl
I might add that a solid body-dolphin (admittedly a horizontal one, not a vertical) is at the core of an effective butterfly. At the risk of becoming a broken record, to read more about it, go to www.h2oustonswims.org and in the "Articles" section there are two excellent pieces by Emmett Hines "Slip Slid'n' Away" and "Vive le Papillon."
Shakey, I hear you on people who push the rules. The real irony is that the butterfly itself was created in reaction to a breaststroker who noticed that the rules as they then existed permitted arm recovery over the water. The traditionalists howled in protest, and much to the surprise of everyone, the committee/compromise solution ended up being a creative win/win proposition. We got a new stroke--the fly-- and a rewrite the rules to maintain breaststroke in the form we all know and love.
BTW, I was also astounded to hear a breaststroke kick is permitted off of a turn in fly. I would have bet any amount of money that was not the case.
Matt
