dolphin kick

Originally posted by LindsayNB it seems to me that the underwater dolphin kicking one does off the wall is different from the full body dolphin motion one does during full stroke butterfly. Watching underwater dolphin kicking at the start and turns it is pretty clear it is not initiated at the shoulder or chest. The frequency of the off the wall dolphin kick is also far higher than one could possibly using during surface butterfly. I agree. When I'm dolphin kicking after a start or turn, I think about moving my belly button up and down instead of pressing my chest. I am also not comfortable with an explanation of dolphin kicking that can only apply to one-kick butterfly. In a two kick style the upper body and lower body are moving with two different frequencies. Not only that, but if you watch a one kick style swimmer like Thorpe or Esposito the timing of the kick does not fit the wave moving down the body model. When I observe underwater butterfly video I see a downward movement of the chest and legs which raises the hips. This is common to one kick or two kick butterfly, the basic difference between the two is that in one kick style the swimmer simply drags their body and legs during the pull while the two kick swimmer does a dolphin kick during the pull. It is this second kick which follows the moving wave model. There is more than one two-kick style, but the most common that I've seen in recent years alternates a small kick with a grand kick. The grand kick is the one that arises out of the body dolphin. I actually believe that the function of the small kick may be to help get the ankles and feet back up to the surface, since the water obviously isn't going to push them back up, as it does with your chest. The other thing I find problematic with the snake moving through the water analogy is the inability of the human lower body to bend in both directions (i.e. the knees only bend in one direction). Obviously, the legs are not going to perfectly "snake".

Originally posted by LindsayNB it seems to me that the underwater dolphin kicking one does off the wall is different from the full body dolphin motion one does during full stroke butterfly. Watching underwater dolphin kicking at the start and turns it is pretty clear it is not initiated at the shoulder or chest. The frequency of the off the wall dolphin kick is also far higher than one could possibly using during surface butterfly. I agree. When I'm dolphin kicking after a start or turn, I think about moving my belly button up and down instead of pressing my chest. I am also not comfortable with an explanation of dolphin kicking that can only apply to one-kick butterfly. In a two kick style the upper body and lower body are moving with two different frequencies. Not only that, but if you watch a one kick style swimmer like Thorpe or Esposito the timing of the kick does not fit the wave moving down the body model. When I observe underwater butterfly video I see a downward movement of the chest and legs which raises the hips. This is common to one kick or two kick butterfly, the basic difference between the two is that in one kick style the swimmer simply drags their body and legs during the pull while the two kick swimmer does a dolphin kick during the pull. It is this second kick which follows the moving wave model. There is more than one two-kick style, but the most common that I've seen in recent years alternates a small kick with a grand kick. The grand kick is the one that arises out of the body dolphin. I actually believe that the function of the small kick may be to help get the ankles and feet back up to the surface, since the water obviously isn't going to push them back up, as it does with your chest. The other thing I find problematic with the snake moving through the water analogy is the inability of the human lower body to bend in both directions (i.e. the knees only bend in one direction). Obviously, the legs are not going to perfectly "snake".