Stupid Question:
Why is it more difficult to do dolphin kick on your stomach underwater than on your back underwater?
It seems that I can kick easier, faster and longer on my back than I can on my stomach.
Is this a matter of biomechanics or am I just a loser who can't do fly kick very well on his stomach underwater?
John Smith
Just a guess.........could it be that we have a natural arch in our back that causes our heads to be back slightly, and therefore, 'pushes' us naturally toward the bottom. When you are on your back, this 'natural' push toward the bottom might eliminate the need to 'drive body position downward' as you do on your stomach, and free up some core muscles, making the kick stronger and more efficient on your back.
I'm interested in this question too. If the above hypothesis is correct then maybe underwater streamline head/arm position should be slightly more down than straight ahead. Has anyone ever looked at videos for the head/arm position of olympic swimmers when they are doing underwater dolfin?
Lainey
I've noticed the same thing in my dolphin kicks as well.
Body position sounds like a good theory.
I actually thought about this at length one session when I was working on backstroke and doing a lot of dolphin kicks in a long set.
Looking at the ceiling of the gym from underwater I wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that when on your stomach your are pushing a great deal of water against the bottom of the pool, whereas while on your back you push it to the surface where it levels out.
When I'm doing dolphins on my back I like to see the trail of water I'm leaving at the surface. Being submerged 2 feet and still disrupting th esurface just seems cool.
Here is my two cents. BTW, sorry for my awkward English
Let's assume you kick both ways with your body perfectly streamlined, the down beat will provide a force from water which makes your body move slightly vertically.
Since the down beat in the face up situation is toward the surface, it causes you to move to the bottom; while in the face down situation, it causes you to move to the surface.
However don't forget your natural buoy. For most people the natural buoy tends to move them to the surface.
So in the face up situation, this buocy force offset the force coming from your down beat, which makes it easier for you to keep moving hrozontally and streamlined at the same time.
While in the face down situation, this buocy force makes things worse. To keep moving horizontally, you actually have to sacrfice some streamline.
I took a look at the video, but they don't really explain my question as to why one way feels so much easier than the other way. Fireguard may be onto something though.
I have a theory...... if you look at the kick action in these videos it is predominantly forward in front of the bodyline. That is.... the kick extension is mostly in front of the body and not much hamstring action on the back swing behind the body. If you are trying to drive your body position downward underwater it would seem to be easier to be on you back as this forward leg action of the kick would be more complimentary to driving your body position downward.... all with less effort from the quads.
Now, if you flip over on your stomach and kick, you need to drive the body downward with more hamstring motion and the kick action requires more flex and follow through behind your body. It's seems harder to extend your leg far behind you on the back swing than it is to drive you leg forward in front of you with your quads.
Just a thought.
John Smith
