Underwater dolphin kick

Misty Hyman was the first person I remember seeing kick this way..... JS....maybe if you had feet bigger than Samantha's it may actually help when you kicked!

I have always felt it was easier to kick on your side or kick on your back. Why it is easier than face down, I don't know. My dolphin kick still doesn't work :drown: , but I can think of a reason for the difference (in my case, maybe yours too?). On my stomach or back, I sometimes bend at the waist and not notice it (not very streamlined). On my side, since the balance is different, I do notice if I'm jackknifing.

Small hands.... small feet......... whatever....... it's the hip motion that counts........... i.e. for dolphin kick. John Smith

I feel faster on my back than belly but I think people get good at whatever they practice in longer kicking sets I prefer kicking on my side, arms by my side left arm down it actually feels funny when i kick on my side with my right arm down ande I noticed that Natalie Coughlin kicks underwater dolphin kick on her side for the 100m fly SCM recently. I have always felt it was easier to kick on your side or kick on your back. Why it is easier than face down, I don't know. Perhaps it is physics...... perhaps it's just my own inability. I didn't know it was legal to kick all the way on your side on fly. This sport has changed too much. There's too much "cheatin" going on now. I can't handle it..... :-) John Smith

I find it easier to kick on my stomach or slightly rotated on myside. I keep working on the kick on my back but it still isn't that good. When I rotate up on my side a bit, the underwater kick starts to get better for backstroke.

SDK on my back is by far the best technique I have. I think that it's to do with the head and gravity assisting the downward movement of the head (when on your back). You engage your abs to raise your head. When on your front you have to use the back muscles to lift the weight of the head. With my back issues this could be just something that I have found, but I think the abs and the body bend forward (contracting abs) easier than hyperextending--in a normally fit person. Do all work mindfully on the weak points. You have no excuse if even I SDK front, back, and sides! ;)

I've been told that elite swimmers kick on their sides on the push-off because that way you don't get waves reflected from the bottom of the pool. The idea is that in shallow pools, a wave from a dolphin kick gets bounced off the bottom back up to the swimmer, slowing them down. In deep pools, I don't see how this would matter. It's hard for me to see how it would matter even in shallow pools, but then again I'm not at Natalie's level.

Easier for me on my stomach or side. But I'm working on my back SDKs. Not bad on the start; turns need improvement. Questions: 1. Is there any physical trait which predisposes someone to be good at SDK-ing? 2. Is SDK-ing really "in" as I saw someone mention in another thread? Aside from the super elite USS swimmers and some other exceptions, I don't see that many masters or age groupers SDK-ing. 3. How can you improve your SDKs off the turns as a race goes on? Is this just practice? How much SDK-ing is ideal to avoid oxygen debt? I guess this must be an individual thing ... 4. Is there anyone besides Ande SDK-ing say, more than 2x or so, on their back or side off freestyle turns?

I've been trying to work it into my swims. I think it helped a lot when I did the 10k postal swim. A couple kicks off each wall and I was well past the backstroke flags by the time I took my first breath. I think it probably saved me a stroke or two on each 50m. It didn't seem to help me so much with my 3000 and 6000 postals (swum SCY). I used it on my 3000 and felt pretty ragged the entire time, never really caught my breath. A week later I did the 6000 and dropped the SDK midway through the swim (again, feeling a bit ragged around 2500-3000 yds). I just couldn't recover completely from the little bit of added hypoxia before it was time to make the next turn. This wasn't a problem swimming long course. Skip Montanaro

My SDK is better on my back but I have been working on it on my stomach a lot recently and noticed improvement. I TRY to take at least 3 SDKs off of every wall. I'm working up to 5 and eventually 8 or so. For me personally I SDK faster than I swim and since I sprint I don't need to worry too much about oxygen debt. I have been working on doing one SDK on my back then rotating to my side to SDK and finally my stomach. This is obviously for free only. For fly I usually SDK on my side a bit first. I BELIEVE that you can SDK on your side as long as you aren't rotated past vertical - i.e., your shoulder cannot be perpendicular (90 degrees) completely to the water.