This may be controversial but is SDK really mandatory for fast freestyle?
Don't see much of it here, it looks like they wan't to surface ASAP:
www.youtube.com/watch
I know proponents will link to Phelps' 200 WR, but other than that, I don't see many people exploiting it.
Will we see huge SDK in freestyle at the upcoming Olympics?
I don't fly because of my back, so my SDK in freestyle is minimal. I'd like to think I don't need it.
I'm keen to watch for it in elite freestyle races and it is a mixed bag. Many are fast without a big prolonged SDK.
Parents
Former Member
Interesting topic. SDKs are beneficial to good dolphin kickers, and I think they are beneficial in freestyle events. I've seen a lot of people who aren't good dolphin kickers attempting SDKs in freestyle. It doesn't appear to make them go faster, especially if the amplitude of the body dolphin and kick is too wide and the kick tempo too slow.
In that regard, if I was teaching the technique I might call it SASDK, small-amplitude streamlined dolphin kick...and I'd teach it using fins for kicking and swimming, progressing from long fins to shorter ones gradually over a period of months. If doing dryland to build strength for SDKs, it'd be all about the core.
Interesting topic. SDKs are beneficial to good dolphin kickers, and I think they are beneficial in freestyle events. I've seen a lot of people who aren't good dolphin kickers attempting SDKs in freestyle. It doesn't appear to make them go faster, especially if the amplitude of the body dolphin and kick is too wide and the kick tempo too slow.
In that regard, if I was teaching the technique I might call it SASDK, small-amplitude streamlined dolphin kick...and I'd teach it using fins for kicking and swimming, progressing from long fins to shorter ones gradually over a period of months. If doing dryland to build strength for SDKs, it'd be all about the core.
