The SDK Lane

Doing only 8 25's SDK a week is probably not enough to improve ...its all al matter of perspective really - starting from nothing actually completing all 8 is a definite improvement. Next step is speeding them up. And as I'm only in the pool 2 x per week I guess I can say I do SDKs in half my practices :D Next week I'm going to do some for time on my side - hopefully they'll be faster - they certainly feel faster off a turn.

Nick Thoman on SDKs: YouTube - Underwater Backstroke Kick with David Marsh and Nick Thoman

So with fins on my side 17 sec for the 25 vs 18 on my front. Without fins, I couldn't make the length sideways, not through lack of air - I just popped up to the surface at about 18-20 yds. Still a long way to go......

Any other SDK tips for younger swimmers? My 8 year old son LOVES to dolphin and uses it to his advantage in meets, typically gaining a body length or more on breakout, especially backstroke. He can easily dolphin underwater for 25 yards (timed him at about 15 seconds a few weeks ago). But it seems very few of his peers use SDK at all. He really wants advice, but I'm a latecomer to swimming and definitely not good at dolphining. His coaches, while recognizing that he is very good at it, don't really work on underwater swimming much at his age. I always tell him to just listen to his coaches. They did tell him to work on SDKing longer on each turn. Any other suggestions I can pass on?

SDK tips for younger swimmers SDK is Streamline Dolphin Kick, some call them underwaters. It's a fast fun way to move through the pool SDK is PLAY, have fun Push off the wall as hard as you can Streamline as skinny as you can Dolphin kick Perfect your technique and timing ask your coach to time you for 15 meters and 25 yards or meters Count your kicks, figure out how many kicks you should do in each of your races. Pretend you're a dolphin SDK in every practice whether your coach tells you to or not SDK on your belly, side, & back Become so great at it that you use it in your races and it helps you swim faster. WATCH videos of the best swimmers in the world and copy them. I'll post some links How many SDKs can you do before you run out of air? How far can you go? How fast can you go? SDK IS FUN! Any other SDK tips for younger swimmers? My 8 year old son LOVES to dolphin and uses it to his advantage in meets, typically gaining a body length or more on breakout, especially backstroke. He can easily dolphin underwater for 25 yards (timed him at about 15 seconds a few weeks ago). But it seems very few of his peers use SDK at all. He really wants advice, but I'm a latecomer to swimming and definitely not good at dolphining. His coaches, while recognizing that he is very good at it, don't really work on underwater swimming much at his age. I always tell him to just listen to his coaches. They did tell him to work on SDKing longer on each turn. Any other suggestions I can pass on?

Thanks Ande, those are great! I'll pass them on. Here's a short clip of him: YouTube - 25 yard underwater dolphin kicking He loves it, and says he feels like a dolphin! I'm trying to use SDK more in my swimming.

looks great suggest you shoot him with an underwater camera here's some youtubes for him to watch YouTube - 100m Butterfly, 13th FINA Championships in Rome, Phelps, Cavic, Munoz race begins around 3:00 in YouTube - Michael Phelps turn YouTube - Michael Phelps freestyle multi angle camera Hill Taylor 23.10 LCM SDK YouTube - Phelps Rallies Past Crocker in 100-fly YouTube - Backstroke - Underwater Dolphin - Size Thanks Ande, those are great! I'll pass them on. Here's a short clip of him: YouTube - 25 yard underwater dolphin kicking He loves it, and says he feels like a dolphin! I'm trying to use SDK more in my swimming.

So with fins on my side 17 sec for the 25 vs 18 on my front... Seems like we are at similar stages of SDK development. I'm curious; what is your time, on your front, with no fins? I was at :25 today. Took 30 kicks. I did another in 27 kicks, but forgot to time it. Are you using SDK in races yet?

First the good news. Today I went a full 25 SDK in :25 on 30 kicks. (My lowest kick count ever is 27, but I think it was slower.) When I first completed a full 25 about 6 weeks ago it took me 40 kicks. That's progress! I have also been timing 10 yd SKDs, (when I can find someone to time me). I am more than a full second faster than I was several months ago. I like that trend. In comparison, however, I can flutter kick a 25 in :19. (Probably faster actually, I haven't tested that in a few months because I have been working on other things.) This suggests that my flutter kick is faster than my SDK. So I did some testing. I was swimming repeat 100s backstroke, using 3 SDK per wall. After doing 7 with very consistent times, I decided to push it harder. #8 was 2s faster, and I noticed that I didn't use 3 SDk on every turn. I thought, "that's interesting, I will do only 1 or 2 SDK off each wall and see what happens". #9 was another 1s faster. I decided to skip the SDKs entirely on the last one. #10 was 2s faster yet. Today was my second day back in the pool after much more of a break than I planned, owing to a head cold, so maybe this isn't great data, but it strongly suggests that I should not be doing SDK in races yet (except possibly on the start, I think they are a little effective on my start). Back to the pool tomorrow...

Ande, thanks for taking the time to comment. You ask: Hey Karl, congrats on improving your SDK kick count for your 25 how did you start? from a push or dive? what sort of suit did you wear? How much did you rest before testing it? All my tests were from a push. I wear a Speedo endurance brief. All the SDK tests are at the end of practice. The only time I did it rested was the very first time that I actually completed a full 25 SDK, about 6 weeks ago. I wore a jammer that day too. if you SDK a 25 yards in 25 seconds with 30 kicks, you have some efficiency issues I think Chris Stevenson & I do 18 - 20 kicks in a 25 at race pace. Chris mentioned that too. I have been, and will continue, working on DPK Right now your flutter kick is much faster than your SDK Sight unseen I can't really tell you what your SDK technique issues are or give you suggestions on how to fix them other than: + keep doing fast 15 & 25 SDK's with lots of rest to see if you can improve your speed TEST with REST OK, I see that I should test rested some times. I'll probably keep testing 10 & 25 SDKs. 10, because that is the distance I have been testing for several months now so I can compare and see improvement. It also seems like a good goal distance for racing. 15 yds SDK in a race is pretty unimaginable to me just now. + do small amplitude SDKs (too much knee bend might be slowing you down) + increase your frequency ... + stretch your feet & ankles to improve your effortless toe point, + do DPK SDKs where you focus on efficiency & exaggerate your glide, find out how few kicks it takes you to SDK across the pool + how's your pushoff & your streamline PUSH OFF HARD STREAMLINE SKINNY + remember SFF Tip 165 Build a Better Boat ONLY SDK in RACES if IT'S FASTER & a better use of your energy. Thanks for the tips. One interesting thing, every now and then my SDK will seem to hit some "magic spot" and I go shooting down the pool for several kicks. I'm trying to figure out what happens when I get these (very occasional) "magic" events. I am pretty sure kick amplitude and frequency have something to do with it. It's like I occasionally "hit" the perfect combination. Oh, another odd thing. These "magic" events only happen on my back, but my SDK is faster on my front. I've tested that many times with the same result. Today I was talking with one of the University swimmers who feels SDK is one of his strengths. He has size 13 feet! (mine are 8.) Does the Americans with Disabilities Act allow me to use flippers?:bolt: