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What's your kicking technique like (no fins)?

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.

What's your leg stroke like (no fins)

  • Frog kick

    Votes: 44 74.6%
  • Flutter kick

    Votes: 6 10.2%
  • Other

    Votes: 9 15.3%

  • Total voters
    59

gerard

New Member
Oct 3, 2002
230
27
0
Mine is the flutter kick. I can't perform the frog kick. It's very unnatural and I'd consume way too much 02 mucking around with something isn't suitable for me.

Regards, gerard
 
Kicking

I use frog kick, but I put very little effort into it - it's mainly just to stop myself slowing to a complete stop as I move my arms forward again. Otherwise it uses too much O2.

I have tried combing arm pulls with dolphin kick, but can't seem to get the timing right. Has anyone else tried this?

Bryan
 
hi

Standard frog kick works well for me using anything else I go to slow.


cheers
 
hi

I use mainly flutter kick but sometimes mix it with dolpfin style.
Whatever propels me down quicker.

Zipy
 
hi me again

bryanw
if you use your arms don't fully extend them.
Bent them in your elbou (i hope spelling is wright).

Arhh it is so hard to explain this in english!! :head

Zipy
 
I use a scissors kick. I have a bad knee, and it is easier on my knee (bad ACL) than a frog kick.
 
I use a weird hybrid that is a cross between a frog, scissors, flutter and dolphin kick. I reach out like a frog kick, then pull the legs together, twisting slighty (i.e. it becomes kind of a scissors kick as my legs move together), then 2 quick flutters and when my feet come together I give kind of a little dolphin kick. Shortly after this, my glide is about done.

I was analyzing my stroke just this past weekend and I concluded that the bulk of my propulsion comes from my hands, and the kicking is there just to extend the glide. Apparently I am subconciously adapting the kick to whatever is the best match for my current speed (ie. the starting from kick is good when I'm going faster, the dolphin is the best match when I'm going slowest, the intervening kicks blend the two).

I have better dynamics with this stroke (75 yd pb so far) than I do with fins (won't post that figure :eek: ). I've been doing walking apnea and my goal is to hit 100 yd dynamic w/o fins.
 
I'm not sure, but I think it's called the Dog Paddle:duh My Lab uses it and he chases down wounded ducks so I figured it had to be pretty good.rofl
Jay
 
Depends, on the surface laying face down I normally use the breast stroke which incorporates the whip kick. If I want to go faster for a shorter distance I use the trudgeon, which is the crawl arms but the legs remain quiet with a scissors kick every other stroke. Slower, but more efficient than the crawl. On my side I use the side stroke with a scissors or inverted scissors. On my back I use the elementary back stroke which incorprates the whip kick. The whip kick is harder on the knees, but more efficient than a frog kick.

Underwater I pretty much just use a dolphin kick with my hands at my sides working opposite my feet, i.e. feet up hands down, feet down, hands up, finning with my wrists.
 
hi

It seems that most of the guys here are using the arms as the main source of power thats interesting.

cheers
 
Arms vs Legs

I've always found my hands to be a much more efficient source of propulsion underwater than my feet (without fins!). I always assumed this was for two reasons: you have much better range of movement with your wrists than your ankles, so you can always get the hands in the optimum position to push against the water; and your arm muscles, being much smaller than your leg muscles, use up less oxygen per stroke.

Or maybe I'm just crap at kicking ...:D

Bryan
 
I agree with Bryan. The muscle groups in the legs have much more mass than the muscle groups in the arms, burning more fuel and more oxygen in order to work. I agree with the wrist thing, too. He left out the part about fingers are longer than toes, for most people anyway ;), and can be squeezed together without being curled up.

When I was a kid I used to get mad at my folks because they wouldn't agree to let me get my fingers and toes surgically webbed :D. I thougt getting my toes fully webbed and fingers webbed about half way down, so they would still have uses for other things, would be :cool:. Like the guy on that old TV show "The Man From Atlantis".:D

P.S.-Bryan, you can combine an armstroke with the dolphin kick. It's called the butterfly. Mostly only racers use it. That's one that'll wear you out in a hurry because the arm recovery is made out of the water.:)
 
Last edited:
hi

Fair enough I might try and use my arms more today and see how it goes.

cheers
 
Ugh butterfly. :head

That one can be fun, but it's a real pain if you don't have the correct technique.

Webbed fingers and toes, I never thought of that. I just wanted to turn into a mermaid.:D
 
hi

Nah stuff being a mermaid, turning into one of those Emperor penguins would be way cool :cool:

cheers
 
If you wanna see amazing technique, go on F.R.E.E. site and see TIPO Lintukanga's 60m video.
 
hi

Yep already got that one, Topi is a hella smooth diver eh. :cool:

cheers
 
Hi,
May anyone give me the URL to F.R.E.E site to see TIPO Lintukanga's 60m video.
Tnahks:)
 
Hello

BTW I've noticed something that would have improved the performance of those apneists in the descent, which is instead of having so much frontal resistance by allowing the head go first (in the long static), simply extending the arms in front of the body. Something like this:

http://www.spma.net/waynestreatch.htm

Remember less frontal resistance, less drag, more efficiency.

Regards, gerard.
 
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