Kicking - Don't Splash - Effective Kicking for New Swimmer

Kicking - Don't Splash: Teaching Effective Swim Kicks to Children with Limited Ankle Flexibility

Teaching children how to kick efficiently in swimming can be challenging, especially when they have limited ankle flexibility. Kicking - Don't Splash emphasises keeping feet submerged and using relaxed, flippy motions to generate propulsion without wasting energy. This approach helps children develop a more efficient kick while reducing splashing and unnecessary drag in the water. For guidance on proper foot contact, see Don't Splash Those Feet!.

Kicking - Don't Splash - Flippy Floppy Feet

Keep Feet Under the Water

One of the most important aspects of Kicking - Don't Splash is teaching children to keep their feet under the water. When feet leave the water, they do not contribute to forward motion, and splashing increases resistance. Encourage kids to focus on generating propulsion with the portion of the foot in contact with the water. Simple cues like “stir the water” help children visualise the motion without overemphasising ankle pointing. See practical tips at Swim Teaching: Don't Splash Those Feet!.

Relaxed, Floppy Feet Create Better Propulsion

Children often try to stiffen their ankles or point their toes excessively, which reduces kick effectiveness. Teaching “flippy, floppy feet” allows the ankles to move freely while the legs generate propulsion. Relaxed feet respond better to the natural flow of the water and help compensate for limited ankle flexibility. Games and drills that focus on ankle looseness encourage children to use their whole leg, not just their foot. For further explanation, see Flippy Floppy Feet.

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Emphasise Whole-Leg Motion Over Ankle Flexibility

Children should generate propulsion through the entire leg, not just rely on ankle movement. Without reverting to stiff ankles, focusing on driving from the hips while keeping knees relaxed with some but minimal bend, ensures a smooth, continuous kick. Encouraging full-leg motion with flippy floppy feet allows water to be pushed more efficiently. This approach improves overall propulsion and helps children maintain rhythm without excessive splashing or leg tension.

Focus on the Downbeat and Upbeat of the Kick

Effective kicking involves moving the legs continuously, driving water backward on the downbeat and allowing the feet to rise naturally on the upbeat. Children should learn to push the water efficiently without forcing rigid ankle movements. Coaches can break this motion into small steps, practising only the downward kick before combining it with the upward motion. This method develops rhythm, reduces fatigue, and enhances overall propulsion. More tips available at Flippy Floppy Feet.

Encourage Proper Body Position

Body alignment significantly impacts kick efficiency, especially for children with limited ankle flexibility. Raising the hips in the water reduces drag and allows the legs to move more freely. Encourage a streamlined body position with relaxed shoulders and a straight spine. This positioning helps children channel energy from the hips into the legs, improving overall efficiency while keeping the feet submerged. For related guidance, see Don't Splash Those Feet!.

Learning to swim is an exciting milestone, and mastering the flutter kick is the essential foundation for efficient movement in the water. This skill requires shifting focus from raw effort to controlled, rhythmic mechanics—specifically, learning that powerful propulsion comes from the hips rather than the knees. The following checklist is designed to help young swimmers visualise and practice these techniques, keeping the guiding principle of "Kicking - Don't Splash" at the forefront of every lap to ensure they conserve energy and glide smoothly.

Flutter Kick Mastery Checklist

• Engage from the Hips: Ensure the kicking motion originates from your hips and glutes, not just your knees.
• Keep Ankles Relaxed: Maintain "flippy-floppy" ankles to allow for a natural, whip-like motion.
• Stay Below the Surface: Keep your feet submerged just below the water line to ensure efficient water displacement.
• Master the Rhythm: Focus on a fluid, continuous down and upbeat motion.
• Remember: Kicking - Don't Splash: Minimise excessive surface splashing to improve your efficiency and speed through the water.

Break Learning into Small Components

Large, continuous kicks can overwhelm children with stiff ankles. Breaking down kicking into smaller, isolated drills allows gradual improvement. Start with ankle mobility exercises, then move to short kick sets with kickboards, and finally integrate full-body flutter kicks. This progression keeps children engaged while building proper technique, reducing frustration and encouraging consistent practice. See Flippy Floppy Feet for drill ideas.

Use Playful, Visual Cues

Children respond well to fun, imaginative cues. Instead of telling them to “kick harder,” use phrases like “draw circles with your feet” or “pretend to stir a giant pot.” These cues naturally encourage feet to stay in the water, maintain a relaxed ankle, and focus on rhythm. Playful reinforcement also increases engagement during lessons and helps children internalise correct kicking patterns. Tips are adapted from Don't Splash Those Feet!.

Integrate Gentle Mobility Exercises

While the in-water technique is most important, out-of-pool ankle mobility exercises can complement lessons. Activities like pointing and flexing toes, or light stretching against a wall, help children gradually improve flexibility. Avoid forcing extreme ankle ranges, and focus on comfort and gradual progress. Over time, mobility exercises combined with proper kicking mechanics lead to stronger, more efficient propulsion. For reference, see Flippy Floppy Feet.

Building Efficiency with Kicking - Don't Splash

By combining relaxed feet, proper body position, and controlled water contact, children develop a smoother, more powerful kick. Emphasising Kicking - Don't Splash creates forward motion while conserving energy and minimising splashing. With patience, small progressive steps, and playful guidance, children of all flexibility levels can improve their kick mechanics. Sources include Don't Splash Those Feet! and Flippy Floppy Feet.

Enjoy     
Richard

Freestyle Kick: Feeling Too Much Splashing in Yours ? Here's Why!

Why Your Freestyle Kick Makes a Loud Splash: Common Mistakes and How to Correct Them

If you're experiencing a loud noise every time you kick while swimming freestyle, you're not alone. Let us explore why this happens and offer practical tips to correct it.

Stop The Splash

The Common Problem

The loud splash and the sensation of your hips sinking when you're practising freestyle often result from a common mistake—bending too much at the knees while kicking. This misalignment disrupts your body's streamline and can lead to fatigue, making your swim less efficient.

Understanding the Issue

Imagine kicking during your freestyle stroke, and your knees are bending excessively (see the Video Below). This action primarily lifts your feet out of the water, breaking your body's alignment and creating unnecessary resistance in the water. This can be visually observed as a loud splash, a feeling of your body sinking, and increased fatigue.

This pattern is often seen in beginners learning freestyle and even experienced swimmers who are avid runners. The mechanics of running and swimming are quite different, and translating one into the other can lead to problems like this.

Correcting the Problem

To correct this issue and make your freestyle kick quieter and more efficient, focus on the action you consciously control. The key is to kick down from the hip and the top of the foot, not the knee. Your knee should be a passive mover, bending only slightly.

A correct freestyle kick engages the glute and hamstring muscles, keeping the leg extended and maintaining proper body alignment. This type of kick is not only quieter but also less exhausting compared to a quad-dominant kick that results from excessive knee bending.

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Practical Tips for Improvement

1. Awareness

The first step in correcting your freestyle kick is to become aware of when it's happening. Pay attention to the sensation of your kick and whether you hear a loud splash.

2. Focus on the Hips and Feet

Concentrate on kicking down from your hips and the top of your feet. Visualize your legs as extensions of your body rather than separate entities.

3. Practice

Spend time practising your kick technique. Start slowly to build muscle memory for the correct movement.

4. Balance

Ensure your kick is balanced on both sides. One-sided issues can be just as problematic, so strive for symmetry in your technique.

5. Consider a 2B Kick

In freestyle, a 2B kick is often preferred for its efficiency. If you're serious about improving your kick, consider joining a swim program that offers detailed courses on executing a 2B kick (see the video) correctly.

Focusing On The Proper Technique

If you've been frustrated by the loud splash and inefficiency of your freestyle kick, take heart. By focusing on the proper technique—kicking down from the hips and the top of your feet while minimizing knee movement—you can achieve a quieter, more efficient kick. With practice and awareness, you'll notice a significant improvement in your freestyle swimming, making your time in the pool more enjoyable and effective. So, next time you hit the pool, remember these tips and see the difference in your technique.

Enjoy     
Richard

Freestyle: How To Kick From Your Hips - Vertical Kick

Freestyle: How To Kick From Your Hips - Vertical Kick

Here is a fun drill for improving freestyle kick and rotation in deep water. Help remove flexion from the body's alignment and improve rotation through a full 360

Improve Freestyle Rotation 

The drill involves taking a pause between each repetition to feel how far the kick rotates. The kick from the hip and top of the foot provides resistance, whereas kicking from the knee and flexing the foot will not turn the swimmer around. It is suggested that the drill can help remove flexion from the body's alignment and improve rotation through a full 360.

The drill involves placing both hands on the shoulders, doing a single kick from the hip and top of the foot, and feeling how far it rotates.

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The video cautions against kicking incorrectly by flexing the knee or pointing the foot without extending the leg. By avoiding flexion and sending energy forward through the top of the foot, the swimmer can rotate all the way around.

Do not attempt this unless you are comfortable in deep water.

Finally, the video encourages swimmers to have fun with the drill.

Enjoy     
Richard

Kicking Fix Of Your WORST Swimming Mistake - Knees Too Bent

Kicking Fix Of Your WORST Swimming Mistake, Knees Too Bent

You can learn to swim without knowing how to kick. It's controversial to say that too many swim teachers but it is true. But kicking does serve a function, streamlining. It helps to raise your body in the water, it helps you to steer and it helps you to swim faster. Hence it is only reasonable to teach how to do it and do it well. Here kicking fixes of the knees being too bent. It is one of the worst swimming mistakes.

There are a lot of people that have problems with kicking. Particularly adult learn to swimmers. However, I personally don't concentrate on kicking until the child or adult has good propulsion using their arms. That doesn't mean that I don't teach kicking, I just don't concentrate on it.

I had a comment in the blog post a long time ago when I said that I spend 5 min tops on kicking at the start of class. The commentator was agast and explained to me that they spend up to 20 min a class on kicking. I have to say that to me that is a complete waste of the time of your student. Get them swimming then fix things.

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Please, I do not mean that one should be sloppy in their teaching. Good structure and clear explanation and lots of help and praise are essential. But unless they can't get their feet off the bottom, once I have shown them how to kick correctly, I move on, whether they get it or not. Good instruction will fix everything eventually and I see no reason to hold a student back if something is a little imperfect.

Nor is that to say that I am not critical of teachers that hardly ever try to fix an issue. that is just laziness.

I hate to say it but if you are having a problem getting students to do what you ask, you are the one at fault, not them. You need better ways to communicate using different methods to help.

It is in that context that I like this video. It is another way to help with, as I have said, a very common problem of not keeping legs straight enough when kicking. Or to put it another way, having your knees too bent when you or your student kicks.

I have talked about the problem of having too much bend in your knees in other posts:

• Freestyle Kick Revisited With Video Drill: Remember The Feeling
• Learning How To Swim as an Adult - Kicking & Buoyancy - Floating Face Down 2
• Swim Kicking Correction (Flutter Kick)

But in this video, the narrator talks about exaggerating glute activation. I think it is a nice neat way to try a different way to solve this problem.

Enjoy     
Richard

Eggbeater Kick Treading Water For Beginners: How to Teach it

A Request On How To Teach The Eggbeater Kick Treading Water For Beginners

I have had a request for an article on how to teach the eggbeater kick treading water for beginners. I fully understand this request as it is one of the hardest things to teach. Not the treading of water but the eggbeater kick. It is a bit like the circular rubbing of your belly and patting your head at the same time.

Given the above and the fact that you don't need to be able to do the eggbeater kick in order to tread water. A swimmer can tread water perfectly well without the eggbeater kick using practically any other kick (see below). Unless you are teaching it just for fun, it only makes sense to teach the eggbeater kick after the student knows how to tread water. After all, treading water is about staying safe in the water but the eggbeater kick has specialist applications and most swimmers will never need it.

Eggbeater Kick

First Teach Treading Water For Beginners Thus

With the body in an upright position, use one of the following leg actions to teach treading water:

• breaststroke leg action
• a flutter kick (as when swimming front crawl)
• a scissor kick
• a cycling action

Keep the arms below the surface of the water and use a relaxed sculling action to assist.

The eggbeater kick is confusing enough without having to teach treading water as well.

As the teacher, you should know which of these leg actions to see which you prefer before you try to teach others. You should then give the student the option to choose which leg actions to see which they prefer by getting them to practise each of the leg actions to see which you prefer whilst they are learning to tread water.

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Eggbeater Kick

This is a useful technique when a powerful treading water action is required. When performed well, it is the most efficient kick for treading water. The eggbeater kick can lift the body high in the water. This is very useful for deepwater resuscitation with a buoyancy aid as well as in water sports such as water polo and synchronised swimming.

How To Teach Eggbeater Kick

The student should:

1. Sit in the water with their back straight, their knees spread apart and their thighs almost parallel to the surface of the water


2. Drive each leg alternately in a circular pattern from outside of the body towards the midline of the body with rotation at the knees


3. As one leg drives the other leg recovers
This is important because the leg is driving down to propel and lifting up as it recovers. The knees are designed to change direction, not create propulsion. the hips do the driving, not the knees.


4. In order to travel, the leg and body positions are altered slightly resulting in a kind of circular rocking/rotation action, to allow the feet to drive downward in a direction opposite to the line of travel


5. The propulsion is provided from the inside of the foot and lower leg

Note: it is important to remember that the power for the propulsion for this kick comes from the hips and not the knees. Trying to drive this kick from the knees could result in a knee injury. The knees are only used to change the direction of the kick. If the student feels any discomfort in the knee area they should stop immediately and try to fix what they are doing wrong.

How To Practices The Eggbeater Kick

The following learning activities can be used to develop the eggbeater kick:

• Practise the breaststroke kick on the front with the head up and hands behind the back or extended in front of the head


• Tread water using a breaststroke kick and move the arms from side to sidekick hard on the power phase of the kick


• Sitting on a bench or chair, try the alternate kicking action


• From the edge of the pool do the alternate kicking action using the edge for support


• Move away from the side using a hand sculling action or kickboards for support, then try alternating the kick slowly and easily, adding speed as the side-to-side wiggle is overcome. If the rhythm is lost and one leg starts to catch up with the other, stop and start again

As The Eggbeater Kick Gets Stronger

As the kick gets stronger, the use of hands should be stopped and the body should be gradually moving higher in the water. Thus the hands would no longer look like they do in the picture above.
For example:

• Keep the hands dry
• Keep shoulders dry
• Keep shoulders and arms dry
• Extend arms overhead

I cannot overemphasise this is a great fun kick to teach and if you have an application for it is even better but if you don't need it, it is only fun so don't get injured over it. Even if you do need it there is no point in getting injured over it. So practice it slowly. As I say to my Judo students "get it Right don't get it fast".

Enjoy     
Richard

How To Stop Legs Sinking When Swimming - Head, Heals, Catch

What Does Your Head, Heals and Catch Have To Do With How To Stop Legs Sinking When Swimming?

The video below is one of the better videos on how to stop legs from sinking when swimming. It gives a clear explanation of the role that correct heal and head position play, as well as showing what both an incorrect catch and a correct catch looks like and how these help to fix a sinking kick.

It may seem surprising to some but when new swimmers express concern to me that they are having problems with their kicking, I will often say "don't kick". Your arms provide the vast majority of your propulsion in the water. It is by far, way more important that you get your stroke correct. In fact, in some situations, such as long-distance and open water swimming, you definitely want to keep your kick to a minimum.

Having said that, a good freestyle kick does matter and in most swimming activities is an advantage, so I will always get a student to return to kicking practice when they have fixed their stroke.

Ironically, one of the things that kicking will reveal is faults with your stroke and that is the main emphasis of the video below. It is only dealing with flutter kick, so if you have faults with your other kicks this won't help. However, the freestyle flutter kick is by far the kick that is most commonly asked about.

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I have approached the problem of Sinking Legs When Swimming Freestyle before, so if the video does not address your problem you may want to do some further reading there. You may also find more on flutter kick and Narrow That Flutter Kick useful.

Enjoy     
Richard

Swimming Kickboard Drills: Pat The Dog If You Have Too

Pat The Dog In The Water

Here is a little cheat that you can use if you are struggling to get any propulsion out of you or your students kick. It's called "Pat the Dog" (video below) and is one of the swimming kickboard drills that I rarely recommended. But sometimes it is the only thing that can get some new swimmers going.

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Some swimmers just can't get the hang of flippy floppy feet, no matter what they try. I have found this to be the case particularly with some new adult swimmer and of course some disabled swimmer. It is sometimes due to some physical restriction like stiff or even fused joints. But sometimes it is just that the student has spent so long keeping the relevant joints from doing what they need to do when they swim that they cannot be relaxed enough to create the movement that generates propulsion in the water.

When I first started swim teaching, this problem proves almost insurmountable. Because whilst, it is easy to avoid kicking when you swim by using your strokes alone, but before you get to that point, new swimmers often have to be able to find a way to get some movement so as to maintain their stability in the water, whilst they learn to use their arms.

It is a bit of a catch 22. to learn to swim you have to have movement in the water. There are only 2 ways to get that movement: Kicking or stroke. If you can't produce propulsion with your arms because you haven't learned to do that yet, you have to produce it with your kick. If you can't produce propulsion with your kick either, then you can't get moving in the water.

Swimming Kickboard Drills I Rarely Recommend But...

Before I discovered this little trick, I had no other choice but to physically support each student that could not kick until they could swim with their stroke only.

Why is it one of the swimming kickboard drills that I rarely recommend? Because Pat The Dog is a fault and you want to eliminate it as soon as possible. In fact, it was one of my junior students that introduced it to me. For him, it was a fault that I had to fix but I realized it had its application in the scenario I described above.

It's just waving your hand in the water but for some new students it is a great way to get them going whilst they are getting enough movement to remain stable enough to use their arms. And the teacher doesn't have to be in the water to support them.

Of course, if your student can remain stable in the water without movement then you don't need this trick so don't teach it. It is only for students who need the movement to get keep their stability whilst they learn their stroke.

Enjoy     
Richard

Freestyle Kick Revisited With Video Drill: Remember The Feeling

You can't look at your feet

How To Work On Your Freestyle Kick When You Can't See Your Feet

One of the hardest things to show new swimmers is what they have to do with their feet and legs when they are doing freestyle kick. After all, you can't look at your feet whilst you are swimming.

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I talked before about the importance of helping students to know what to do by remembering how it feels, nice straight legs, as well as not splashing those feet and most importantly flippy floppy feet: but it can be hard to visualize these things when you can't look at your feet.

Here is a video that will let you visualize all those things except knowing how it feels.

That only a teacher can help with.

Enjoy
   Richard

Swim Kicking Correction (Flutter Kick)

Nice Straight Legs

I've said before that, when a swim teacher says they want you to have nice straight legs when you swim, they don't mean stiff legs.

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The reason swim teachers ask their students to keep their legs straight, is because to say, "I would like you to kick you legs so that they are straighter than what they are now but not stiff, rather just slightly bendy", the student says "say what?".

It's the KIS principal or Keep It Simple. The idea is to convey the basics of what you want and then gradually tweak it.

A good kick is one that is generated from the hips and works its way down your leg via a slightly bent knee and relaxed ankle, resulting in a small whipping type action. But nobody can properly comprehend that until they feel it.


There are lots of ways to help a new swimmer feel how to correct their kicking action. This video is one of them.

Ok so this video was designed for more advanced swimmers who are looking to improve their kick. But if you throw away the flippers(fins) and take it slowly so that (like the video says, because even advance swimmer forget) you don't hit the wall with your knees or feet or legs, then this is a great drill to help fix legs that are too bent during the kicking action.

Enjoy
   Richard

Swimming Freestyle: Narrow That Flutter Kick

Narrow That Flutter Kick When Swimming Freestyle:

I know I keep coming back to flutter kick but it is one of the most neglected parts of a swimming stroke. Well not to begin with but once a person is has learned the basics of freestyle the first thing that they forget about is their kick.

It's easy to understand because most of the power of most swimmer comes from their stroke. Because they can get away with not moving their legs they tend to forget about them. But the kick does more than moving a swimmer forward and why would you want to give away all that extra forward momentum if you don't have to.

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A good kick stabilizes you in the water, it raises you up in the water and it gives that extra forward movement to help when you breathe.

Here is a video that has an excellent description of the flutter kick. One day I'll find a video that gives a slow-motion view of the leg action and I'll write something on that too. It's worth it.

Enjoy     
Richard

A Good Kick, Does it Matter To New Swimmers?

A Good Kick :Does It Matter If A Beginner Kicks Properly?

You know you can do without kicking at all and still learn to swim!

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Let's Face it lots of people learn to swim and never learn to kick properly and then there are others that are unable to kick; not just people with disabilities either. I had one student that was "normal" in every way out of the water. He ran and jumped and played like every other child but he could not kick no matter what I did to help him.

But now that I've set he cat among the pidgins, let me state that the whole process of learning to swim is much harder if you don't kick.

Kicking makes swimming easier for beginners for one major reason: it helps to keep your body level in the water.

Now there are other reasons: improved propulsion and better directional control as well as better stability in the water. But compared to keeping the body high in the water they are just minor.

Better Streamline

A swimmer who's body is high in the water has better streamline and way less friction whilst swimming

Now there are some coaches that train their athletes to swim at about 45 deg in the water and that may be great for elite swimmers but for those who are not at that level yet, you need to reach a point, where you are moving through the water with relative ease, before you can expect to move on to more advance techniques.

If your Legs drop in the water you are confronting a whole lot more water resistance than if you are swimming level in the water. The reason that some coaches work at training their athletes to swim at a 45 deg angle is that they maintain that once in that position you can travel a lot faster just as an hydrofoil does. This may or may not be true but one thing that is for certain, getting into that hydrofoil position requires a lot more power than the most if not all beginner swimmers can generate.

Therefore as a new swimmer it is much better to establish a good streamline body position and that is most easily acquired from a good kick.

Enjoy
   Richard

Breaststroke Kick Issues and Knee Pain

Breaststroke Kick Issues and Knee Pain

Do you ever suffer from pain in your knees when you do a breaststroke kick? I know I have. In my case its a combination of getting older and non swimming related injury. But it not always because of injury or age. Pain in you knees when you do breaststroke can also be from over use too much swimming (over training) and sometimes it can be just because its your body shape.

Whatever the reason it's not fun to want to be a breaststroke swimmer and have to suffer.

This is a great little video from the website www.goswim.tv that gives some excellent ideas on how to work around pain in your knee and still enjoy your breaststroke.

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The Video

The video is directed towards competitive swimmer but if you ignore those comment then everything that is said can be applied to everyday swimming and even those who have newly learned the stroke.

There is another drill to overcome this problem using a pull boy. This is the same drill I sometimes use to help some students with a common fault when learning the breaststroke kick that I have called the club foot effect(not the disorder).

In the mean time the drill below will have the same affect. It's just a little harder to implement as it is subjective. Mind you if you have knee pain that suggestiveness is pretty definitive as you will know if you are doing it wrong because of the pain in your knees

Enjoy     
Richard

How To Swim 101 - More on Flutter Kick

How To Swim: More on Flutter Kick

I'm constantly doing research; well when I get the time that is and I came across this short movie on flutter kick and how to practice it. I thought it was really good so I decided I'd share it.

The movie (below) does a great job of building on what I have outlined about basic flutter kick.

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My only proviso would be that I would personally prefer that, for a relatively new swimmer or someone who has only just mastered the correct breathing technique, most of if not all of this drill should be done with a kickboard.

My reason for thinking that is: if you look at the movie you will note that the swimmer is extending their head out of the water when they are taking their breath. Such an action would not be a problem to an already competent swimmer that is only trying to improve their stroke but to someone who is not so confident it is a very difficult thing to do; especially if you are doing this drill to strengthen a very week kick in the first place. Once you get proficient at your kick by drill I encourage you to go without a kickboard as it will have that added advantage of strengthening your legs and therefore your kick.

Aside from the above, I think it is a great movie.

Enjoy     
Richard

Learn How to Swim 101 - Flutter Kick - Movie

What is a flutter kick?

Well it's the basic kick that is used in freestyle and backstroke. It's called a flutter kick because it is a short up and down movement like the fluttering of a wings. As distinct from a long kicking movement like that of kicking a football or a cyclical movement like that you would do when you ride a bicycle.

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Now mind you if a swim student is having trouble changing from a cycling action to a flutter kick, I very commonly will encourage them to try to pretend they are kicking a football with their legs in order to exaggerate the correct action. But a kicking of the football action is not a flutter kick.

A Good Flutter Kick is dependent on having Filppy Foppy Feet That is your ankles move freely as though you have flipper (swim fins) on. In fact it a very useful drill to use flippers when you are swimming so as to get the feel of the kicking movement that is required for optimum propulsion in the water.

I have created a little movie below in the hope that you will be able see the action. It worth taking note that there is no splashing of the feet. Splashing reduces forward motion it doesn't increase it.


Splashing is caused by the feet leaving the water. Once your feet leave the water they are kicking the air and air is very inefficient at generating thrust in the water. No matter what anybody says your feet are not sails and using them as such will not help you swim.

Instead of making a splash with your feet you should be trying to make the water agitate or bubble the water. You could say it like making the water boil but I wouldn't use the word "boil" to young children boiling water may produce pictures of scolding hot water and frighten them, "Bubbling" works well.

Agitate or bubble the water produces eddies that not only give you resistance to kick against but produce forward motion by generating backwards thrust and the more backward trust the more forward motion (remember every action produces an equal and opposite reaction).

Anyway I hope you enjoy the movie and that it helps.

Enjoy
   Richard

How To Swim - Six kicks Drill and Its Value

How To Swim - Six kicks Drill and Its Value

I've always been a bit sceptical about the value of asking a student to kick a set number of times before they do a stroke whilst they are in the beginning stages of learning a particular stroke. But I have been working with one student who was brought to me as a private student, I guess because no one else had succeeded in getting him to swim.

To Do Six Kicks or Not?

I must confess I tried everything I could think of to get this child going but nothing seemed to work. Then one afternoon, I don't know why, I told the child too do six kicks (we were doing the backstroke, the one I think is easiest for most students to learn first).

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The result was very exciting. After so many attempts to get the child swimming effectively on his back suddenly we had propulsion and a sort of stroke.

I therefore have now added the six kick method to my collection of tools.

Enjoy     
Richard

Swim Kicks: Close To The Surface - But Not Breaking It

What Are Appropriate Swim Kicks

In a previous post I shared my frustration about parents and others teaching students to splash their feet inappropriately. But I realize that I haven't shared exactly what are appropriate swim kicks.

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Many coaches get upset with their charges if they see too much splashing of any kind, not just from kicking. I had one coach say to me, with a strong sense of frustration, when I commented about the improvement in speed that had been obtained by one of his competitors; "They'd be swimming a whole lot faster if I could get them to eliminate that @#%***! splash".

A good efficient kick should be close to the surface but not breaking the surface. Yes I know that if you look at elite swimmers competing it often looks like they are doing lots of splashing but if you look closely you can see that it is not actually splashing. Rather it is more a boiling or bubbling.

Toes Up Below The Surface

Toes Down Kicking No Splashing

If you are teaching very young children I have found that it is important to talk to them about bubbling the water. The reason is, it's actually possible to get children to freak out with the idea that they are in boiling water.

Feet Sinking in The Water 

The Problem

The problem however, with saying that a beginner should be taught to kick under water, is that if a teacher emphasizes kicking underwater too much the student gets the idea that they should be kicking deep underwater. This is just as incorrect as splashing the water with your feet.

Deep kicking means that a swimmers body position is on an angle in the water instead of horizontal. the greater the angle of the swimmer in the water the greater the resistance to the swim. The more horizontal a swimmer is in the water the more streamlined they are and the less they have to contend with water resistance.


So an efficient kick is not one that splashes a lot of water but one that disturbs as much water as close to the surface with out breaking the surface.  A swimmer with an efficient kick has minimal bend in the knee and filipy floppy feet. Straight legs sounds good but there should be a small amount of bend in the knee both to generate a strong disturbance and therefore propulsion and stop over exertion on the leg muscles)

Enjoy
   Richard

Learning How To Swim as an Adult - Kicking & Buoyancy - Floating Face Down 2

If you have been following this blog regularly you will have noticed a comment that came in from a swimmer who was having problems with a few things. I thought that the concerns were worth a little more than a passing reply so I decided to put them in separate posts.

Wait... Get Your Lesson Plans Here

The questions were roughly in two parts with the first part broken up into part "A" and part "B". The following is the part B of the first questions that came in.  Learning How To Swim as an Adult - Kicking & Buoyancy - Floating face down is part "A" of my reply part "B" is below:

If you remember the initial question went like this: I have a couple of questions and would like to know if you have any suggestions since I would like to put in more productive hours at the pool. I will try to be as succinct as possible:

1. Floating face down: my legs sink as I try to float and I am on an incline on the pool; doesn't matter if I just go face down or kick off. I am told its just because I am all muscle (5' 8" 145lb), but I somehow cannot fathom no buoyancy in legs at all. I would like to be able to get a feel of this and would appreciate any suggestions on this and if any drills could improve this. Does this have any affect on kicking?

Part B

Does this have any affect on kicking?
Yes! If you have an efficient kick then you probably do not need to worry about floating, as your kick will bring your feet to the surface.

The fact that you are concerned about the float may suggest that you do not have an efficient kick. If this is the case you will need to work on it.

The problem of an inefficient kick usually lies in a failure to understand what it is that propels a body in the water.

For example a straight leg is what most people are taught to do when they kick. Now this is a reasonable thing to teach as in most cases a swimmer has too much bend in there knees when they first start to swim or if they have never been properly corrected, but a straight leg only moves a limited amount of water and the reason why most people kick with a bent knee is because they get more movement out of that action.

The problem is that too much bend in the knee is counter productive in that every time you pull your knee back to start the kick again you create drag that slows you down.

The trick is to get a compromise between a perfectly straight leg and a bent knee.

So you do need to straighten you leg but only to the point were there is a little flick in it. Not a big enough flick to have your knees come out of the water because that creates other problems, but one that is big enough to propel you along whilst keeping you body including your hips reasonably flat in the water and close to the surface.

Now the other thing that most swimmers don’t recognize is that there are two parts to the kick. The first part is the knee and the second is the foot. Once you have sorted out your knees you still may be only getting minimal propulsion. This is almost always due to a swimmer not flicking their foot just as their leg straightens.

I don’t mean that you should actively flick your foot. That too would be counter productive as the energy, timing and concentration required just makes it so it’s all too much to think about for the new swimmer. No what I mean is setting your ankle relaxed (not loose as that may cause an injury) but relaxed so that it is free to move in the water.

Fig 1. Big  Eddies

Fig 2. Kicking On Front

Fig 3. Kicking On Back

If your ankle is relaxed when you kick then you end up with a nice little flick at the end of your kick. That flick creates big eddies (Fig 1) in the water. These eddies are what creates enough resistance for your foot and leg to push against, giving you a nice push along in the water.

Fig 4. Little eddies

You can see the actions of this in the water and the effect that a flick has at the end of your kick by tying a flipper to a stick and keeping both under the water and close to the surface, moving them up and down. You will see a great deal of water moving in eddies along the surface. Now take the flipper off and just move the stick up and down. You will see a whole lot less water moving (Fig 4). This is the result of the flipper doing a flicking action at the end of its movement. Look closely at the end of the flipper as you move it up and down and you will see what I mean.

So now if you don’t want to spend time on your float then you need to spend more time on getting your kicking correct in order to maintain good streamline in the water. Better streamline means more efficient movement in the water and an easier, faster and more effective swim and swimming action.

Once you have the flick in your kick correct you will need to  practice  kicking with your legs close to the surface but not out of the water. The closer your feet are to the surface without breaking the surface, because feet out of the water only kicks air and air does not move you in the water, the more effective you propulsion will be, eliminating the sinking of your legs

Personally I’d be working on both your kicking action and your float as it seems to me that if both actions are good then your swimming must be superior to those who only are good at one.

Next time well be talking about our swimmers problem with breathing. A very common problem.

Enjoy
   Richard

Learning How To Swim As An Adult - Kicking & Buoyancy - Floating Face Down

Help My Legs Sink When I Float Face Down!

If you have been following this blog regularly you will have noticed a comment that came in from a swimmer who was having problems with a few things. I thought that the concerns were worth a little more than a passing reply so I decided to put them in a separate post.

Wait... Get Your Lesson Plans Here

The questions were roughly in two parts. Below is the first of the questions that came in:

I have a couple of questions and would like to know if you have any suggestions since I would like to put in more productive hours at the pool. I will try to be as succinct as possible:

Floating face down: my legs sink as I try to float and I am on an incline on the pool; doesn't matter if I just go face down or kick off. I am told it's just because I am all muscle (5' 8" 145lb), but somehow I cannot fathom no buoyancy in legs at all. I would like to be able to get a feel of this and would appreciate any suggestions on this and if any drills could improve this. Does this have any effect on kicking?

I will go into more specific detail but first, in case you haven’t read them let me direct you to the series I have on Learn to Swim 101-Floating and make sure you follow the links.

Floating: One Of The Most Important Skills

Floating is, in my opinion, one of the most important skills that a swimmer can learn. Apart from helping to keep you safe in the water a good float is the basis of all streamline in any stroke. Streamline is the thing that helps us move through the water efficiently and with ease.

However, I have had it said to me by many a good instructor that some people can’t get the hang of floating but that doesn’t stop them from being a good swimmer.

The problem is that I have never had a student that I couldn’t teach how to float so I am unable to verify this. Never the less it is worth noting that it does seem to be possible to be a relatively good swimmer and not be able to float. That is my only reason for mentioning it.

Whilst it is true that muscle density and bone density causes a person to be less buoyant in the legs, floating is not about total body buoyancy. It’s about moving the centre of buoyancy about, just like moving the centre of gravity on a stick, to find the balancing point. (This doesn’t apply to people who are overweight and just simply use those terms to excuse their weight because fat is much more buoyant than muscle and overweight people will float better than those not)

Thus if you are trying to float on your back (back float swimming) changing the centre of buoyancy is about changing your body shape in the water to maximize the effect of those parts of your body that are most buoyant.   But for some people, there is more to it than just doing this and passively waiting for your body to float.

For some people, it’s about getting your stomach muscles to un-tense or to tense in exactly the right amounts. It’s also about getting your buttocks to push towards the surface so that your hips are lifted.  And it’s about getting your legs to straighten or arch just the right amount.

For most people, this is just about more practice but for some, it is necessary to know and feel the dynamics in order to obtain the required body position.

Once you have mastered floating on your back, you then need to take time to remember the feeling. With the feeling in mind, it’s time to move on to your front and float. Now Copy the feeling.

Step by Step

Ok so let's go through this step-by-step.

1. Lay on your back in the shallow water. You can do this in deeper water it’s just harder.
2. Raise both your hands above your head or under your head if you prefer.
3. If you are in a bow with your bottom pointing to the floor of the pool and your stomach is like a cup, then you need to relax your stomach muscles till you have an arch in your back with your hips at the surface of the water.
4. If your feet are too close to or even on the bottom of the pool and your bottom is not, then you need to tense your stomach muscles till you are in a nice little arch with your hips still on the surface but your feet are not on the bottom of the pool.
5. If that is not sufficient to lift your legs try straightening your legs and tightening your buttocks and forcing your hips and legs to the surface.

It all about finding the right combination for you that lifts you into the correct position.

Now you need to roll over and copy that same position on your front except this time you want your legs and head on the surface and your hips under the water. But it is the same position or body shape if you like.

Find Your Correct Body Shape To Float

Of course, the best solution is to seek out a trained swimming instructor to help you identify the problem.

Does This Have Any Effect On Kicking?
Yes! If you have an efficient kick then you probably do not need to worry about floating, as you kick will bring your feet to the surface. But the converse is also true, in that if you have an effective front float you do not have to worry about an effective kick.

The fact that you are concerned about the float may suggest that you do not have an efficient kick. If this is the case you will need to work on that as kicking does more than helping you float. I'll deal with what is an efficient kick next time.

By the way, you can now get my step by step guide from this link called: "Back Float Swimming for Adults"

Enjoy
   Richard

Butterfly Kick Swimming - AKA The Dolphin Kick

Butterfly Kick Swimming is The Hardest To Learn

If my complaint about how people teach the butterfly is largely to do with the arms, why would I spend time on the butterfly kick swimming?

Wait... Get Your Lesson Plans Here

Because frankly, the kick, also know as dolphin kick, is the hardest thing to learn.

It sounds simple: kick both legs at the same time.

But most people have way too much bend in their knee when they kick to do it successfully and the problem with the pictures are that they don't show the downward thrust clearly.

For example, looking at Fig 1a and 1b, it seems like the swimmer is simply bending their knee when they kick. But the kick cannot come from the lower leg alone.

Fig 1a: Dolphin Kick Up Action

Fig 1b: Dolphin Kick Down Action

The Upper Part of The Leg

The upper part of the leg, nearest your bottom (posterior, tail, the part of your body you sit on) and the bottom itself (ditto), have the strongest muscles. If we are going to ignore the use of these muscles then we are losing most of our kicking power.


There is nothing wrong with the picture it just needs to explain that your upper legs also move with the kick. In fact they must move as much as you possibly can move them, in order to get the most power from your kick.

If you stand up and put both feet firmly on the bottom of the pool and thrust your hips forward, then thrust them backwards and repeat the action several times, you will begin to get the idea of what your leg action should be, except the bent knees.

Backward Hip Swing

Forward Hip Swing

The Result

The result is that you actually get two kicks for the price of one. The first with the hips and the second with the legs, from the knees.

Once you think you have the hang of the kick on your back it's time to practice it on your front in the torpedo position (above).

Dolphin Kick Practice On Your Back

Once you think that you have the hang of the kick on your front doing a torpedo, then it's time to take a look at your stroke

In the end you can do a butterfly without the kick but a good kick sure helps.

Enjoy
   Richard