The terrific underwater coverage of dolphin kicking in the Olympics was one of the things that finally got me into the pool... so I'm new to it, but picked it up (such as it is) relatively quickly, perhaps due to background in ab-and-pelvis-engaging African and hip-hop dance. Recognizing that I am still a tadpole who takes a rest after each length (which often feel like mountain ascents), I find that I quite enjoy starting each push off with a few meters of dolphin kicking. It adds nice variation to the exercise and I don't have to think about breathing (until I run out of air). I don't think I've ever seen anyone else doing this as they swim laps. Is it because it's too taxing for the average lap swimmer who doesn't take a breather like I (cheater) do?
What are some good dolphin kick exercises? The one I've seen mentioned most is doing the kicks while on your back, with head looking toward your feet, which are supposed to be getting some splash at the surface...
DOLPHIN KICKS...NOT?
8 posts • Page 1 of 1
DOLPHIN KICKS...NOT?
by dinghar » Mon Oct 08, 2012 9:29 am
- dinghar
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Re: DOLPHIN KICKS...NOT?
by Don Wright » Mon Oct 08, 2012 10:05 pm
Hi "dinghar""!
I know it's a bit pricey but I reckon you can't do better than buy (or hire?) the USA 'Swim Fast' DVD "Butterfly", featuring (a much younger!) Michael Phelps and his coach Bob Bowman. On that DVD a lot of time is spent on demonstrating drills involving body dolphin - side dolphin on the surface, body dolphin on the back at the surface, underwater reverse dolphin, vertical body dolphin, one-arm fly etc, etc, (he doesn't cover underwater body dolphin on the 'tum' - but starts each drill with a push-off doing that). You will never regret the outlay - the sheer grace of Michael's demos is fantastic - of course his size 11 flippers give him quite an advantage over us lesser mortals!
Mention of "lesser mortals" would include my efforts to emulate what Michael does - I only mention the following (re: the drills) as a very rough indication of what an ordinary chap, can do if not blessed with good buoyancy and much vigour etc!
Doing side dolphin drill on the surface with one arm extended in front and the other kept by the side - if you have a strong downbeat, your face may break the surface for an instant in order to make a quick inhalation - otherwise, just do it exhaling over a short distance, then have a "breather"!
Reverse surface drill on the back with arms outstretched in line with body - again,your face may break the surface for a quick inhalation if you've got a strong downbeat (which means kicking towards the ceiling in this case!) - otherwise, do as for the side drill above!
As immediately above, but with both arms at the side - this is much easier for doing an inhalation, since your head is sure to break the surface for an instant on the kick downbeats! In that short instant, notice the wave rippling towards your head, as the torso, thighs, then lower legs undulate (I think thats what Maglischo in "Fastest Swimming" meant by a "reverse body wave" helping propulsion (although we only see the surface manifestation of that)!
Vertical dolphin - well few of us could possibly do what Michael does - he rises out of the water like a performing dolphin doing a display - you will, I think, be lucky to rise an inch or two above the surface, unless having an exceptionally strong kick!
Underwater body dolphin on the 'tum' - I think the experts now say we should keep the outstretched arms as still as possible so as to spear through the water - I've never had much success with that, preferring to press the arms down through about 10 degrees at the start of each upbeat, so as to press on the water and get some momentary leverage to raise the next part of the body (shoulders!) - I think it's a good idea to exhale a few bubbles of stale air on each downbeat, that gives you something to concentrate on doing, instead of random or continuous exhalation - as a 76 year old chap not in the best of health, I can still manage 20m underwater body dolphining before needing to surface, spluttering out the remains of stale air - a younger/fit person should be able to do a bit more (USA Navy Seals, with feet and wrists tied have to do 50m I think - but don't try that please!!!).
Underwater reverse body dolphin - i.e. on the back - essential for back-crawlers - basically the same action as when on the tum - I don't like doing this much because it's difficult to assess how well one is progressing (on the tum, you can at least see the floor tiles pass by!)
With underwater body dolphin, it's a good idea to "corkscrew around" changing your orientation from time to time - sometimes on the back, side, or tum! That may help you when you do a flip turn, ending up with feet planted on the wall about a 12 inches apart and at about 45 degrees off the vertical. You can then push-off with a body dolphin action partly on the side, and rotate onto your tum as you continue with body dolphin until ready for your first front crawl stroke at break-out. (I think the "non-body-dolphiners" push off and tuck the "top" lower leg behind the "lower" one, that "tucking" action causes one to rotate towards the desired position, then one "un-tucks" the crossed lower legs and starts proper flutter kicking.)
There is one other drill which I think is very helpful - Michael does the "distance and balance drill" - in outstretched position, legs together arms spread a little in front, he sculls gently while doing very shallow undulations (which do in fact, move one forward!) - then when he is happy and he feels well up on the surface, he does a single full fly stroke - then repeats the shallow undulation/sculling etc etc. Having seen how he could progress just by "rippling along" I like doing that as a separate drill, turning the head to the side and doing a small sideways scull to clear my mouth above the water for inhalations!
Hope the above helps! Best wishes for your progress.
Bye / Don
I know it's a bit pricey but I reckon you can't do better than buy (or hire?) the USA 'Swim Fast' DVD "Butterfly", featuring (a much younger!) Michael Phelps and his coach Bob Bowman. On that DVD a lot of time is spent on demonstrating drills involving body dolphin - side dolphin on the surface, body dolphin on the back at the surface, underwater reverse dolphin, vertical body dolphin, one-arm fly etc, etc, (he doesn't cover underwater body dolphin on the 'tum' - but starts each drill with a push-off doing that). You will never regret the outlay - the sheer grace of Michael's demos is fantastic - of course his size 11 flippers give him quite an advantage over us lesser mortals!
Mention of "lesser mortals" would include my efforts to emulate what Michael does - I only mention the following (re: the drills) as a very rough indication of what an ordinary chap, can do if not blessed with good buoyancy and much vigour etc!
Doing side dolphin drill on the surface with one arm extended in front and the other kept by the side - if you have a strong downbeat, your face may break the surface for an instant in order to make a quick inhalation - otherwise, just do it exhaling over a short distance, then have a "breather"!
Reverse surface drill on the back with arms outstretched in line with body - again,your face may break the surface for a quick inhalation if you've got a strong downbeat (which means kicking towards the ceiling in this case!) - otherwise, do as for the side drill above!
As immediately above, but with both arms at the side - this is much easier for doing an inhalation, since your head is sure to break the surface for an instant on the kick downbeats! In that short instant, notice the wave rippling towards your head, as the torso, thighs, then lower legs undulate (I think thats what Maglischo in "Fastest Swimming" meant by a "reverse body wave" helping propulsion (although we only see the surface manifestation of that)!
Vertical dolphin - well few of us could possibly do what Michael does - he rises out of the water like a performing dolphin doing a display - you will, I think, be lucky to rise an inch or two above the surface, unless having an exceptionally strong kick!
Underwater body dolphin on the 'tum' - I think the experts now say we should keep the outstretched arms as still as possible so as to spear through the water - I've never had much success with that, preferring to press the arms down through about 10 degrees at the start of each upbeat, so as to press on the water and get some momentary leverage to raise the next part of the body (shoulders!) - I think it's a good idea to exhale a few bubbles of stale air on each downbeat, that gives you something to concentrate on doing, instead of random or continuous exhalation - as a 76 year old chap not in the best of health, I can still manage 20m underwater body dolphining before needing to surface, spluttering out the remains of stale air - a younger/fit person should be able to do a bit more (USA Navy Seals, with feet and wrists tied have to do 50m I think - but don't try that please!!!).
Underwater reverse body dolphin - i.e. on the back - essential for back-crawlers - basically the same action as when on the tum - I don't like doing this much because it's difficult to assess how well one is progressing (on the tum, you can at least see the floor tiles pass by!)
With underwater body dolphin, it's a good idea to "corkscrew around" changing your orientation from time to time - sometimes on the back, side, or tum! That may help you when you do a flip turn, ending up with feet planted on the wall about a 12 inches apart and at about 45 degrees off the vertical. You can then push-off with a body dolphin action partly on the side, and rotate onto your tum as you continue with body dolphin until ready for your first front crawl stroke at break-out. (I think the "non-body-dolphiners" push off and tuck the "top" lower leg behind the "lower" one, that "tucking" action causes one to rotate towards the desired position, then one "un-tucks" the crossed lower legs and starts proper flutter kicking.)
There is one other drill which I think is very helpful - Michael does the "distance and balance drill" - in outstretched position, legs together arms spread a little in front, he sculls gently while doing very shallow undulations (which do in fact, move one forward!) - then when he is happy and he feels well up on the surface, he does a single full fly stroke - then repeats the shallow undulation/sculling etc etc. Having seen how he could progress just by "rippling along" I like doing that as a separate drill, turning the head to the side and doing a small sideways scull to clear my mouth above the water for inhalations!
Hope the above helps! Best wishes for your progress.
Bye / Don
Last edited by Don Wright on Mon Oct 08, 2012 10:40 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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Re: DOLPHIN KICKS...NOT?
by dinghar » Mon Oct 08, 2012 10:31 pm
Don,
Wow. 76? 20m dolphining underwater? Glad that you've given me a 32 year cushion to achieve that.
I will look into the DVD. Thanks for your detailed advice. You anticipated my follow-up question re: exhaling. I believe that SwimSmooth seems to be of the continuous exhalation school, so it helps me to consider that letting it slowly slip out might still qualify as exhalation. If I understand correctly, exhalation serves the dual purpose of keeping proper buoyancy balance while helping one to achieve relaxation. In my case, exhalation can actually induce stress, as I get panicky worrying about when I will be able to inhale again, so holding my breath (when I am underwater for "longer" periods -- for me 5-10m qualifies as such) can be a stress deterrent. I will have to try leaking bubbles out slowly... I posted a while back about "humming" (which I still do having learned as a child) vs. silent exhalation. I have a feeling that the silent option is more conducive to slow leakage.
Swimmingly, dinghar
Wow. 76? 20m dolphining underwater? Glad that you've given me a 32 year cushion to achieve that.
I will look into the DVD. Thanks for your detailed advice. You anticipated my follow-up question re: exhaling. I believe that SwimSmooth seems to be of the continuous exhalation school, so it helps me to consider that letting it slowly slip out might still qualify as exhalation. If I understand correctly, exhalation serves the dual purpose of keeping proper buoyancy balance while helping one to achieve relaxation. In my case, exhalation can actually induce stress, as I get panicky worrying about when I will be able to inhale again, so holding my breath (when I am underwater for "longer" periods -- for me 5-10m qualifies as such) can be a stress deterrent. I will have to try leaking bubbles out slowly... I posted a while back about "humming" (which I still do having learned as a child) vs. silent exhalation. I have a feeling that the silent option is more conducive to slow leakage.
Swimmingly, dinghar
- dinghar
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Re: DOLPHIN KICKS...NOT?
by Don Wright » Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:07 am
Hi again "dinghar"!
There was one glaring omission from the drills I commented on, and I had a sleepless night thinking about it. Felt like the old famous composer who used to have his specs and music manuscript by his bedside in case he had any bright ideas in the night, and needed to get them down on paper quickly while the ideas were still fresh! I nearly got up and switched my PC on to rectify the omission!
I was busy in my first post thinking about the drills on the DVD I mentioned, but before coming across that, my main source was Maglischo's "Swimming Fastest" (now a bit "dated") and I avidly read much of the stuff on technique and tried to put it into practice - well as far as I could anyway! This "omission" of mine was the first real fly drill that I ever used and is basically fundamental to swimming the full stroke, and helps comprehend the part that body undulation plays.
"SolarEnergy" calls it the "0-arm" fly drill, but that name suggests the arms play no part in the action - which is not strictly true because they do still have a minor role to perform! I just think of it as practice for the major kick of the full stroke. ...
( The minor kick comprises the leg upbeat done as the arms recover over the water, and its downbeat as the arms enter the water so as to offset the pushing drag of the arms which have just entered. There is very little place for any body undulation in this minor kick - it would badly destroy body balance. By contrast, the major kick, is of much bigger amplitude and is the kick where undulation plays a principal part, it follows smoothly on from the downbeat of that first minor kick done after the arms entered the water following recovery. )
... It starts by getting into a prone position on the surface (i.e. on the tum!), with legs together and arms outstretched ahead shoulder width apart. (As an aside I need to tell you that whatever part of the body is foremost - head or arms - that is the part which must be used to start an undulation, by pressing down slightly into the water to get a very "temporary anchor", to help "lever" the next following part of the body upwards!) Press the arms and head as one unit down slightly - I often say this is a bit like "nodding" ones head into the water as if "heading" a soft ball. You then proceed to effectively "hump the back" starting from the shoulders or shoulder blades area, progressively working down the spine in a rolling action (you don't need to do it fast!). Your head which should have been kept level with the arms so far, should as your hips reach the highest point of the action, be raised slightly to look ahead - i will say a bit more about this later!!!! You should find the head and arms have descended to a lower level and your back, then legs, have "curled" upwards a bit, so that your feet end up near the surface - this is the upbeat! Don't let the lower legs curl back more than the tiniest bit (sometimes called "displaying the dolphin's fluke!"), otherwise they will cause drag! (if you were doing the full stroke, your upper arms would be at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock, with the forearms dangling downwards. Your body position would be similar to that of a scorpion - so I call this the "scorpion position"). You should have noticed the floor tiles move past quite a bit as the result of this upbeat - the more deliberate and "fish-like" you make the rolling action of the back - the more distance forward the upbeat should provide. Don't "do your back in" by putting too much muscular effort into the action - take care of the back and you could still be doing this sort of stuff at my age!
You are now ready to do the powerful downbeat if doing the full stroke, but for the drill just make it a steady action. (You can actually get away with doing it slowly and see how far you move!) With the feet up near the surface you throw your thighs forward at a moderate angle (if you overdo it, you create too much drag!), and follow that by beginning to flick the lower legs down. As the lower legs flick down the upper legs (thighs) move upwards - all done in a flowing smooth "re-bounding" action. That downbeat (which can almost be thought of as starting with a quick tensing of the abs if you want to add a bit of power to things) should bring the upper part of your body up to the surface again, and at that point you should do a quick little sideways scull of the hands to create another "momentary anchor", enabling your arms to help in getting your mouth above the water for inhalation. At all other times, as SS advise, you should be exhaling into the water when your face is in the water! Well that's it - I hope it makes sense to you -its much easier to do than describe!
If you refer back to my earlier post in which I commented on the "Reverse body dolphin done on the surface with arms at the sides", I mentioned there, that as the lower part of the body undulated and the lower legs flicked up towards the ceiling - your head would break the surface and you should be able to see a small surface wave coming towards your head - Maglischo's "reverse body wave" possibly helping propulsion. Well that same business applies in this drill, and is the reason you need to raise your head slightly as the hips reach the highest point in the upward undulation that is the upbeat. I reckon that at that stage you have created a sort of rolling wedge of water - an underwater "reverse body wave" - that is pushing towards the front of your body! Well and good! - give the wave something to push against - the back of your head!!! So, that should help forward propulsion!
If you're interested in doing a bit more, then by adding a bit of the full stroke action using just one arm while holding the other outstretched ahead, you can get a lot of pleasure. ("SolarEnergy" calls it the 1-arm fly drill!) It is probable easier doing almost a front crawl arm action for that - don't hurry the downsweep, do an almost semi-circular pull with forearm pointing to the bottom, to bring the upper arm close to the ribs, then tilt your body away from the stroking arm as you do the upsweep mainly with the forearm - inhale with your head turned to the side during the strong upsweep! (I prefer to look more towards the front with my head tilted a bit, 'cos that is closer to the front breathing position of the full stroke. The arm upsweep will bring your head sufficiently high to permit doing that.)
I've included below an extract from one of "SolarEnergy"'s old posts, with 2 clips of him showing how to do his 0-arm drill (+ a bit of 1-arm) : -
[EXTRACT >]"...
... On the first clip, you see a slow execution [OF 0-ARM] ending with the integration of one-arm. On the second clip, you see a fast execution of the [0-ARM] drill that resulted in a 50m kick done in 41sec flat....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p15jmC95ZI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnxvdnu3Bn0
..."[< EXTRACT]
Whatever you do in the fly drills, or in the full stroke if you try that - aim to make all movements as "fish-like" as possible - then you won't go far wrong!
Best wishes! _Bye / Don
There was one glaring omission from the drills I commented on, and I had a sleepless night thinking about it. Felt like the old famous composer who used to have his specs and music manuscript by his bedside in case he had any bright ideas in the night, and needed to get them down on paper quickly while the ideas were still fresh! I nearly got up and switched my PC on to rectify the omission!
I was busy in my first post thinking about the drills on the DVD I mentioned, but before coming across that, my main source was Maglischo's "Swimming Fastest" (now a bit "dated") and I avidly read much of the stuff on technique and tried to put it into practice - well as far as I could anyway! This "omission" of mine was the first real fly drill that I ever used and is basically fundamental to swimming the full stroke, and helps comprehend the part that body undulation plays.
"SolarEnergy" calls it the "0-arm" fly drill, but that name suggests the arms play no part in the action - which is not strictly true because they do still have a minor role to perform! I just think of it as practice for the major kick of the full stroke. ...
( The minor kick comprises the leg upbeat done as the arms recover over the water, and its downbeat as the arms enter the water so as to offset the pushing drag of the arms which have just entered. There is very little place for any body undulation in this minor kick - it would badly destroy body balance. By contrast, the major kick, is of much bigger amplitude and is the kick where undulation plays a principal part, it follows smoothly on from the downbeat of that first minor kick done after the arms entered the water following recovery. )
... It starts by getting into a prone position on the surface (i.e. on the tum!), with legs together and arms outstretched ahead shoulder width apart. (As an aside I need to tell you that whatever part of the body is foremost - head or arms - that is the part which must be used to start an undulation, by pressing down slightly into the water to get a very "temporary anchor", to help "lever" the next following part of the body upwards!) Press the arms and head as one unit down slightly - I often say this is a bit like "nodding" ones head into the water as if "heading" a soft ball. You then proceed to effectively "hump the back" starting from the shoulders or shoulder blades area, progressively working down the spine in a rolling action (you don't need to do it fast!). Your head which should have been kept level with the arms so far, should as your hips reach the highest point of the action, be raised slightly to look ahead - i will say a bit more about this later!!!! You should find the head and arms have descended to a lower level and your back, then legs, have "curled" upwards a bit, so that your feet end up near the surface - this is the upbeat! Don't let the lower legs curl back more than the tiniest bit (sometimes called "displaying the dolphin's fluke!"), otherwise they will cause drag! (if you were doing the full stroke, your upper arms would be at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock, with the forearms dangling downwards. Your body position would be similar to that of a scorpion - so I call this the "scorpion position"). You should have noticed the floor tiles move past quite a bit as the result of this upbeat - the more deliberate and "fish-like" you make the rolling action of the back - the more distance forward the upbeat should provide. Don't "do your back in" by putting too much muscular effort into the action - take care of the back and you could still be doing this sort of stuff at my age!
You are now ready to do the powerful downbeat if doing the full stroke, but for the drill just make it a steady action. (You can actually get away with doing it slowly and see how far you move!) With the feet up near the surface you throw your thighs forward at a moderate angle (if you overdo it, you create too much drag!), and follow that by beginning to flick the lower legs down. As the lower legs flick down the upper legs (thighs) move upwards - all done in a flowing smooth "re-bounding" action. That downbeat (which can almost be thought of as starting with a quick tensing of the abs if you want to add a bit of power to things) should bring the upper part of your body up to the surface again, and at that point you should do a quick little sideways scull of the hands to create another "momentary anchor", enabling your arms to help in getting your mouth above the water for inhalation. At all other times, as SS advise, you should be exhaling into the water when your face is in the water! Well that's it - I hope it makes sense to you -its much easier to do than describe!
If you refer back to my earlier post in which I commented on the "Reverse body dolphin done on the surface with arms at the sides", I mentioned there, that as the lower part of the body undulated and the lower legs flicked up towards the ceiling - your head would break the surface and you should be able to see a small surface wave coming towards your head - Maglischo's "reverse body wave" possibly helping propulsion. Well that same business applies in this drill, and is the reason you need to raise your head slightly as the hips reach the highest point in the upward undulation that is the upbeat. I reckon that at that stage you have created a sort of rolling wedge of water - an underwater "reverse body wave" - that is pushing towards the front of your body! Well and good! - give the wave something to push against - the back of your head!!! So, that should help forward propulsion!
If you're interested in doing a bit more, then by adding a bit of the full stroke action using just one arm while holding the other outstretched ahead, you can get a lot of pleasure. ("SolarEnergy" calls it the 1-arm fly drill!) It is probable easier doing almost a front crawl arm action for that - don't hurry the downsweep, do an almost semi-circular pull with forearm pointing to the bottom, to bring the upper arm close to the ribs, then tilt your body away from the stroking arm as you do the upsweep mainly with the forearm - inhale with your head turned to the side during the strong upsweep! (I prefer to look more towards the front with my head tilted a bit, 'cos that is closer to the front breathing position of the full stroke. The arm upsweep will bring your head sufficiently high to permit doing that.)
I've included below an extract from one of "SolarEnergy"'s old posts, with 2 clips of him showing how to do his 0-arm drill (+ a bit of 1-arm) : -
[EXTRACT >]"...
... On the first clip, you see a slow execution [OF 0-ARM] ending with the integration of one-arm. On the second clip, you see a fast execution of the [0-ARM] drill that resulted in a 50m kick done in 41sec flat....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p15jmC95ZI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnxvdnu3Bn0
..."[< EXTRACT]
Whatever you do in the fly drills, or in the full stroke if you try that - aim to make all movements as "fish-like" as possible - then you won't go far wrong!
Best wishes! _Bye / Don
- Don Wright
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- Joined: Sat Nov 27, 2010 11:06 pm
Re: DOLPHIN KICKS...NOT?
by dinghar » Mon Oct 22, 2012 5:28 am
Don,
Thanks for the detailed follow up... Sorry that the provocation caused you to lose sleep! I've been on the road a lot lately and haven't had much time for the forum, but know that I will most certainly try out your suggestions and get back to you with feedback when I'm able.
dinghar
Thanks for the detailed follow up... Sorry that the provocation caused you to lose sleep! I've been on the road a lot lately and haven't had much time for the forum, but know that I will most certainly try out your suggestions and get back to you with feedback when I'm able.
dinghar
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- Joined: Fri Sep 14, 2012 3:20 pm
Re: DOLPHIN KICKS...YES!
by SharkFM » Tue Oct 23, 2012 6:29 am
I spent the weekend actually working on the FLY it's an amazing stroke. Those NAD by Charles are cool. I was doing similar sort of drills. In the end I got the Fly to work with very little effort from the arms.
Now the thoughts or question I have is to me Freestyle is 1/2 Butterfly and split down the middle. I think an active core similar to what Charles did there (but more subtle) will produce a faster freestyle.
Freestyle: To breathe the head is at its highest level and thus the hips go down, then the head submerges, hips goes up - forming a fly type movement within the Freestyle stroke. I am going to look out for this tomorrow.
Now the thoughts or question I have is to me Freestyle is 1/2 Butterfly and split down the middle. I think an active core similar to what Charles did there (but more subtle) will produce a faster freestyle.
Freestyle: To breathe the head is at its highest level and thus the hips go down, then the head submerges, hips goes up - forming a fly type movement within the Freestyle stroke. I am going to look out for this tomorrow.
-
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Re: DOLPHIN KICKS...NOT?
by Don Wright » Tue Oct 23, 2012 6:53 am
Hi "SharkFM"!
I think you may end up disappointed at the result of trying to apply a bit of dolphin undulation to your front crawl stroke. "cottmiler" introduced a topic "Loper Drill" a short while ago for front-crawlers - and I "latched on to it" with the idea that since my crawl leg flutter is relatively weak, a bit of dolphin undulation might help - it didn't! The clip "cottmiler" pointed us to, showed the front-crawlers almost nodding their heads into the water to get the vigorous action started - and it's that "nodding the head into the water" action, that reminded me of how one starts a dolphin undulation. Unfortunately, it's "messy" trying to do a bit of crawl flutter kicking with the legs acting separately, combined with dolphin undulation. The "crunch" thing, was that the whole action was definitely slower than normal front crawl! For speed, I don't think you can beat the standard approach of trying to keep the body as horizontal and steady as possible in front crawl.
Even Bob Bowman, Phelps coach, said of the butterfly stroke that despite the undulation, the over-riding aim was to keep the body high in the water for max propulsion (well not exactly in those words, but close enough!) - that is why Phelps does the "Distance and Balance Drill" with his body just "rippling along" high up on the surface, before taking a single fly stroke, then back to the "rippling along" business until he reckons his horizontal balance is OK to take another stroke again. You know from your experience of trying fly, that the fly arm recovery, with both arms energetically swinging forwards past the shoulder line, is going to drive your front end down considerably, into the water - the amazing thing I noted on the DVD I mentioned, is that Phelps manages to leave his hands high up near the surface despite the deep forward plunge of the upper torso - before, as Bowman says, If I remember rightly, "driving immediately into the outsweep!
Bye / Don
I think you may end up disappointed at the result of trying to apply a bit of dolphin undulation to your front crawl stroke. "cottmiler" introduced a topic "Loper Drill" a short while ago for front-crawlers - and I "latched on to it" with the idea that since my crawl leg flutter is relatively weak, a bit of dolphin undulation might help - it didn't! The clip "cottmiler" pointed us to, showed the front-crawlers almost nodding their heads into the water to get the vigorous action started - and it's that "nodding the head into the water" action, that reminded me of how one starts a dolphin undulation. Unfortunately, it's "messy" trying to do a bit of crawl flutter kicking with the legs acting separately, combined with dolphin undulation. The "crunch" thing, was that the whole action was definitely slower than normal front crawl! For speed, I don't think you can beat the standard approach of trying to keep the body as horizontal and steady as possible in front crawl.
Even Bob Bowman, Phelps coach, said of the butterfly stroke that despite the undulation, the over-riding aim was to keep the body high in the water for max propulsion (well not exactly in those words, but close enough!) - that is why Phelps does the "Distance and Balance Drill" with his body just "rippling along" high up on the surface, before taking a single fly stroke, then back to the "rippling along" business until he reckons his horizontal balance is OK to take another stroke again. You know from your experience of trying fly, that the fly arm recovery, with both arms energetically swinging forwards past the shoulder line, is going to drive your front end down considerably, into the water - the amazing thing I noted on the DVD I mentioned, is that Phelps manages to leave his hands high up near the surface despite the deep forward plunge of the upper torso - before, as Bowman says, If I remember rightly, "driving immediately into the outsweep!
Bye / Don
Last edited by Don Wright on Tue Oct 23, 2012 7:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: DOLPHIN KICKS...NOT?
by SharkFM » Tue Oct 23, 2012 7:07 am
I think it may be as subtle as head position and tension in the core.
What leads me to this is the following:
Aside from the breath, the head is buried, phelps, sun yang etc.
A lot of casuals, not so
Getting a sore back, getting the hips up head down helps this and also I can feel the drag reduction.
I've been studying video and have not seen glaring evidence but I think there can still be the effect there, more so in distance work like Sun Yang - he's worming his way through the water... hard to detect but he's swimming overlaid on a "perpetual motion" wave, free speed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvM3JYC- ... re=related
What leads me to this is the following:
Aside from the breath, the head is buried, phelps, sun yang etc.
A lot of casuals, not so
Getting a sore back, getting the hips up head down helps this and also I can feel the drag reduction.
I've been studying video and have not seen glaring evidence but I think there can still be the effect there, more so in distance work like Sun Yang - he's worming his way through the water... hard to detect but he's swimming overlaid on a "perpetual motion" wave, free speed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvM3JYC- ... re=related
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SharkFM - Posts: 104
- Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 4:55 am
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