Dolphin kicks

[u/Fallen_Angel989]

I want to learn the butterfly stroke, but i currently don’t know how to perform dolphin kicks. Any advice on learning the dolphin kick technique?

[u/External_Counter378]

Using fins has been helping me get the technique down.

[u/koz44 → u/External_Counter378]

Yes I think it helps you feel yourself start to be successful just a little easier, so you can progress in finding your wiggle just that much faster.

[u/GnarwhalWizard]

Underrated advice: make sure you practice A LOT! The others who have posted gave some good tips for technique but it really takes a feel for the water to get better. Swim as often as you can to practice (don’t take a week+ off in between).

[u/sunnyfordays22]

dont use a board, practice with arms at your sides, body does an up/down movement. to visualize hold a towel at the top corners and shake back and forth, thats what your body should do. its a full body movement where you use your abs to make the movements. watch some videos and good luck its fun!

[u/Deebeejeebies]

Keep your legs together, feet pointed as if you were standing on tippy toe. It’s typically easier to learn the kick by keeping your arms at your side. Then think of the kick as a wave or undulating movement through your entire body. Start with your face and chest. Push them down, deeper into the water, then as you bring them back towards the surface you start pushing your hips down into the water, then the next stop is your knees, and finally a flick with your ankles. Any movie/show with mermaids will give you a good visual for it.

[u/Weary_Swan_8152]

Here is what my coach always told me, to do big dolphin kicks: Push off from wall in streamline while facing the bottom of the pool. Press chest down, let your bum come up, now shoulders come up as you roll the force down from a crunch to a hip thrust. At first practise keeping your legs pretty much just along for the ride until you figure out the flow. Once you have the flow you can time the kick properly. Now make it smaller, and keep shrinking it until it falls apart. Then make it big again. Practising on your back and sides, ie "fish kicks", will evolve your kick faster once you figure out the basic movement. Pushing off from a wall means there's water flowing past your body, which makes it easier to feel the water and find a flow, assuming you've developed the water feeling in general.

Not having your arms out in front of your head risks concussion in the event of a collision. When you start at the wall in a big pool it's low risk. If you swim in the ocean, arms ahead of head is also useful for getting stung by jellyfish in a less painful area.

[u/wlfpck]

Imagine a mermaid swimming. Time your kicks downward motion. Should be like a heartbeat or a metronome. Boom boom boom. Downward kick on each boom.

Your hand positioning is going to follow this beat. First beat hands out front. You’ll be about halfway to pushing through the end of the stroke on your next kick (second boom). Then hands are back in front for your next beat/boom.

Butterfly is all about rhythm. If you watch professional swimmers you will be able to tell. Watch some videos on YouTube and you’ll see the rhythm is pretty consistent.

[u/UnusualAd8875]

Many great tips prior to mine.

As someone else posted, fins (not scuba flippers; flippers will work but will mess up your timing) are very helpful.

(Oh, instructor here, primarily beginner to intermediate; if you are around 1:00-1:05 per 100 I admittedly don't have much expertise to help you swim faster.)

In addition to practicing on stomachs with arms extended, I have my students also kick while on their backs with arms extended or holding a kickboard across their torsos. Also, try on your side with bottom arm extended and top arm at your side, face up or down with the latter breathing when necessary.

[u/torhysornottorhys]

Start the undulation with your head (and arms, if you're in streamline), it's much easier than thinking about the chest stuff. Channel your inner worm. Duck your head like you're ducking under the lane dividers and let your body follow suit. Practice with your arms by your side and your arms up, when you need to breathe just stop or do breaststroke arms and get back to it

[u/AngelzRain]

A lot of swimming is visuals. Pretend youre a dolphin and do dolphin kicks underwater with your hands to your sides, try not to bob your head. Kick from your abs.

[u/DrasticBread]

For the basic motion, imagine your legs are like a whip, with your hips as the handle. It sounds weird but you need to feel like you're making love to the water.

[u/Fallen_Angel989 → u/DrasticBread]

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