How kick /swim / fin backwards

[diveski01]

I couldn't get it until I tried it in a pool w/out any dive gear - just bare feet and a swimsuit. Then it finally came together in full scuba gear. Jet Fins are definitely the best for this kick.

What works for me:
If you have the soles of your feet against each other with knees bent (and far apart like MHK said) then force legs straight behind you then a quick swoop towards your shoulders at the end of it. I have to "talk" my way through each step of each kick. Allow some time between subsequent kicks to get back in position and to get the feel of it. After you get the feel of it then you can start to link subsequent kicks together for a more fluid motion.

If your trim is way off it'll never happen.

It takes constant practice!

 

[Big-t-2538]

MHK once bubbled...

Also, while you can kick backward in Quattro's, the longer and thinner blades tend to make the skill more difficult then it needs to be, by using a Jet fin you'll see the size, stiffness and pointed end of the blade will work in your favor..

Yeah, I remember watching my flimsy litte 30 dollar fins flop around on video when I tried my back kick....pretty funny really

Also, Raven...you don't want to drive the kick down...just your legs while your feet are pressed souls together. Imagine sitting on the floor legs down flat and the bottoms of your feet together.....that's how you want your feet to drive back & down. That way the fins "slice" through the water and won't push you forward.

Then you bring your legs out and around....which if you are horizontal will take you up as well....but we want to maintain a nice flat position in the water, so we look way up towards the sky.

I'm pretty sure that is as good as I can describe something on the keyboard....maybe MHK can correct anything I have made mistakes on....he sort of does this kick without any effort....he goes back just as fast as some can go forward....

 

[Raven C]

This really helps. I really have to work through the motion and your suggestions help.

I did find myself going up when in the horizontal position and I thought I was not holding my trim correctly. I was told that I should draw from the helicopter kick. That doesn't give me problems and I can turn just fin in a horizontal position. I was told that I am sorta doing half the frog kick and half the backwards kick but that concept didn't really seem to work for me since I was working to place the bottoms of me feet together and puch back. I am going to practice again in the pool this afternoon. I think I will use my original fins, they were US Divers but they are shorter and stiffer, and see what kind of difference that makes.

R

 

[ihunter]

I saw some video a while ago of some DIR divers doing a modified frog kick and actually going backwards. There was also a reference to the "helicopter kick" (swimming forward with one leg and backwards with the other).

I like and use the frog kick, but I tried to reverse it and wound up going backwards 3-4" and forwards 3-4", looking like a goofball.

Any pointers on these kicks?

 

[O-ring]

Be neutral, in good trim, and practice practice practice!

 

[ihunter]

...how do you get your feet to go horizontally backward in the water? Might sound stupid to ask bt could you post a step by step description of the kick?

Ian

 

[cyklon_300]

Mares fins, but it's a no-go with the Jets...grrrrr. Seems like the flexible blade make the manuever easier.

 

[Epinephelus]

I'll try...
Begin with legs fairly extended, fins together.
Now rotate your foot so that your toes are aimed out to either side - the fin blade is as "flat" as you can get it. Imagine you are standing in your fins, knees slightly bent and fin tips pointed out to the side.
Now, in one smooth swift motion, while keeping the fin blade in the same position, draw your legs forward and out, thus pulling water forward and propelling your body backwards - bring your legs together, "collapse" your fin blades and extend then aft again.
Repeat.
E.

 

[ihunter]

I have Genesis Trek splitfins. What are my odds? Frog kicks work fine with them...

 

[Big-t-2538]

ihunter once bubbled...
I have Genesis Trek splitfins. What are my odds? Frog kicks work fine with them...

probably about as good as me being sober for more than 7 days straight.....in one phrase "highly doubtful"