Bicycle Kick

[dkatchalov]

What's interesting about these vids is the "modified flutter" which simply looks like a bicycle kick with the bottom of the kick ending flat. The frog is kind of hard to see. I'm assuming one needs to turn ones feet so the bottoms point towards each other?

Yes sort of. I also extend both legs as I do that and then return them to the perpendicular position (bent at the knees).

 

[kidspot]

What's interesting about these vids is the "modified flutter" which simply looks like a bicycle kick with the bottom of the kick ending flat. The frog is kind of hard to see. I'm assuming one needs to turn ones feet so the bottoms point towards each other?

similar in that much of the motion is at the knees, however there is very little hip movement and the ankle movement is the opposite of a bicycle kick ... nice kick to have at times, but I'd put it in the less useful basket for most recreational diving. Frog, Flutter, Backward and Helicopter (in that order IMHO) are all VERY useful for a wide variety of situations.


Aloha, Tim

 

[TSandM]

The problem with the bicycle kick is that a lot of the energy you are expending is flexing and extending your joints without causing your fins to "bite" into the water at all, so it isn't driving you forward. The difference between the bicycle and standard flutter kick is that, in the flutter kick, you keep the leg mostly straight, so all the force is transmitted to the fins. The problem with the flutter kick is that it directs the water off the fins pretty much directly downward, even if you are horizontal; if you are tilted at all up, it's even worse. The water coming off the fins goes downward and hits the bottom and can cause fine bottom materials to "explode" up in a cloud of silt.

The modified flutter, which is done with the knees kept bent and the feet above you, is a small kick which moves far less water. Some of that water IS directly downward, but from above your body and therefore further from the bottom. A delicately performed modified flutter will not disturb the bottom sediments very much. A well-performed frog or modified frog will disturb them even less, because the act of bringing the bottoms of the fins together behind you pushes the water out BEHIND, rather than down.

 

[Wasabi1264]

And please tell me that frog kicking is possible with these dang splits! Seriously, I wish I would have thought of that sooner, but unfortunately, you MUST buy mask fins and snorkel before you even begin. I think overall, the frog would seem to be easier for me based on what I feel I already can do. I'm going to try a lot of this in the pool this weekend and see how I can get along.

Thanks, everyone!

 

[Wasabi1264]

PS...I really appreciate how helpful SBers can be.

 

[RJP]

And please tell me that frog kicking is possible with these dang splits!

 

[TSandM]

Yes, you can frog kick in splits. But it's very difficult to LEARN the kick in soft fins, because they don't give you the feedback you get in paddle fins.

The good news is that you can e-bay the splits for enough to buy Jets

 

[rawls]

The Kinesis fins are not for bicycle kicking per se but do allow you some propulsion through the water column doing a bicycle kick. Part of the reason for this is there are some who have limited range of motion and cannot do the traditional kicks...

 

[japan-diver]

Except a bicycle kick requires more range of motion than a traditional flutter or frog in almost all joints/muscles involved.

Splits not to good with a frog kick- the stiffer split fins work a bit better.

 

[Colliam7]

It is definitely a new feeling and new grouping of physical skills.

I have always thought the frog kick was an 'acquired skill'. When I learned to dive, I initially used a flutter (actually I probably bicycled like many newbies), and actively forced myself to start using the frog when I went to a drysuit. Now, whether wet or dry, with Jets or Quattros, anything BUT a frog seems awkward. It is a different set of muscles, but once learned becomes natural and almost instinctive. Keep at it (and think about another pair of fins).