Proper kick technique?

[xScubaStephx]

your best option being an OW diver is the flutter kick. =]

 

[jbichsel]

I'm going for my final check out dive for open water tomorrow night. I've been thinking about this and that and it occurred to me that we were never taught how to kick. About all I know is that the kick should ideally come from the hips.

Doubtless, there are a hundred ways that work to varying degrees, but which kick or kicks work best? How much should I expect to work my ankles? Are there videos or illustrations to help?

It's a shame that many instructors leave students to fend for themselves on numerous skills, kicks being one of the main ones. But when you have instructors that bicycle kick and it's the only one they know........

As stated by others, the traditional flutter kick is most common, good for swimming against current, covering distance quickly and utilizing the largest muscles of the body: gluteus maximus (buttocks) and quadriceps (thigh). It is also the easiest since it is a close emulation of walking.

Once the proper flutter is mastered, you can modify the stroke in various ways to fit different needs/conditions. Practice and play with it.

However, as stated, if you are too close to a silt bottom, you can cause a silt out and visibility will suffer.

The frog kick is highly useful and can also be modified and varied to fit needs/conditions. The video link from SparticleBrane shows the traditional frog and again is something that needs practice and playing with.

As you gain experience and in water time, just try different things that you feel fit a given situation. Talk with more experienced divers and get them to work with you. Voice your concerns.

I find it sad that your instructor(s) didn't take the time to address such important skills during your training.

 

[TSandM]

One of the first things my mentor did when I started diving with him was to begin to fix my kick. I was already trying to emulate his trim -- horizontal body, knees bent, fins parallel with the bottom. He told me to do my kicking from my ankles, just small motions of the fins up and down. It was plenty of kick for the slow pace at which we did our dives, where we saw tons of sea life. What he was teaching me was basically the modified flutter kick, which is a non-silting kick you can use in narrow areas, but is also probably the easiest non-silting kick for a new diver to learn.

I don't think anybody can do a full-out all-leg flutter kick without disturbing the bottom, even if it's sand. And if you dive in silty conditions like lakes, quarries, or Puget Sound, a flutter kick leaves a cloud behind you that mars the dive for anybody after you.

 

[SparticleBrane]

I usually do the flutter kick, but since Im about to be cavern certified, I have been frog kicking, but in the ocean, it seems like, when you frog kick, your legs bow out at the knee, and when your hovering above the reef, you may hit some things. I was looking at my dad, and he was frog kicking, and i saw that he would sometimes hit things, that you wouldnt if you were using the flutter kick. There is another kick, called the shuffle. your knees are bent and you just flick your fins up and down. That was the best one to do, since i was doing a drift dive, which i must say, was preety awesome. Who are you getting certified with? You didnt have a book, telling you and showing you how to kick?

-Scuba Steph<33

If you are hitting things under you while "frog kicking" then you are not performing it correctly. Most likely you are dropping your knees; perhaps this will be sorted out in your cavern class. Also if your dad is hitting things, it might be time to back away from the reef a bit until he can get his buoyancy under better control.

 

[trucker girl]

Fantasy Lake

If you have Quicktime, check this out. It should give you a good sense of the size.

Thanks, that's cool!

 

[mtg]

Speak for yourself; the quarry I normally go to is 52-acres.

Where is that? sounds interesting!

nevermind - (read the thread, silly!)

 

[mtg]

One of the first things my mentor did when I started diving with him was to begin to fix my kick. I was already trying to emulate his trim -- horizontal body, knees bent, fins parallel with the bottom. He told me to do my kicking from my ankles, just small motions of the fins up and down. It was plenty of kick for the slow pace at which we did our dives, where we saw tons of sea life. What he was teaching me was basically the modified flutter kick, which is a non-silting kick you can use in narrow areas, but is also probably the easiest non-silting kick for a new diver to learn.

That is the way I kick in more confined spaces or where you may have wave action/current (think reef) that might make the larger frog kick hard to control around silt or fragile objects. For travel - basic flutter kick is best, if your legs get tired you can alternate - what is it - the dolphin? porpoise? Basically you keep both legs together and use your hips knees and ankles to get you through the water.

 

[serambin]

Someone on this board posted a link to a video of a style of kicking with your knees bent. I tried it and have been using it now for about a year. I looked for the post and can't find it. Someone help!

Stan

 

[TSandM]

Is THIS the video you had in mind?

 

[Matsya]

I have seen several kicks in which the knees are bent:

1. Frog kick
2. Modified frog kick
3. Modified flutter kick