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Mastering the Dolphin Kick: Techniques for Effortless Speed
Mastering the Dolphin Kick: Techniques for Effortless Speed
Are you stuck learning dolphin kick? The dolphin kick is a fundamental element of the butterfly stroke; however, it's also widely used in other strokes. Once you master the technique, it takes your swimming to the next level and makes you a superior swimmer.
In this blog post, I will outline the basics of a dolphin kick, explain some of its biomechanics, and give you the best drills for mastering this technique.
Read till the end to learn how and where to apply it across all strokes.
Let's dive in!
Read till the end to learn how and where to apply it across all strokes.
Let's dive in!
PART 1
What is the Dolphin Kick?
The dolphin kick is a wavelike, undulating movement that pushes swimmers forward by generating power from the hips and transferring it into the core and legs. Though primarily used in the butterfly stroke, it is effective underwater after starts or turns in freestyle and backstroke. While it may appear easy to mimic, executing the dolphin kick properly requires a high level of muscle coordination, strength, and timing.
Muscles Used in the Dolphin Kick
The dolphin kick is a full-body movement that depends on the strength of your core and lower body muscles. The primary active muscles involved in the underwater dolphin kicks technique include:
-
Core muscles:
Abs and lower back stabilize the body for effective undulation. -
Hip Flexors and Extensors:
The hip flexors and extensors drive the hips and legs in an undulating motion that is important in the dolphin kick. -
Quadriceps and hamstrings:
These muscles work hand-in-hand during the legs’ powerful upward and downward motions. -
Glutes:
The glutes add more power to the kick, especially during the downward phase. -
Calves and Feet Muscles:
The flexibility and strength of the feet and calves add the final propulsion that completes your kick.
Pro Tip: Incorporate frequent core-strengthening exercises like planks and leg raises to build strength outside the water. The stronger your core muscles, the more powerful your underwater dolphin kick will be.
~
PART 2
Mastering the Dolphin Kick
Think of the dolphin kick as a soft wave that moves throughout your body, from head to toe. Here's how dolphin kicks go:
1. Start with a Streamlined Position
What It Means: Suppose you are a pencil lying on the water.
How To Do It: Stretch both arms above your head, one hand on the other, squeezing your ears with your elbows. Keep your body straight out in a straight line.
Why It Matters: A streamlined body position significantly reduces drag, allowing you to easily cut through the water and focus more on the kick.
How To Do It: Stretch both arms above your head, one hand on the other, squeezing your ears with your elbows. Keep your body straight out in a straight line.
Why It Matters: A streamlined body position significantly reduces drag, allowing you to easily cut through the water and focus more on the kick.
2. Engage Your Core (Belly Muscles)
What It Means: Core muscles include the region around your tummy and lower back.
How To Do It: Now, imagine someone poking your belly button and you pulling it in to move away. This will help you to learn how to control your body, making your kicks a little stronger.
Why It Matters: This is like the "engine" of your Dolphin Kick. Strong core muscles help fly kick drive you through the water easily and quickly.
How To Do It: Now, imagine someone poking your belly button and you pulling it in to move away. This will help you to learn how to control your body, making your kicks a little stronger.
Why It Matters: This is like the "engine" of your Dolphin Kick. Strong core muscles help fly kick drive you through the water easily and quickly.
3. Lead with Your Hips, Not Your Knees
What It Means: The movement begins from your hips, just below your belly button, and not from your knees.
How To Do It: Start by gently pushing your hips up and down in one smooth-flowing motion. Imagine a cord on your hips gently pulling them up and then pulling them down like a small wave.
Why It Matters: Starting the kick from your hips helps to send the wave across the entire body, creating a faster, easier dolphin kick.
How To Do It: Start by gently pushing your hips up and down in one smooth-flowing motion. Imagine a cord on your hips gently pulling them up and then pulling them down like a small wave.
Why It Matters: Starting the kick from your hips helps to send the wave across the entire body, creating a faster, easier dolphin kick.
4. Let the Wave Flow Down to Your Knees
What It Means: Gently bend your knees as the wave from your hip goes down.
How To Do It: Bend your knees slightly as your hips move down. Avoid bending your knees too much, which creates more drag and slows you down.
Why It Matters: By slightly bending your knees, you help the wave from your hips to gently flow down without interrupting the rhythm.
How To Do It: Bend your knees slightly as your hips move down. Avoid bending your knees too much, which creates more drag and slows you down.
Why It Matters: By slightly bending your knees, you help the wave from your hips to gently flow down without interrupting the rhythm.
5. Point Your Toes and Let Your Feet Complete the Kick
What It Means: Your feet are the last part of the wave, and they should be pointing back - like a ballerina's - to help you glide.
How To Do It: Imagine drawing a line in the water with your toes, away from your body. As the wave reaches your feet, let them snap up and down in a small, controlled kick.
Why It Matters: Pointed toes create less drag and allow you to glide through the water smoothly, adding a little extra "push" with each kick.
How To Do It: Imagine drawing a line in the water with your toes, away from your body. As the wave reaches your feet, let them snap up and down in a small, controlled kick.
Why It Matters: Pointed toes create less drag and allow you to glide through the water smoothly, adding a little extra "push" with each kick.
6. Practice Rhythm: Up and Down, Smooth and Steady
What It Means: The dolphin kick is constant and rhythmic. It's not an up-and-down movement; it's more of a choreographed motion that pushes you through the water.
How to Do It: Imagine you are a dolphin smoothly swimming in the ocean. Move your hips, knees, and feet in a smooth, wavelike motion with an up-and-down rhythm.
Why It Matters: A smooth rhythm keeps you constantly moving without stopping. This will make you quicker and help you expend less energy.
How to Do It: Imagine you are a dolphin smoothly swimming in the ocean. Move your hips, knees, and feet in a smooth, wavelike motion with an up-and-down rhythm.
Why It Matters: A smooth rhythm keeps you constantly moving without stopping. This will make you quicker and help you expend less energy.
7. Breathe Steadily and Keep Your Head Still
What It Means: Breathing must be easy and relaxed as your head remains still.
How To Do It: If you’re practicing the dolphin kick on your stomach, keep your head aligned with the rest of your body. Slightly lift your head to breathe and avoid looking around.
Why It Matters: A steady head helps you stay streamlined, and relaxed breathing lets you practice longer without getting too tired.'
How To Do It: If you’re practicing the dolphin kick on your stomach, keep your head aligned with the rest of your body. Slightly lift your head to breathe and avoid looking around.
Why It Matters: A steady head helps you stay streamlined, and relaxed breathing lets you practice longer without getting too tired.'
~
Helpful Tips for Perfecting Your Dolphin Kicks
- 1
Practice Dolphin Kicking on Land:
You can imitate dolphin kicks on land by lying on your stomach and, from hips to toe, going through the motion. This will allow you to feel how the kicks should flow in the water. - 2
Use Fins For Extra Help:
Wear fins on your feet to make dolphin kicks easier to practice. Fins add propulsion, making the wave motion much more powerful. Adding that extra power for beginners can make learning the kick much easier to manage. - 3
Try Vertical Kicking:
The dolphin kick can be done standing upright in deep water. Although initially challenging, it will help you learn and perfect your kicking speed and power.
Focus on the kick without any forward motion and center yourself, moving your body up. A vertical body position will help you understand how the hips and legs work simultaneously to form a rhythmic dolphin kick. - 4
Focus on Short Efforts:
Doing short sets of dolphin kicks for 10-15 seconds will ensure you have enough energy to control every detail of the motion. Once you get used to the rhythm, you can practice longer efforts and underwater dolphin kicks.
PART 3
Building Strength and Flexibility for a Powerful Dolphin Kick
Dolphin kicks can be challenging, even for experienced swimmers. They require a different level of coordination, strength, and flexibility.
Most swimmers find the butterfly kick a little more complicated, primarily due to its unique core and hip rhythm, which generates power and propulsion.
Thankfully, with the right swimming drills and some stretching exercises, you're on your way to building up muscle control and flexibility to gain the most out of your dolphin kick.
The following are some ways to strengthen the body, increase flexibility, and make the dolphin kick feel less exhausting and more natural over time.
Most swimmers find the butterfly kick a little more complicated, primarily due to its unique core and hip rhythm, which generates power and propulsion.
Thankfully, with the right swimming drills and some stretching exercises, you're on your way to building up muscle control and flexibility to gain the most out of your dolphin kick.
The following are some ways to strengthen the body, increase flexibility, and make the dolphin kick feel less exhausting and more natural over time.
1. Core Strength for Dolphin Kick
The core powers the dolphin kick: your abs, obliques, and lower back. Without core strength, it's difficult to maintain the undulating motion that gives the kick its power. Strengthening these muscles will enable you to kick from your hips, where most of the power should come from, rather than relying too much on your legs.
Core Exercises to Try:
Planks:
Include forearm and side planks, which help stabilize your core for better control in the water.
Russian Twists:
This movement develops the obliques to give you that twisting action and control the waveform of the dolphin kick.
Lying Leg Raises:
Lie on your back, lifting your legs to engage your lower abs. This exercise will build strength to help you lift the hips during each kick.
Pro Tip: Remember, when it comes down to strength training, less is often more. Fewer repetitions done with slow, controlled movements usually work better at building proper core stability.
2. Hip Mobility: The Key to Smooth Movement
Many swimmers find the dolphin kick quite tricky because of their lack of mobility. Tight hip flexors or poor hip mobility can make this kick feel jerky or awkward.
Exercises for Hip Mobility and Flexibility:
Lunging Hip Flexor Stretch:
First, get into a lunge position with one foot in front of the other, then move your hips forward. This exercise will loosen up your hip flexors, making initiating the kick from your hips easier.
Seated Bending Forward:
This movement develops the obliques to give you that twisting action and control the waveform of the dolphin kick.
Butterfly Stretch:
Sit on the floor with your feet pressed together and knees bent out to the sides. Push your knees gently towards the ground for a deeper hip stretch.
3. Improve Ankle Mobility For a Better Push
The ankles must be flexible to decrease resistance and ensure a smooth flow in the water. Still, ankles create resistance, making it hard to reach the streamlined position required for a dolphin kick to be effective.
Ankle Mobility Exercises:
Ankle Circles:
Sit on the floor and extend one leg before you. Slowly make small circles with your ankle, first clockwise and then counterclockwise, to loosen the joint.
Toe Points and Flexes:
This exercise involves sitting and pointing the toes interchangeably, with their flexion. It promotes better ankle flexibility and control.
Calf Stretches:
These are done by standing and placing your hands on the wall. Put one foot back and another forward, pressing the heel to stretch the calf muscles. This exercise will improve ankle mobility.
Pro Tip: Do ankle mobility exercises every day. Flexible ankles will keep your toes pointed, cutting drag and making your dolphin kick stronger.
PART 4
The Dolphin Kick in Other Strokes
While the dolphin kick is a necessity for the butterfly stroke, there is some valuable purpose of it in other events:
Freestyle
In freestyle, swimmers use an underwater dolphin kick after a start or turn to gain momentum before breaking the surface and starting the stroke. The underwater dolphin kick is the most effective way of generating propulsion, and swimmers can cover a considerable distance in relatively short periods.
Backstroke
As in freestyle, competitive swimmers perform underwater dolphin kicks after the start and after turns in backstroke to gain speed. This way, the body can maintain a streamlined position and build momentum efficiently before returning to the stroke.
Why the Dolphin Kick is a Must-Learn for Every Swimmer
The path to mastering the dolphin kick is essential for any swimmer. Here's why:
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Competitive Advantage:
Dolphin kicks are widely used in competitive swimming, especially in the underwater segments, where swimmers strive to gain the highest speed to gain momentum of the first strokes after starts and turns. -
Improved Fitness and Core Strength:
The technique involves several large muscle groups, enhancing overall fitness and strength. Ultimately, this positively correlates with swimming performance. -
Improved Technique Across All Strokes:
Improving your dolphin kicks enhances other essential aspects of swimming performance, such as body alignment and rhythm.
Dive Deeper: Make the Dolphin Kick Your Secret Weapon in the Water
The dolphin kick is not just for the butterfly swimmers; it's a game-changing skill in every way possible. Whether racing at swimming competitions or just trying to get better at swimming, perfecting this technique is an excellent investment in your swimming journey. With consistent practice, a strong core, and correct technique, the dolphin kick will soon be your second nature.
Want to take your swimming to the next level? Get 10 free basic workouts to help you build a skill set on Danswim's website, and get an entire book of 50 unique workouts for each kind of swimmer. Dive into the water and find a much stronger, much faster you!
Want to take your swimming to the next level? Get 10 free basic workouts to help you build a skill set on Danswim's website, and get an entire book of 50 unique workouts for each kind of swimmer. Dive into the water and find a much stronger, much faster you!
About Author
Dan Novikov
Dan is an accomplished All-American and USA Masters swimmer, bringing over ten years of coaching experience to the pool. As a dedicated swim coach, Dan has a proven track record of helping swimmers of all ages and abilities achieve their goals.