Fast underwaters are essential for success on race day.
While the critical importance varies depend on race distance–50 specialists, for example, can swim up to ~60% of the race under the surface–fast underwaters are an asset for quick starts and turns.
Training the underwater dolphin kick means:
- A powerful upkick
- Undulation that creates a smooth and powerful bodywave
- Power to kick hard and fast
This simple dolphin kick set checks all three of those boxes.
This set is part of our series on developing faster underwaters. Read our main guide on how to improve the underwater dolphin kick here.
Before we get into the set, here is what you will need to perform it:
- A pool.
- A bathing suit.
- About 10 minutes of your day.
- Two weeks of consistent application.
- A hearty attitude for hilariously powerful underwater kicking.
- A pair of DragSox, or two ratty t-shirts will do if you don’t feel like throwing down $30 for the DragSox.
- Short fins.
The set is simple, and can be done at the end of your workout, before the main set, after warm-up, or whatever. It can be done as a bonus set in addition to the workout your coach prescribes.
My suggestion? Do it as a pre-main set so that your underwater fly kick game is on point for the main set.
(The whole point of improving the UDK is to apply it to the high paced, quality work in your swimming so that it is relevant to competition speeds. Having a beautiful UDK is nice, but if it’s not hauling you from one end of the pool to the other faster than your swimming speed than there isn’t much use to it.)
After doing this set 7 times over the course of two weeks here is what I noticed:
- It was much easier to kick out further with my underwaters.
- Developed a much greater feel for the water with my feet.
- Combined with consistent ankle-loosening work before practice I was soon getting a fuller feeling range of motion. (Fuller is just about the only word I can find to describe it. You’ll know what I mean after doing the set even just once or twice.)
- The power in my kick improved noticeably. The snap of the toes is snappier, the whip motion from the hips markedly stronger.
- My streamline feels extra gangster. The extra resistance that comes with the DragSox forces you to really really tighten up your arms into your head.
With the set, feel free to play around with the specifics. The interval or number of reps isn’t set in stone. The interval was designed to get :15 seconds of rest after each 25, but if you feel like that isn’t enough, take more.
Remember, the main focus during the set is to explode off the walls and hammer those dolphin kicks and get to the 15m/y mark as fast as possible.
Here is the set:
20×25 @:35
- FAST underwater dolphin kick to 15m (12.5m okay for when not wearing fins)
- Wearing DragSox for all of them.
- Wear fins for the last 10.
- Alternate on front and on back by 25.
- Streamline must be tight and legit.
And that’s it.
Simple, really.
If you have never used DragSox before I couldn’t recommend them enough. The drag they add to your legs force them to work overtime in a form of resistance that is extremely swim-specific and hard to duplicate otherwise.
And more importantly, when you take them off and swim a lap at even moderately high speed you will feel like someone strapped a jetpack to your back.
Win!
The Ultimate Guide to Faster Dolphin Kicking
Want help leveling up your underwater dolphin kick? The Dolphin Kick Manual is the ultimate resource for helping swimmers and swim coaches develop a world-class underwater dolphin kick.
The Dolphin Kick Manual is a beastly 240+ pages of actionable insights and research into elite dolphin kicking technique and performance. It details everything from mastering undulation to vortex recapturing to structuring a dryland program for dolphin kicking success.
It combines evidence-based insights with a collection of 20 ready-to-go sets and a 6-week Action Plan to help swimmers set a course for dolphin kicking success.
Train smarter and kick faster.
