How I Improved My Underwater Dolphin Kick

The other day at practice a friend was saying how bad his underwater dolphin kick is. A couple of months ago I thought mine was too. I told myself over and over “There’s no way I can do a real underwater dolphin kick” or “I’ve been doing it the old way so long I don’t see how I can do it”.

That’s what I thought until I started practicing my underwater dolphin kick.

You CAN improve your underwater dolphin kick!

One of the most impressive things about elite swimmers are their powerful underwater dolphin kicks. To me they seem effortless. In reality they are years of hard work and practice in action.

Like any skill, dolphin kick requires practice. When I started my fall training a couple of months ago I made the decision I was going to improve my underwater dolphin kick. Just two months later I have gone from zero kicks to as many as 2 or 3 strong underwater dolphin kicks, depending on how tired I am.

In fact, when I’m swimming next to masters swimmers who I believe have good underwater dolphin kicks, I am keeping up with them. And sometimes I’m even coming out in front of them after my underwater dolphin! My practice times are the fastest they’ve been in the last few years as well.

If I can do it, anyone can. Really.

Here are five things I did to help me from having a non existent dolphin kick to a good one.

Decide – I decided I was going to have a strong underwater dolphin kick. Making a decision can change your life. And in this case it helped me create a powerful underwater dolphin kick.
Underwater dolphin kicks in warmum – I started doing underwater dolphin kicks in warmup. At first, it was just 1 or 2 here and there. I’ve built it to 3-5 per turn. During warmup my underwater dolphin kicks are slower and slightly exaggerated as I’m working on warming up and getting flexible.
Underwater dolphin kicks when I’m tired during sets – One of the hardest, but I think most important, changes I’ve made is that I make every attempt to do at least 2 underwater dolphin kicks when I’m tired during main sets. My natural instinct is to flutter kick and come up to breathe. But I try to avoid doing this and work my dolphin kick when I’m tired.
Practice underwater dolphin kicks with fins – I use Aqua Sphere fins and they are particularly good for underwater dolphin kick. They help me exaggerate my dolphin and loosen my back and hips. I incorporate some underwater dolphin kicking into most workouts using my fins.
Hard underwater dolphin kick work – At least 2-3 times a week I’ll finish my workout with some hard underwater dolphin kick sets. One example is 6 x 50’s, hard underwater dolphin for 15 meters, easy freestyle to the wall. I’ll do a strong turn with at least 3 strong dolphin kicks off the wall, then easy free back. 30-45 seconds rest. Repeat.

These are the changes I’ve made that have helped me go from no underwater dolphin kick to a good one. My practice times are faster and I feel great off my turns. I’m looking forward to continuing to improve and to see how my race times are affected.

What strategies have you used to help improve your underwater dolphin kick? Please comment below!