Kick styles
- Thread starter howler93
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
I like looking at things up close, so I frog kick almost exclusively. Nothing better than staying 6 inches off the floor and look under all the coral heads to see the really cool stuff.
Slamfire
Contributor
I like the mantis style six legged iron feet kick. It goes well with my kung fu.
At the surface...flutter kick and normally on my back in order to keep my head up, ears out and SMB vertical (if required). Down under...mainly frog kick because it normally require least amount of effort, maximize my bottom time, let me enjoy the scenery while letting me swim in close proximity of it and provides less chances (If done properly) to disturb both environment and fellow divers.
Which technique you use depends on what you're doing, the conditions in which you're diving, the fins you are wearing, and to a point, your own physical conditioning.
Me - like many guides in the warm water easy recreational diving stylee - I'm a super lazy finner. I frog-kick when I have to (like NetDoc I like cruising the bottom), I flutter when I need to (get best power from my fins that way), but mostly I use a lazy "scissor" sort of kick, or more generally speaking, my fins move this way or that way because at that point in time, that is the way in which they need to move.
Learn the techniques, use which is best for you or required for what you are doing at any given time.
Cheers
C.
Me - like many guides in the warm water easy recreational diving stylee - I'm a super lazy finner. I frog-kick when I have to (like NetDoc I like cruising the bottom), I flutter when I need to (get best power from my fins that way), but mostly I use a lazy "scissor" sort of kick, or more generally speaking, my fins move this way or that way because at that point in time, that is the way in which they need to move.
Learn the techniques, use which is best for you or required for what you are doing at any given time.
Cheers
C.
fire_diver
Contributor
When I went on a trip with my LDS a couple years ago, I was the only person using the frog kick. I could instantly pick myself out in any video or pic. While watching the video of the trip last month, half of the divers were using it. It started to be difficult to pick myself out. Lots of good trim and finning techniques showing up. Maybe it's starting to catch on.
seaducer
Contributor
I know where you are coming from with this, but I think you only have it partly right. A flutter kick is still going to direct water above and below the diver, so if you are close to a silty bottom you are going to move water into the bottom unless you are really barely moving. I agree many divers overdo it, but it is a kick that lends to more silting than a proper frog, which directs water almost straight back instead of down and back.
Me too. It's funny (at least to me) in the fitness tracker I use, scuba diving rates from 400-800 calories an hour...not when I am doing it...prolly use more calories sitting on my couch.
OP- I use a frog kick most of the time. It is more comfortable for me, allows more fine control for changing positions, doesn't silt, I can use my fins to stop and back up without changing position as much. It just feels right and does so many things.
I use a flutter kick in current, when I need to move fast, and sometimes when I just want to switch it up or stretch some muscles.
Flutter kicks when done properly use large muscles. That is one reason you can go fast for long distances. It also uses more O2 because you are using larger muscles even when not really exerting yourself. That may be one reason divers think they use more gas when flutter kicking.
Bob really nailed it, although I'd argue that the best flutter-kicking fins I've seen so far are the SeaWing Novas -- even the split fin people can't keep up with them!
Frog kick is definitely a poor choice against current or flow, because the glide phase just allows you to lose momentum, and acceleration is more energy-requiring than maintaining a steady speed.
Frog kick is definitely a poor choice against current or flow, because the glide phase just allows you to lose momentum, and acceleration is more energy-requiring than maintaining a steady speed.
You are quite right...but in the latter case, if I have no concern with the bottom (rocky, sandy, no marine life/coral/vegetation, etc) I will not even fin...I will adopt the best aerodynamic form, stabilize inches from the bottom and I will pull myself forward using my arms only. Much more effective and less strenuous. Otherwise I may have to flutter kick or plan the dive as a drift dive to start with.
It's nice to have numerous arrows in your quiver. When your legs are cramping from one type of kick, it's nice to able to switch to another kick.
I'm not a big fan of the frog. It's not really an efficient kick, as far a gas consumption is concerned, and the frog takes bit of practice to get it down efficiently.
The modified frog cannot be matched when it comes to precise maneuvering in tight spots.
The flutter cannot be matched for power, speed and endurance.
I have done some gas-consumption studies using a variety of speeds and kicks. Given that drag in water increases by a power of 4 with increasing speed, it is clear that the faster you go (regardless of the type of kick) the more gas you consume. I found that, for any given speed, I use the least amount of gas per distance traveled by using a lazy flutter kick.
As mentioned above, a good modified flutter is very efficient and has good anti-silting potential when done correctly.
The porpoise kick is really fun and is nice for a switch when you want to use a different set of muscles, but it's got to be used only in wide-open spaces since it's so... vigorous.
It's also nice to practice one-legged kicks, in case you ever find yourself in a situation when you've lost a fin or injured a leg.
Sculling-type kicks are useful for maintaining a steady position (you can scull forwards or backwards as needed to hold steady), and for helicopter turns.
And then there's the backwards kick, useful for maintaining position and stopping quickly. A must kick for photographers.
I'm not a big fan of the frog. It's not really an efficient kick, as far a gas consumption is concerned, and the frog takes bit of practice to get it down efficiently.
The modified frog cannot be matched when it comes to precise maneuvering in tight spots.
The flutter cannot be matched for power, speed and endurance.
I have done some gas-consumption studies using a variety of speeds and kicks. Given that drag in water increases by a power of 4 with increasing speed, it is clear that the faster you go (regardless of the type of kick) the more gas you consume. I found that, for any given speed, I use the least amount of gas per distance traveled by using a lazy flutter kick.
As mentioned above, a good modified flutter is very efficient and has good anti-silting potential when done correctly.
The porpoise kick is really fun and is nice for a switch when you want to use a different set of muscles, but it's got to be used only in wide-open spaces since it's so... vigorous.
It's also nice to practice one-legged kicks, in case you ever find yourself in a situation when you've lost a fin or injured a leg.
Sculling-type kicks are useful for maintaining a steady position (you can scull forwards or backwards as needed to hold steady), and for helicopter turns.
And then there's the backwards kick, useful for maintaining position and stopping quickly. A must kick for photographers.
Similar threads
