Hey BlueSparkle, don't worry about hijacking the OP's thread in this case. I believe we've answered the original question several times. A little more in depth explanation won't hurt.
I did misunderstand you a bit on fin orientation. On the power stroke the back kick is opposite of the frog kick.
On the back kick you still have your fins parallel to the surface on the power stroke more or less. You never try to orientate perpendicular like on the frog kick. Imagining the feel of your stroke, the scoop is very subtle and is done with the tips of your fins.
1) From your loading phase, imagine you trying to spread butter on two pieces of toast; This is the beginning of your power stroke (using the side walls to provide propulsion).
2) Before you reach the breaking point and doing the splits, bend your knees to raise your feet closer to your head. This adds a little lift on the tips of your fins. This is your scoop; you do it withOUT changing the orientation of your feet; move only your knees. Imagine yourself trying to lightly lift a Ping-Pong ball over your head (this is the first part of the circular motion some of use are trying to describe).
Your knees are moving your feet towards your head which gives you the forward and up movement of water from your fins. So there's no need to pivot your feet to direct water up during your scoop. (I say "up" in relation from the diver back to the surface. NOT from feet to head.)
As your feet return back to the GUE hover position you've now complete your first full back kick stroke. You're reset so to speak, now go back into the loading phase. This is the circular motion some divers relate to.
- Load by extending your legs
- Split
- Raise knees
- Reset
The whole time your feet are locked fluidly at your ankles. On your Reset they should be parallel with the surface.
You'll notice how most descriptions talk about feet being parallel with the surface but during the actual stroke description there's no reference to them. That's because during the stroke if you keep your feet locked they just naturally orientate and do what ever they need to do. So just focus on getting your feet near parallel with the surface in your hover phase and then lock them in place and forget about them during the back kick.
I did misunderstand you a bit on fin orientation. On the power stroke the back kick is opposite of the frog kick.
On the back kick you still have your fins parallel to the surface on the power stroke more or less. You never try to orientate perpendicular like on the frog kick. Imagining the feel of your stroke, the scoop is very subtle and is done with the tips of your fins.
1) From your loading phase, imagine you trying to spread butter on two pieces of toast; This is the beginning of your power stroke (using the side walls to provide propulsion).
2) Before you reach the breaking point and doing the splits, bend your knees to raise your feet closer to your head. This adds a little lift on the tips of your fins. This is your scoop; you do it withOUT changing the orientation of your feet; move only your knees. Imagine yourself trying to lightly lift a Ping-Pong ball over your head (this is the first part of the circular motion some of use are trying to describe).
Your knees are moving your feet towards your head which gives you the forward and up movement of water from your fins. So there's no need to pivot your feet to direct water up during your scoop. (I say "up" in relation from the diver back to the surface. NOT from feet to head.)
As your feet return back to the GUE hover position you've now complete your first full back kick stroke. You're reset so to speak, now go back into the loading phase. This is the circular motion some divers relate to.
- Load by extending your legs
- Split
- Raise knees
- Reset
The whole time your feet are locked fluidly at your ankles. On your Reset they should be parallel with the surface.
You'll notice how most descriptions talk about feet being parallel with the surface but during the actual stroke description there's no reference to them. That's because during the stroke if you keep your feet locked they just naturally orientate and do what ever they need to do. So just focus on getting your feet near parallel with the surface in your hover phase and then lock them in place and forget about them during the back kick.