Thoughts on my trim/frog kick?

[Kyle0692]

Hi all,

I've been reading the helpful posts on this forum and one of the recommendations that I read previously was to get a photo/video taken of yourself while swimming to help identify opportunities for improvement. So the other day I went to the pool at my local shop and did just that. I have been having some irritation in the inside of my left knee from frog kicking and I think I may see why now. I didn't realize it, but I am moving my legs inward quite a bit from the knee and my left fin is consistently higher than the right - may explain the discomfort I'm having.

I have a little more than 50 OW dives now and would appreciate any and all thoughts you guys have that would help me improve my trim/frog kick!

Thanks!

Kyle

Link to frog kick video -
Photo of my trim is attached from a side-view

 

[Graeme Fraser]

There really isn't a lot wrong with that my friend. If you've only done 50 OW dives, that standard of trim and buoyancy control is very impressive. Hell, I've dived with other tech instructors with worse!

If you're looking at tech in the future, quite a nice excercise is setting a timer at 18m, then ascending horizontally in 3m steps and holding for a minute at each level. This not only makes you think about your trim and buoyancy but also hitting the stops, especially in the shallows. Good training for deco. Shame to let talent go to waste.

Keep up the good work.

 

[northernone]

Hi all,

I've been reading the helpful posts on this forum and one of the recommendations that I read previously was to get a photo/video taken of yourself while swimming to help identify opportunities for improvement. So the other day I went to the pool at my local shop and did just that. I have been having some irritation in the inside of my left knee from frog kicking and I think I may see why now. I didn't realize it, but I am moving my legs inward quite a bit from the knee and my left fin is consistently higher than the right - may explain the discomfort I'm having.

I have a little more than 50 OW dives now and would appreciate any and all thoughts you guys have that would help me improve my trim/frog kick!

Thanks!

Kyle

Link to frog kick video -
Photo of my trim is attached from a side-view
View attachment 503134

Looking good. Glad you noticed the asymmetrical kick before you develop a habit. (An old injury perhaps?)

In support of your goal to improve, I'd recommend trying to add task loading. Trying to do something while holding trim and proper propulsion is a new challenge.

The second thing I noticed is your kick cycle seems very fast suggesting you're not gliding and as a result wasting efficiency that way.

Beyond that, keep at it! It's enjoyable to see people playing with their diving.

Are you headed towards cave diving?

Cameron

 

[1atm]

I’m not a tech instructor but have cave training, so take it for what it’s worth:

Your trim in the above is very good. If you want to check during the practice session without the video, that’s easy: just descend and see what part of your body touches the ground first. If it’s your belly, that means your trim is spot on.

Now the trick with trim (and buoyancy) comes into play when you’re task loaded. It’s somewhat easy to have good trim if you fully focus on it. Put it to the test and do something else, eg shoot an SMB. See if you stay in trim or if you drop out of trim.

The motion of the frog kick is good. You push water backwards (rather than downwards), which is a primary consideration in delicate environments. This could be silty caves or wrecks but also fragile corals. This part is very good.

Where I think you could do even better, is the efficiency angle of your frog kick. You kick a lot for comparitively little forward motion. I used to do the same, and my cave instructor would tell me that he does 1 kick for every 6 of mine ... I think you are in the same spot, and can make the kick much more efficient. Try stretching out the legs more at the end of the kick, and keep them stretched for a little while while you glide. This reduces drag and minimizes the counterforce of bringing the legs back. Also try to make the reset movement before the power stroke slower. You’ll probably find that you can go at the same speed with fewer kicks, and thus improved efficiency which also equals improved gas consumption.

But ... if you really want to learn this stuff well, especially before you ingrain any bad habits, I’d strongly recommend some form of foundational tech training. Even if you have no intention of going tech, you will learn a lot. I would of course recommend fundamentals, but there are also other options from other agencies (cant comment in detail as I havent taken these).

 

[1atm]

Looking at the video again, two more comments:

Your frog kick is almost half way to a modified frog kick. Keep the idea but develop it into the two distinct different versions.

When you turn ... you might want to look into the helicopter turn ;-) (you seem to be doing a half helicopter: you do the frog kick half, but not the back kick half with tbe other leg)

 

[Divectionist]

Trim is neat, the only thing you may be able to adjust is the dangling inflator. Yours is much longer than mine so I don't know whether you can effectively bungee it to your shoulder strap, but it drags a bit much for your otherwise clean configuration.

Re the locomotion, for a standard frog kick I'd glide two or three times longer after each kick, it's the most enjoyable part of it. Unless you are fighting a current, I don't think it is necessary to keep a linear movement, that is, don't be afraid to slow down before initiating another kick.

 

[rongoodman]

You might want to borrow a pair of stiffer fins to see how you like them. Yours look pretty soft. See if you can find a pair of Deep 6 Eddy fins, Slipstreams, or Dive Rites and see how they feel.

 

[Marie13]

Have to ask...why the lawn chair?

 

[Compressor]

Looks good. Congrats; much better than mine.
How did you get the video? Was there a tripod in the pool.

I think the Chair is a point of reference. Same thing can be done with pool bottom but nothing wrong with the chair.

 

[Kyle0692]

Thanks all for the constructive criticism! Good to know I am headed on the right path..

I recently took a combination of PADI specialties, Deep and Wreck diving. The lawn chair in the pool was being used to practice tying off underwater when running routes with a reel; it also serves well to support my GoPro . After the pool work, we went down to Key Largo a couple of weekends ago and dove the Duane and Spiegel Grove wrecks which were fantastic! I did some light penetration on the Spiegel in to the ship's galley and down towards the tool room with my instructor. I am definitely interested in furthering my training in towards of wreck diving and in the future I plan on taking an intro to tech course. Right now I am AOW certified, does Intro to tech/fundies require Rescue first? I was planning on taking Rescue this Summer as it's usually offered then through my dive shop.