Question Who uses pelvic tilt?

[Altamira]

@AdivingBel. Can you post a video? If you are doing what I my mind thinks you are doing, you must be really flexible, unless your upper body is basically in side stroke position. What you are describing does not sound very comfortable or relaxing.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

The term "pelvic tilt" isn't exactly clear. In competitive swimming, any improved stroke efficiency could be the difference between winning and losing. The goal is speed.

A question about pelvic tilt for keeping a swimmer's head down is found here: Correcting Your Body Position in Freestyle

The goal in diving is to not silt while having an efficient kicking technique. I've created a silt cloud just by turning my wrist to view my dive time. Any downward thrust in a very tight place, such as may come from the pelvis being pushed forward in a breaststroke, would be considered poor form.

Correct trim position is head back to see forward while being horizontal, chest to knees flat. All frog and modified flutter kicks only incorporate knee and ankle movement. If you switch to a flutter kick, you just point the toes and kick like a Barbie doll. The flexion comes from the hips, but with the pelvis stationary.

As others said, a video would be helpful.

 

[johndiver999]

kick like a barbie doll? I kick like a GI JOE.

 

[Doctor Rig]

Here’s a little more back ground on my lap swimming.

The majority of my swim time is focused on the freedive stroke…I’ll describe this stroke as a modified breath stroke that is optimized for maximum glide and efficiency.

Small differences in the trust direction from the arm pull and frog kick of this freedive stroke makes a big difference in glide and efficiency, which can easily be seen in the number of strokes required to swim underwater the length of the pool.

When scuba diving I like the modified flutter as it requires little effort, but in my experience, superior trim is a prerequisite for stroke efficiency, and the ability to change the kick thrust direction is minimal from what I’ve experienced.

Admittedly, I’m not a great lower leg frog kicker, but I’m thinking this stroke also requires superior trim and has little ability to change kick thrust direction like the modified flutter.

IMHO, when diving a full leg frog kick requires much more effort/power, but you gain a relaxing glide and the thrust direction can be modified as desired. Changing the thrust direction is done by rotating the hips (pelvic tilt).

TMI…. ???

This thread is just about learning more about this, if there is substantive diving value to the subject.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

kick like a barbie doll? I kick like a GI JOE.

Joe had flat feet with not a lot of ankle flexion. Barbie's toes were pointed for high heels with just a slight bend at the knee that closer represents our goal for a nice elongated flutter. But you can visualize whatever you want.

 

[Pearlman]

The term "pelvic tilt" isn't exactly clear. In competitive swimming, any improved stroke efficiency could be the difference between winning and losing. The goal is speed.

A question about pelvic tilt for keeping a swimmer's head down is found here: Correcting Your Body Position in Freestyle

So that’s the root of misunderstanding and resulting mirth -

The typical posture of a swimmer is to have a lot of flexion of the upper back, the thoracic spine (kyphosis), and to have a lot of extension of the lower or lumbar spine (lordosis)…
—snip—
While swimming, most of us tend to take on this same posture; shoulder rounded and back arched. What if instead of focusing on dropping our head down, we concentrate on straightening our lower backs? We can accomplish this while swimming freestyle by simply lifting our stomachs higher in the water. In physical therapy, this posturing is called the Pelvic Tilt. In order to do so, one needs to engage the core muscles and the gluteus muscles.

The usage of the word “Tilt” here is counterintuitive as people normally tend to think of it as a sidewise tilt. Tightening the core and glutes to lift the butt up on the other hand is something even I momentarily do if I find myself out of trim by a wide margin (ex: when videographing a marine creature and following its sudden movement while trying to keep the camera in its face).

PS: Apologies to the OP for poking fun but I hope you understand it was just merry-making…

 

[Doctor Rig]

Tightening the core and glutes to lift the butt up on the other hand is something even I momentarily do if I find myself out of trim by a wide margin.

Was this technique something that you naturally learned to do or someone taught you?

 

[Trace Malinowski]

I learned to arch as a skydiver a decade before I first learned to practice frog, mod frog, mod flutter, helo turns, and backward frog kicks. When I want to horizontal, I pull an arch and relax into horizontal with the fins flat.

 

[RobPNW]

Talk about a clickbait title!

 

[Pearlman]

Was this technique something that you naturally learned to do or someone taught you?

Naturally learned - the lowering of the head was the prominent body feedback I capitalised on and remembered as a trick to perform…