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Did the flutter kick originate from the hips or the knees?
My dive buddy tells me that i sometimes tend to kick with my hips. And I really don't know if i do that out of poor technique or lack of strength in my legs, Or probably both!!
Last week i went diving with someone who wears split fins & i should say he was really going so fast & i noticed he kicks from his knees. I wonder why i cannot kick my fins that fast. The resistance is just way too strong.
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Keep your toes pointed & ur knees straight & kick from your hips & use your thigh muscles. Split fins are also great for most divers, esp for those who don't know how to kick properly.
Try checking the other factors too & make sure you're not dehydrated, have no low potassium & yuor fins are not too stiff because they may make your legs cramp.
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Then i think your fins might be really stiff. Look for something that's more flexible.
For very stiff fins, it's best to use your hips & the power stroke. If your stroke is right, you'll feel yourself rocking as you move along. Do not bend your knees too much or you'll surely get cramps & be inefficient.. You wil also cramp if youhaven't worked your muscles for a while.
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For me, the flutter kick is very uncomfortable. It requires far more effort than the velocity it generates. maybe splits are more accommodating for that kick. That's why i seldom do the flutter kick but when i do, i modify & do it from my knees to my ankles. It's finer way of doing the flutter kick when getting through narrow places.
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For me, splits are much more accomodating for that kick. 'Cause with splits, u use less hips.  I think jet fins & big board type fins require more power from your thighs.
try putting more power on the fins when ur legs are coming together & less effort when they are about to part. don't forget to drink a lot of water too before ur dive, that cud reduce dehydration. Physical conditioning is involved, so u must giv it a time & practice!
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When doing the flutter kick, straighten ur legs as straight as possible & ur legs should move at the hip.. but personally, i dnt like this dive.. it's just the most conventional kick that most divers use. As your leg moves down during the kick cycle, the water will be pushed down & if you're finally close to the bottom, it will cloud up ur view & will reduce your visibility.
Do the frog kick instead when doing a boat diving or commercial diving or any other diving!! Heehee! i think it's more relaxing & efficient. if u'r able 2 perform it correctly, it wont cloud up your eye sight.
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lincoln
Free Diver
Posts 33
Points 33
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The way i see it, a lot of DMs suggest that one must kick using the the thighs or hips, allowing the knees to flex slightly on the downward kick. And that one must kick in a smooth up & down motion just like a pair of scissors. During emergency or if u fall a little behind, that will allow u to utilize the up & down side of the kick. That's the kick that requires the smallest amount of thought since it's just like walking naturally while underwater. It would even allow the diver to focus on breathing & buoyancy control.
No problem with kicking from the knee but you'll easily get tired as compared to using ur entire leg. And yeah!! Some fins will make you knee flex more than the others can. That'd make u feel like you're trying to push a board through the water using your foot.
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moredive posted the following on Monday 12th November 2007
Do the frog kick instead when doing a boat diving or commercial diving or any other diving!! Heehee! i think it's more relaxing & efficient. if u'r able 2 perform it correctly, it wont cloud up your eye sight.
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The frog kick is the best option you have for limiting your effort when diving, esp at the bottom part of your body. But try to use the flutter kick more regularly so that you'll get a higher degree of practice, and eventually, a lower degree of difficulty during your scuba diving sessions.
I used to work with a diver who has recently certified. He has discovered that hard foot cups on fins combined with hard plastic fins are not good at all and can actually cause pain. Partly, it's because the fin was hard, and also because it made him want to kick from the knee to push the fin. He later found out that a soft foot cup can make him kick smoother and his air consumption rate changed as his body wasn't using as much energy as b4 to kick.
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I prefer the frog kick better than the other one. Especially if i am in a confined area, i only have 2 move my feet & not my leg. The former may not take me quite far that fast but it can still move me out of the crowded area.
If i do the full leg kick a lot, for some reasons, it hurts the muscles & tendons at the lower part of my calf. Whatever I'm doing, I mainly go for the frog kick.
Happy kicking!
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It's better to know more types of kicks & not only be familiar with the different variations of frog kick & flutter kick. Also i learned that paddle fins work differently with split fins & each utilizes different muscles. A kick stroke & a fin type will also vary. Just practice getting into a habit where u can learn to use different muscles with the variations of ur kicks!! It's only from experience where choosing a particular kick will come. And besides, as with all skills, practice makes perfect!!
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Well, it depends much on where you're diving. If you're in the keys and the currents are too strong, you don't have much of a choice but to do a tough flutter kick. Because a frog kick, for me, is too slow to give you any progress.
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Most of the time, I do the flutter kick. But i also perform the frog kick, but only in the ocean. Because when i do, it seems like i always hit some things above the reef. and that doesn't happen when i do the flutter kick. Have you heard of the other diving instruction? It's called the shuffle: You bend ur knees & simply flick your fins up & down. That's the best technique for drift diving.
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dawson_dude posted the following on Tuesday 30th October 2007
My dive buddy tells me that i sometimes tend to kick with my hips. And I really don't know if i do that out of poor technique or lack of strength in my legs, Or probably both!!
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Many divers still go for the flutter kick since it's good for swimming against the currents. It's also the easiest since it's just like walking underwater & it's much faster! And once u master that diving instruction, it's easier to modify it in various ways so you can also apply several techniques in other conditions..
You are always free to try different things underwater since the diving techniques you need will always vary on given situations.
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