By Olivier Poirier-Leroy on SwimSwam
Looking to up your dolphin kick? Here’s what swimmers should know about building ankle flexibility and strength for a booming UDK.
When it comes to building a thunderous underwater dolphin kick, one of the first things that swimmers look to improve is ankle flexibility.
Makes sense, after all the feet do the heavy lifting when kicking past the pool tiles.
The more range of motion you have in your feetsies, the easier it is to catch and move water efficiently with each kick, helping you motor out to faster underwaters.
But while increasing range of motion is important, that’s not the whole story. More range without the strength and stability to back it up just leads to floppy feet that don’t increase propulsion and can even increase injury risk.
To the dolphin kick!
Why Ankle Flexibility Matters for the Underwater Dolphin Kick
A wild majority of the propulsion in the underwater dolphin kick comes from the feet. The better swimmers can point the toes (plantar flexion) and slightly rotate the feet inward, the more water they displace, and the faster they will go.
More range of motion means that swimmers:
Catch and control more water with each kick. Increased foot range of movement—both in terms of the ankle but also forefoot rotation—means we hold and sculpt more water with each kick, improving feel of the water. Reduce excess knee bend. Flexible ankles reduce speed-sapping knee bend. In a study by Kuhn and Legerlotz (2022), swimmers’ ankles were restricted by 10%. They compensated by increasing knee bend, leading to a significant decrease in dolphin kicking speed. Displace more water, increasing propulsion. The feet are responsible for almost all of the propulsion in the dolphin kick. The more water you catch and ultimately displace, the faster you will move through the water.Add it all up, and we are looking at some faster dolphin kicking.
So the next logical step is going to Rep-ville with a yoga mat and all of your favorite ankle stretches, including ankle rockers, toe pointers, foot circles, wall calf stretches, and so on.
But hold your chlorinated ponies. Before you start cranking out hours turning into Gumby, it’s important to understand that flexibility alone doesn’t turn you into an underwater assassin.
Ankle Flexibility + Ankle Strength = Dolphin Kick Go Boom
Ankle flexibility is great, but when paired with ankle strength, that’s when some dolphin kick magic can really start to happen.
Because increasing ankle flexibility by itself isn’t an instant recipe for UDK success.
Kuhn and Legerlotz (2022) also tested increasing ankle ROM by 6.87% with static stretching right before a dolphin kick trial. Kicking speed didn’t improve compared to when swimmers used their natural range of motion.
Which can sound a little counterintuitive.
(After all, I just gave you a fancy three-point bullet list of how upping ankle ROM ups kick speed.)
But here’s what is happening:
Static stretching changes how your muscles and tendons behave in their normal range. Long static stretches (>60 seconds) slow the rate at which muscles activate (Palmer et al., 2019), impairing performance. Flexibility without strength is floppy. Being able to stretch a joint is one thing, but controlling it is another. Low active flexibility (i.e. low strength at end range) reduces performance and increases injury risk (Weber et al., 2014).By balancing both ankle flexibility and ankle strength, swimmers can reap the benefits of more range of motion and the strength and stability to effectively displace water.
Sample ankle flexibility movements and exercises:
Foam Rolling Wall calf stretch Seated toe and point Banded plantar flexion stretch Ankle circles Ankle rockersAnd to increase ankle strength:
Standing Toe Raises (Dorsiflexors) Jump Rope Calf Stretch/Raise Cycles Towel ScrunchesThe Bottom Line
Ankle flexibility plays a crucial role in helping swimmers move more efficiently through the water. (And swimmers with particularly lousy ankle ROM stand to benefit the most from working on it.)
More range means catching more water, smoother undulation, and less drag from jutting the knees towards the pool floor like you’re doing a tuck jump.
True dolphin kick awesomeness happens at the intersection of range and strength, where you can bend and contort the feet and apply force through the water, leading to faster dolphin kicking.
So by all means, loosen up those ankles, but make sure to balance it with exercises that build strength and control at range.
Happy kicking!
Level Up Your Underwater Dolphin Kick
Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national-level swimmer, 2x Olympic Trials qualifier, and author of several books for swimmers, including The Dolphin Kick Manual: The Swimmer’s Ultimate Guide to a Fast Underwater Dolphin Kick.
The book is a beastly 240+ pages of actionable insights and research into elite dolphin kicking technique and performance. It details everything from mastering undulation to vortex recapturing to structuring a dryland program for dolphin kicking success.
The Dolphin Kick Manual combines evidence-based insights with a collection of 20 ready-to-go sets and a 6-week Action Plan to help swimmers set a course for dolphin kicking success.
Train smarter and kick faster.
Learn more about The Dolphin Kick Manual
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