By Olivier Poirier-Leroy on SwimSwam
The underwater dolphin kick is one of the most valuable tools in your arsenal as a swimmer.
It’s also a really hard skill to master. Takes work to build the technique, conditioning, and the raw anaerobic capacity required to kick like your best times depend on it off every wall and start.
That’s where this vertical kick progression steps in. It looks straightforward, but it works on a few different levels, including promoting a more symmetrical kick and boosting UDK performance.
Find a deep corner of the pool, get a good (and short) playlist going, and let’s get vertical.
The 4-Week Vertical Dolphin Kick Progression
The set is relatively simple and progresses over four weeks and twelve sessions. Every rep is 10 seconds of explosive (“fast”) vertical dolphin kicking followed by 20 seconds of rest.
Hold that work-to-rest ratio and build the number of rounds as the weeks go on:
Week Session Rounds Set Duration 1 1 10x [10 seconds work + 20 seconds rest] 5 minutes 1 2 12x [10 seconds work + 20 seconds rest] 6 minutes 1 3 12x [10 seconds work + 20 seconds rest] 6 minutes 2 4 14x [10 seconds work + 20 seconds rest] 7 minutes 2 5 14x [10 seconds work + 20 seconds rest] 7 minutes 2 6 14x [10 seconds work + 20 seconds rest] 7 minutes 3 7 16x [10 seconds work + 20 seconds rest] 8 minutes 3 8 16x [10 seconds work + 20 seconds rest] 8 minutes 3 9 16x [10 seconds work + 20 seconds rest] 8 minutes 4 10 20x [10 seconds work + 20 seconds rest] 10 minutes 4 11 20x [10 seconds work + 20 seconds rest] 10 minutes 4 12 20x [10 seconds work + 20 seconds rest] 10 minutesEach set runs around 5-10 minutes. Short and sweet.
Focus on kicking “tall” in the water, feeling that symmetry between both phases of the kick, lead the dolphin kick with the hips, and get after it during those ten seconds of work and earn the 20 seconds rest.
Progressing the Vertical Kick Program
More advanced swimmers (and kickers) can crank up the force demands by adding resistance.
This can be done in a few ways, with and without equipment.
DragSox are my favorite tool of choice for adding resistance when vertical kicking. Michael Phelps used a weight belt for his rounds on rounds of vertical kicking as he honed his legendary underwater dolphin kick.
You can also add resistance without equipment by simply raising the hands and arms out of the water. Elite elite kickers will be able to do this in a streamline.
Why This Set Works
Vertical kicking is such an effective drill for dolphin kicking because it removes buoyancy as a crutch. We have to kick hard to keep our head out of the water, a forced honesty that builds a more powerful, better-timed dolphin kick.
The program also has some backing in research. Two studies ran this exact program with swimmers who saw significant improvement in UDK performance.
Deswanti & Supriyono (2024) saw improvement of nearly 8% in dolphin kick times to 15m (7.53s > 6.94s). And another study (Asaddun & Billiandri, 2026) with younger, developing swimmers also saw improvement. Time-to-15m went from an average of 10.46 to 9.90 seconds.The Bottom Line
Swimmers spend a lot of time trying to get faster, and smoother, more thrusty underwaters are one of the best ways to make race-day performances pop.
Pick a deep corner of the pool, add this vertical kicking progression to your workouts this season, and build the capacity to kick faster and harder when it matters.
Happy kicking!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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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