By Olivier Poirier-Leroy on SwimSwam
Fast dolphin kicking requires that swimmers kick down powerfully, and kick up quickly.
And it’s often that “upkick” phase where swimmers’ feet get stuck in the chlorinated mud.
When the upkick lags, swimmers decelerate, take longer to get back into the more propulsive downkick, and create a lot of frontal drag.
And when the upkick is rocking and rolling, the feet move more evenly between kick phases, creating a smoother, more continuous, and faster kick (Atkinson et al., 2014).
The goal of this set is to encourage swimmers to speed up and balance out their upkick to reduce dead spots in the kick.
Next stop—faster underwaters.
The Upkick Booster Set
After your regularly programmed warm-up:
2-3 rounds:
3×50 fish kick with fins – desc 1-3 – 20s rest per rep
Switch sides by 25. Focus on smooth transitions between kick phases. Dolphin kicking on your side is also an excellent way to see how balanced the kick is.6×25 dolphin kick with light resistance (chute or DragSox) – desc 1-3 (x2) – 30s rest per rep
Adding light resistance naturally highlights gaps in acceleration. This isn’t power development but awareness building!4×25 dolphin kick fast – no resistance, no fins, just get after it – 60s rest per rep
Transfer time! Now that we’ve worked balancing the kick and cleaning up deceleration (ahem, the upkick and transitions), it’s time to put it all together and apply it to race-speed UDK. Focus on kicking powerfully with each downkick and crisply through the upkick.100 swim easy between rounds to reset
Why This Set Works
Fast dolphin kicking is tough stuff—lots of things go into doing it at a high level, from ankle flexibility to having a core that can handle the dynamic nature of the UDK to having the conditioning to kick fast.
One of the quickest wins for aspiring dolphin kickers is the fix that sluggish upkick.
The set does this in three ways:
Uses fish kick to increase awareness of the upkick – It’s not always how impactful the upkick is. Turning on your side gives you a better sense of how unbalanced the dolphin kick can become when we focus mainly on the downkick. Light resistance to clean up deceleration – Adding some resistance is a great tool for exaggerating those moments of deceleration in the kick cycle that can sneakily go unnoticed without it. Apply to your fast dolphin kicking – And of course, take that better balance and smoother propulsion and stuff it into your regular dolphin kicking.Give the set a shot this week at the pool, clean up your upkick, and kick your way to faster underwaters.
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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