Learning the Underwater Dolphin - On Your Side

Important Note to the Viewer

LESSONS: 5 VIDEOS

Step 1 - Front Slow - Fast Back

The ideal place to practice this first step is deep water. You’re not going to move too far forward, but you may float up. The goal is to try to get 3-5 sequences done prior to floating to the surface. In a streamline position on your side, totally underwater. Pivot at the hips, very limited bend in the legs. Fold your body at the hips - slowly forward with upper and lower body creating a forward V. As hard as you can, take the arms and legs BACK to full movement in a U shape… hold. Make sure you don’t tuck the chin or move the head independently on this. Keep everything locked in and activate the lower back and ab muscles for all movements. Repeat as many times as you can until you either float to the surface or need some air. You’ll have very little movement in this exercise. Focus on ALL movement coming from the core and remember, limit the bending of the knees. Also make sure your head is locked between the arms.

Step 2 - Back Slow - Front Fast

In an opposite action from the first step, on your side and fully underwater. In the tight streamline position, take the arms and legs BACK as far as you can (slowly), and hold for a brief moment. Now, pivot al the hip joint forward, bringing the arms and legs to a V position with force. Hold in that position for a moment, the slowly and controlled, take the arms and legs back to the U position with the arms and legs behind the torso. Keep knee bend to a minimum and activate the core to bring the arms and legs forward. This is like a V-Up underwater on your side.

Step 3 - Back Fast - Front Fast

Using the maximum range of motion, take the arms and legs BACK as far as the start position in step 2, and then bring the arms and legs FORWARD as far as the start position in step 1. Repeat this motion to keep the knee bend to a minimum and keep the head locked between the arms. Activate the abs for the crunch forward and the lower back for the backward movement of the arms and legs. The key point here is to make the forward and backward movement as big as reasonably possible.

Step 4 - Repeat Step 3 with rate

Step 4 is a series of steps, with the rate increasing. We’ll be using a Tempo Trainer for this. First, start the Tempo Trainer at a slow rate. Something slower than the athlete wants to do. Have the athlete match the forward and backward sweep of the arms and legs according to the rhythm. They can say to themselves on each beep - FORWARD BACKWARD FORWARD BACKWARD. We want to start the process by making sure they know it’s NOT just a forward kick, it’s both sides of the kick. We will now gradually increase the rate by decreasing the time between kicks on the Tempo Trainer. We’ve moved to .65, with the swimmer continuing to repeat FORWARD BACKWARD on each beep. Increasing the rate by decreasing the time between beeps by 15/100s of a second to .50, the focus is STILL the FORWARD BACKWARD movement by the athlete and trying to get the MAXIMUM amplitude within the allowable rate. It’s starting to get serious now. Increasing the rate to .35, the athlete may have to change the mantra to FRONT BACK to keep up. Again, try to get as much amplitude or forward and backward movement within the rate. Our final rate is .20, as fast as the Tempo Trainer goes. Finding the breaking point, or rate where we don’t grab as much water, helps us to determine the best rate for the athlete. Don’t be afraid to push this to the limits. You could be surprised at what’s possible.

Snake Drill

A quick video showing the "snake drill". Slightly leading with the hands.