Front Crawl Kick (Basics)

It's time to delve into the fastest stroke in swimming's kick!

Learn how to keep efficient whilst kicking in front crawl, and create that fast kick!

[peterkung]

You are the first one to tell me that it is the down kick that produce propulsion. That means I should concentrate my energy in the down kicks. That helps me a lot. Thank you.

[hgn]

*THIS IS THE BEST TUTORIAL EVER THAT I WATCHED FOR BEGINNERS IN SWIMMING*
THANK YOU THANK YOU

[latharna]

Best video I've seen yet on this kick. Thankyou.

[thibod]

Awesome! Now I understand why while kicking I was moving backward. I have a lot of work to do on my ankles mobility. On the bright side I never twisted an ankle while running or walking. Swimming is such an nice active recovery sport for me as to do it for any other reasons would be so depressing. Thank you for the help. I sink like a rock so I have to really work on my position so I sink from every where at the same time, that helps reducing the water drag that is enormous in my case.

[mohdrasidosman]

Thanks for the tutorial.. will definitely try to follow those tips ..👍👍

[houndgal]

This video has some great info on the kick used in the crawl. Thank you!

[davidmitchell]

ONE OF THE BEST TUTORIALS ON YOUTUBE 5 STARS

[dharmapunk]

I'm currently in training for my divemaster and there are some intense swimming requirements. I hit the pool recently and found out quickly that my technique is pretty crap. I'm going to keep this video in my library to refer back to later. Thank you so much for the great explanations. Side note, now I know why I was going backward at certain points. Cheers mate.

[Henryteowm]

I've been running for many years and recently picking up swimming. You're right, my kicks felt like running in water and i bend my knees too much, usually causing them to sink more than expected after a much distance.. Thanks for sharing this and giving me the light bulb moment. :)

[jbw]

This has helped me tremendously. Now I understand how my faulty kicks actually slow me down, and would actually take me backwards. I'll do the exercises and figure on using my legs less, but just to be sure they're not dragging down.

[robohippy]

Well, some what enlightening. I have for years tried to figure out why my kicking was so weak. Figured out it was more because of a flexed ankle rather than extended ankle on the down stroke, so I have been working on that. One thing I have noticed on many swimmers is the same thing, flexed rather than extended. So, at about 2 minutes, your kicker is on the wall. If you pay attention to the bubble plumes, at the end of the down stroke, the ankle follows through, to a flexed ankle, and the bubble plume goes backwards. Not a lot, but a little. This is much more noticeable when on the wall rather than when moving through the water because of forward movement. Seeing this ankle flex in the pool makes me think of the catch we do with our hands which is great for a pull, but lousy for a push. As near as I can tell, as soon as the top of your foot is about parallel to the top of the water, then you are generating no push as all the energy is going straight down. I do focus on the up kick as well. Mostly because the paddle/sole of your foot is at an optimum angle for pushing water away from you for better thrust. Watch the bubble plumes when your kicker is sitting on the edge of the pool. The bubble plumes push/go away from him much more so on the down/sole of the foot stroke, than on the top of the up/top of the foot stroke. Any one who has an ankle that hyper extends has a mechanical advantage with a more efficient oar angle.I figure that arms work as paddles to pull, and legs as oars to push. I figure another reason to put some effort into the up kick is an action/reaction thing, the two different actions compliment each other, similar to how the spiral action moves down the length of the body from arms to feet. I also have always wondered about flexing at the hip a tiny bit to get the knee a bit lower so your leg starts at a higher angle rather than parallel to the water. It seems that all strong kickers do this to some extent.... Funny side note, when kickers are doing the back stroke kick, none of them seem to flex their ankles when kicking towards the top of the water.... Oh, another point on the up kick, a much better swimmer than I told me I was using too much body wave in my butterfly kick and all of my kick energy was going straight down rather than pushing. Started focusing on that. I asked him now many kicks it took him to go one length of a 25 yard pool. It took him 50. It took me 40. I asked him if he put any effort into the up kick and he said 'practically none'. I had guesstimated that to be about the % of difference before I had learned to focus on the up kick. If I am out of my mind, you can tell me. Some things just aren't explained so that I can understand them....

[stuarthartley]

Thanks for putting this one up, I’ve always struggled with the flutter kick and only move forward slowly with it. Fingers crossed the stretches will eventually help this to move on.

[dinakekana]

Thanks so much. This seems so simple. I am still a struggling adult learner.

[hgn]

6:56 is the best method learn lower body part, Minds is always sinking and get tireds easily

[janemasamba]

Hi. This video is so helpful. I started swimming lessons and have had 10 lessons and been struggling with my kick. I move backwards and my right leg seems to move sideways. Will try and point my legs downwards and see if they will be a difference.

[paulnichol]

Very useful thanks. Especially the bit about exercises to improve ankle flexibility.

[pault]

Thanks so much - this really helps. My kicking really sucks.

[easy]

When I kick its seems like I stay in the same place without moving just getting tired?

[globaltradelinks]

Also please teach what is 1 beat kick . 2 beat kick . 4 beat kick . 6 beat kick . Hybrid kick etc for bigginers . It will be very helpful.

[easyflowing]

A very informative and practical video. Good job 👍