rodndtube.com's (OLD) MyPaipoBoards Forums. Reading but no posting on the OLD forums.

[bgreen]

I am not very experienced when it comes to using swim fins. I can paddle a board much faster than I can kick, though suspect there is a lot of room for improvement.

I have had some advice about conditioning, and a while back some tips about technique. Since experimenting in a local pool I realised there is a lot to kick technique.

My questions:

1. I was advised that action starts from the hips. Does the main power of a kick come from the thighs?

2. Should the legs be straight to prevent a more flapping action? Alternatively what causes the splashing type of kick - is this due to the ankles being too relaxed.

3. How active are the feet - should they just be like the end of a whip - the end result of the action controlled from the hips, or are they actively dug in using the action of the ankle?

4. padling a surfboard efficently makes use of the glide momentum built up. Is there an optimal kick beat to aim for. If I stop kicking near the end of 50 metres I glide into the end of the pool. Is glide usefully employed while kicking in the surf?

Any advice on the above is appreciated. I tried a web-search on the above but most stuff I located related to diving.

regards


Bob

[kage]

there's technique? I am probably not the best person to answer this but I am the first! I kick with my whole leg - thigh and knee, keep your fins underwater, if you are splashing it's wasted effort. I don't kick that much with my foot, if I do I get noodley feet real fast. I have no glide on my board, I don't think you can get glide when you are hanging off the back (?). And I use vipers (V7's - GO VIPERS!)

[rodndtube]

Never thought about it too much, but I know that differnt fins torque my ankles badly. I opt for a flexible blade fin -- my best experience in this department is the Viper V5 Orange Dot (Flex, the yellow dot is stiff and the flex only comes in the 5" model). What didn't work in the flex area, or for some other reason (ee.g., foot fit), include the modern Churchills of all varieties, Redley's, Techs (I have not tried the Tech 2), Hydro Fins, Voit.
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