An exercise to improve your feel for the water suitable for all ages.
Everything complicated about being in the water can be summed up in the various aspects of the butterfly leg kick. The leg kick can be performed at lots of different angles. You need to make sure your body is well-balanced, you need a stable core and the ability to sense where you are in “the water”.
The aim of this drill is to learn to make the most of every angle of the leg kick beneath the water. Sometimes a swimmer may not be perfectly aligned after pushing off (from both the starting block and end of the pool) and being able to handle this situation might suggest there is no need to waste time while performing the underwater phase.
The first step in learning this technique is to begin to get a feel for where you are in the water. So, when pushing off the end of the pool during the underwater phase, rotate your body fully (through 360°) using only the initial thrust off the wall coming from your legs. After pushing off the wall, you must not move your legs. Remember to keep your body as relaxed as possible and in a glide position with your toes and arms fully extended.
Having learnt the movement, you can move on…
