Fast dolphin kicking means cleaning up the parts of the kick where you decelerate.
Some rise and fall in speed is normal with any kicking motion. But when velocity fluctuates too much, the kick stalls out.
And that's when it feels like you're trying to kick through pudding.
Here's where most of the pudding kick happens:
❌
A slow upkick > unnecessary deceleration
❌
No snap at the end of the downkick > lost propulsion
❌
A sluggish transition between upkick and downkick > stalled speed
Fast kickers have good tempo, and lots of power, but they are also acutely aware of the speed troughs in the kick cycle.
And they work hard to smooth them out.
So:
➡️ Fish kick to promote a more fluid and powerful upkick
➡️ Kick on your back (arms at side) and break the surface with each kick to highlight a complete downkick
➡️ Resisted kicking to expose and eliminate the dead spots in your kick
Moving your legs quickly in an up and down movement isn’t enough to kick fast.
You need to iron out the parts of the kick where you decelerate and spend more time in acceleration.
That's the difference between kicking hard and kicking fast.
See you in the water,
Olivier
