Heel Touch Kick
On the back, swimmers recover their heels to touch their fingertips – keeps the knees low and the feet turned out.
- Stages
- Stage 4, Stage 5
- Difficulty
- Developing
- Skills
- Breaststroke Kick
- Equipment
- None, Float
- Age
- 6–99 years
- Group size
- 1–14 swimmers
- Time
- About 4 minutes
- In a lesson
- Skill Development 1, Skill Development 2
- Shared by
- SwimShare Resource
Safety notes
- Space swimmers – breaststroke kicks sweep wide.
What it develops
- Show an effective breaststroke leg action
- Breaststroke with effective kick, glide and timing
How to run it
- Lie on the back, arms by the sides, fingertips pointing to the feet.
- Bring the heels up to touch the fingertips; knees stay under the water.
- Turn the feet out, kick round and squeeze the legs together.
- Glide for a count of two, then repeat.
Teaching cues
- Heels to your fingers.
- Toes out.
- Kick round.
- Squeeze together.
Make it easier
- Hold a float on the chest.
- Assistant guides the feet through the circle.
Make it harder
- Arms streamlined above the head.
- Same kick on the front with face in and a breath every kick.
Common faults
- Knees coming up out of the water.
- Knees splaying wide.
- Toes pointed on the kick.
Corrections
- 'Drop your heels, not your knees.'
- 'Knees no wider than your hips.'
- 'Flex your feet like a duck.'
Assistant / L1 role
- Walk at the swimmers' feet and check the feet turn out on every kick; give a thumbs up or 'duck feet'.