Streamline Dolphin with Forward Breath
Streamlined dolphin kick on the front, breathing with a low forward lift – rhythm and breathing without the arms.
- Stages
- Stage 4, Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7
- Difficulty
- Developing
- Skills
- Aquatic Breathing, Streamlining, Dolphin Kick
- Equipment
- None, Float, Short Fins
- Age
- 7–99 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
- Face-down kicking is tiring – short widths and rests.
What it develops
- Show dolphin kick and early butterfly movement
- Push and glide in a tight streamline
- Butterfly rhythm with early full-stroke arms
- Streamlined underwater push-off with kick
- Butterfly with two-kick rhythm and forward breathing
- Turns with streamlined push-offs and underwater phase
- Efficient butterfly for a short distance
- Controlled underwater skills
How to run it
- Push off in a streamline, face down.
- Dolphin kick; after four kicks, press down with the hands slightly and lift the chin to breathe.
- Face back down and continue.
- Try to keep the kick going through the breath.
Teaching cues
- Chin on the water.
- Kick, kick, breathe.
- Head back down quickly.
Make it easier
- Hold a float and breathe forward.
- Short fins.
Make it harder
- Breathe every two kicks at a steady rhythm.
- Add a single-arm fly stroke to breathe.
Common faults
- Lifting the head and shoulders high to breathe.
- Kick stopping during the breath.
Corrections
- 'Just clear your mouth – chin skims the water.'
- Count kicks aloud through the breath.
Assistant / L1 role
- Watch from the front of the lane and give one comment: 'low breath' or 'too high'.