Kickboard-Depth Kicks
Front crawl kick kept within the depth of a float: small, fast, from the hips, with relaxed ankles – a cure for big, slow knee kicks.
- Stages
- Swimming – Stage 8
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Skills
- Front Kick, Body Position
- Equipment
- Float, Short Fins
- Age
- 8–99 years
- Group size
- 1–20 swimmers
- Time
- About 5 minutes
- In a lesson
- Introduction / Warm-up, Skill Development 1, Skill Development 2
- Shared by
- SwimShare Resource
Safety notes
- Swimmers keep their heads up enough to see where they're going when not breathing to the side.
What it develops
- Front crawl: long body line with breathing timed to the pull
How to run it
- Hold a float at arm's length; show swimmers its thickness – that's how deep the kick should be.
- Kick a width with the face in, breathing to the side or forwards as needed, making a small, continuous kick from the hips.
- Partners watch from the side: are the heels just breaking the surface, and do the knees stay mostly straight?
- Swim a width of full front crawl keeping the same small kick.
Teaching cues
- Kick from your hips.
- Floppy ankles, pointed toes.
- Small and fast, not big and slow.
- Heels just break the surface.
Make it easier
- Hold the wall and kick before pushing off.
- Use short fins (if your pool allows) to feel the whole leg working.
Make it harder
- Kick on the side with one arm forward.
- Kick on the back with the float held over the knees – knees shouldn't touch it.
Common faults
- Bending at the knees like cycling.
- Stiff ankles with feet flexed.
- Huge splashy kick that stops when tired.
Corrections
- 'Long legs, like kicking off a pair of slippers.'
- 'Point your toes to the back wall.'
- 'Small splash, lots of bubbles.'
Assistant / L1 role
- Collect and hand out floats at the end and watch one named swimmer's knees, reporting to the teacher whether they bend more as the width goes on.