Swim drill
Streamline Flutter Kick
Flutter kick on your front in tight streamline, face down. When you need air, roll onto your side, breathe, and roll back — never lift the head. Holds the body in the strongest possible line while the legs drive.
The one cue
“Kick from the hips”
The lesson
- 1
Push off in streamline
Face down, arms overhead, hands stacked, body flat.
- 2
Kick from the hips
The drive starts at your hip and travels down the leg. Bicycling from the knees just stalls you.
- 3
Long, loose ankles
Let the water point your toes. Toes pulled up toward your shin is what kills a kick.
- 4
Roll to breathe
When you need air, roll onto your side, breathe, and roll back. Never lift your head — that drops your hips, and it's the habit every other drill here is trying to remove.
Watch out for
- Bicycling from the knees instead of the hips
- Lifting the head to breathe instead of rolling — drops the hips
- Toes pulled up toward the shin — a dorsiflexed ankle kills the kick
Appears in these routines