When you first learn to dive there are a lot of unknowns. Wearing bulky fins may feel strange at first but fins will help you gain momentum and propel you through the water while diving. Here are a few techniques for kicking and finning underwater.
Flutter Kick
This is the most common finning technique. To do a flutter kick your legs move up and down in opposing directions with a straight leg. Your power is coming from your hip and you should be propelled forward on the downward stroke of your legs.
You want to make sure your body is horizontal in the water, and keep your toes pointed behind you. Your forward momentum should be coming from the top of your fins.
The Scissors Kick
The position for this kick looks like the flutter only the legs start wide and are then brought together like closing a pair of scissors. Your legs should be bent slightly and one leg is dedicated to the upper part of the kick, the other for the downward stroke.
This is a kick style which allows you to get closer to the bottom without stirring up the substrate. You can also get power without as much effort as the flutter kick.
The Frog Kick
This kick is most popular for technical diving and cave diving to avoid kicking up silt or sand in confined spaces. For the frog kick the body and thighs are straight but the knees are bent and the fins point outward.
The frog kick is a more advanced technique where you twist your ankle and lower leg at a right angle in order to propel your body forward. The frog kick works well with large weighted jet fins, however, does not work when using different types of split fins.
What to avoid
Finning is an important part of diving, to save energy and move smoothly through the water. You want to avoid bending your knees and have a “bicycle kick” which will use more energy and won’t get you far.
Make sure to avoid kicking with big strokes close to the bottom which can stir up the sand and reduce the overall visibility. Also, make sure you aren’t kicking corals or your dive buddy while you dive.
