Baby
Kicks; an Advanced Kick
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on’t let the name fool you. This is an advanced kick
that will challenge the average diver’s buoyancy. But boy is it worth it!
This kick is very gentle and easy and low on the
Richter Scale of energy output; great for photographers, overhead environment
divers as well as reef crawlers. To do
this kick effectively the diver is in the prone position, knees bent at a 90
degree angle with fins pointing up 30 degrees or so and tips to the stern. This
requires you to have your weights trimmed precisely in order to effortlessly maintain this position. I
place 50% of my weights in pockets just in front the bony parts of my hip
bones. (If you can’t find the front of your hip bones,
a membership to the local gym may be in order!) and the other 50% on my bottom
tank band. My wife puts 50% of her weights on her top tank band. This balances
out her ‘womanliness’ in the water.
(Notice the diver in the background is keeping his basic position while clearing his mask.)
The kick is performed by alternating your legs in a
gentle downward motion from the knee to the ankle. Your knee extends your leg
only 20 to 30 degrees. This causes the dorsal portion of your fin to push the
water directly in back of you; which
is the key point. There is NOT ANY water pushed up or down.
Advantages of the Baby Kick: Allows you to make helicopter
turns, use the reverse gear in your tech fins rather than pushing off, allows
photographers to get very close to their subjects without touching the reef, does
not stir up bottoms or the silt off interior walls and ceilings of overhead environments
and of course conserves breathing gases and energy. This is also a great position
for decompression and allows the proper movements to facilitate gas exchange
from tissues to blood.
Once you have mastered the position in neutral buoyancy
and trimmed your weights properly, you can maintain this position and just hang
around. It is one of my favorite positions to observe students from.
When not to use it: Into currents, when covering
distance, if you have the need for speed and in your bath tub.
