I have to do a 1000meter open water swim on my back with scubajet pro fins (short/fat). No arms.
My question is with the freestyle theres an obvious side/side rotation.
with the backstroke there is too.
but if youre finning on your back with no arms, is there still a benefit of rotating?
Or not rotating?
Does that make sense? I guess i’m asking any of the other military divers as they’ve probably already done this, or other swim pros on this forum.
I would think just like freestyle you would go through the water better on your side
if you can manage the breathing on your back.
I believe drag is reduced when you rotate onto your side.
Also, and more importantly, you want to use your core when you kick. A proper kick will come from your hips, so your hips will rotate from side to side. You can then activate the core muscles, so you are using more muscle groups to kick, and not just your legs.
Thinking back to all the kicking I’ve done on my back over the years, I’d have to go the other way and say I’ve got pretty minimal side to side movement on those kinds of sets.
Your cadence on kick sets is so high compared to full stroke stroke rate cadence, you’d be burning a ton of energy unnecessarily trying to go side to side in that quick of an amount of time, even with two beat and fins. Trying to force it might also put you into a deceleration situation, and that’s a bad thing.
I have to do a 1000meter open water swim on my back with scubajet pro fins (short/fat). No arms.
Why?