What is a characteristic of the leg kick in stroke analysis?

• A. Knees not breaking the surface and legs straight
• B. Knees bent and breaking the surface
• C. Knees bent at 90 degrees
• D. Knees tight together with ankle flexion

Answer: (A)

A key idea here is how to move the legs to create propulsion without wasting energy on drag. In an efficient leg kick, the legs stay fairly straight and the knees stay under the surface of the water. This keeps the kick streamlined, so there’s less water disturbance and drag, while the propulsion comes from a clean, continuous motion driven by the hips.

Keeping the knees under the surface avoids breaking the water with large up-kicks, which would create turbulence and disrupt body position. A straightened kick maximizes the length of the propulsive lever and reduces additional drag from bent knees or irregular water flow.

The other options describe movements that would introduce more drag or belong to a different kicking pattern: bending the knees and breaking the surface increases turbulence; bending the knees to about 90 degrees resembles a different stroke’s kick; bringing the knees tightly together with ankle flexion limits propulsion and creates inefficiencies in water flow.