No problem Ian! Yes, you are correct. A scissor kick would happen especially if someone wears fins. It almost forces you to have one kick plantar flexed. I'm a breaststroker so I always gravitate towards this kick 😬🤷🏻♀️lol. Either way, the above points about alignment and glide really improve a swimmers efficiency to be able to swim further, faster, and with less effort. Hope your training is going well. - Coach Mandy 🏊
I finally learned to swim in my early 50's. As a challenge to myself, I've been trying to learn the CSS for the past several years, but it's been a slog trying to master it. This summer, I decided to fully commit to learning the CSS with almost daily swim practices plus watching many different RU-vid tutorial videos. Your video "Introduction to the Combat Side Stoke" has been one of my favorites. I finally realized that I had to S-L-O-W down my stroke; break everything down to separate movements; and not rush it. I still have to work on my breaststroke and scissor kicks.
Wonderful quality video, however if you're viewing this for learning the Combat Side Stroke (for the Navy Warrior Challenge Program) THIS IS UNFORTUNATELY NOT the Combat Side Stroke. The CSS uses a scissor kick as opposed to the breast stroke kick shown in the video. Mandy, have you considered changing the title of this video so as not to confuse the people looking to learn the CSS? It's confusing and gives some incorrect information.
Any underwater recovery stroke is generally accepted. Also lately the CSS has been corrupted with flutter kickn(in the military) even naval special warfare is teaching it with an aggressive flutter, which people like stew Smith (a former seal and current coach) don't recommend. You will flutter with fins.
Have you practiced css? 📌Remember key points: 1) Head Low 2) Shoulders Relaxed 3) Ankles Relaxed 4) Torso straight: Avoid Lifting Too High Comment below on what specific step(s) you’ll be practicing!
As I am swimming again, in open water, I get tired & float a bit to get my air back, this can be a substitute for those moments? let me know, thanks, very good teaching
Hi ANTONIO yes this is a good skill to have in open water but also if you need more rest, rolling on your back in an excellent option as well. If you are in a wetsuit, you can just kick very lightly in a flutter since you are really buoyant in a suit. Hope this helps! Keep me posted on your training. 👍🏼🏊🏼♂️🔥 -Coach M
Good advice and vid demo. I went thru swufo back in the 80s and the standard side stroke was acceptable. Now that the navy has taken over combat scuba training, the css standard is required I believe. For me it is hard to master the technique, but I'm still trying. I teach beginning and intermediate swimming thru a small rural university campus and use many of your videos as demos of proper form and technique. Thank you sooo much for your work and dedication and wish you much further success.
I like how you used the breast stroke kick while performing the combat swimmer stroke. You found what works best for you. This is important as everyone is not the same and there is more than one way to accomplish your goal.
Wow! Yea they require this for stroke at Bud/s Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL indoc and Phase II...not even the Navel Seal channels on You tube have made this so easily understandable. I just couldn't ever wrap my head around the mechanics of all the different parts to this stroke. I could of used this about a decade ago when I wanted to join up. Now I have a reason to try to learn this once again, but without the presssure of making the cut.. Thank you soooo much!
Its honestly not very hard at all buddy I'd think it was complicated too untill you enter the pool and start practicing this after that it gets quite easier 🤠
Staying relaxed leads to a decrease in workload. Keep practicing through it and prioritize making your swim as easy as possible. 🙌🏊♂️ Enjoy your practice! Coach Mandy
I helped me with learning to breath by using fins and holding one arm in front and trailing the other arm. swimming on side head under then up to breath in. I did this for a week or two then started the css
It will be interesting to see where you go with this. If I was to comment on your style for this, without seeing the title, I would ask why are you swimming breast stroke and breathing to the side? Most of what I had seen on CSS was the old Stew Smith videos, and looked some more up just before posting this comment. Things have changed.... Personally, I could never get the old frog kick, or newer whip kick. Just alien to me, or maybe 'Abby Normal' for the Young Frankenstein fans... I know with breast stroke, the kick provides most of the thrust as compared to other strokes where the arms supply 90% or so of the thrust. I do remember comments from some CSS swimmers that the breast stroke was a lot faster than the CSS. One thing I have wondered is if the scissor kick as as strong as the whip kick... I did find out that changing the scissor kick to resemble the whip kick created far less drag, but it was still more of a stroke and glide thing. By switching to the flutter kick, then it becomes much more of a constant pace stroke, which to me seems to be more efficient since you don't have to stop and start your movement with each stroke. Put in over 7000 yards yesterday, in honor of my 69th birthday.... 100 yards / year... all over arm side stroke. Wouldn't have survived it with freestyle. Normal work out is 5500 to 6,000...... Now to find out if I have anything left after yesterday's work out....
Hi robohippy first off, happy 69th birthday! 🏊🏼♂️ 🎉🎉🎉 By the looks of it, you must of had a fantastic swim nice work! Yes I actually prefer the CSS with breaststroke just because I do swim faster, feel the best with this, and I can convert this no problem with fins. Most people prefer scissor kick because those learning this stroke haven’t mastered a full breaststroke kick anyways so this is a good transition. Really the main points are with what feels best for you. Those who I have coached varied between breaststroke kick and scissor kick. They had fantastic results so it’s all preference. Definitely something to experiment in the pool when you want. Enjoy your practice and happy birthday! -Coach Mandy
@@SWIMVICE Well, it was a short swim yesterday, maybe 3500, not a lot of gas left in the old tank.... I guess where I was going with this is that for distance swimming, leg use is pretty minimal because the leg muscles, being bigger, will consume more oxygen and energy, and while the whip kick may make you faster, it doesn't seem to me to be as energy efficient if you are towing loads through the water. I would guess part 2 of that would be that the hands and arms are more efficient for this type of work. The standard scissor kick does produce a lot of thrust if your arms are being used to tow a person through the water, but it also produces huge amounts of drag by coming so far outside the body line. It would probably be more efficient than the flutter kick for towing loads, and the flutter kick would be more efficient for speed in sprints, and efficiency in distance without loads... I want Gary Hall's 'velocimeter' to play around with.... If you haven't seen that, it is a tethered line on the swimmer that tracks speed through water with a sine wave.... I was chatting with one coach about the whip kick vs the scissor and flutter kick, and she insisted that the whip kick was a very natural motion, while I insist that the flutter kick and scissor kick are very natural motions, like what we use when walking and/or long stride walking and running....
Yes, it actually felt the most efficient, even if it is not based on military standards. If you wear one or two fins, it feels even better. 🙌🏽🏊🏼♂️ -Coach M
Yes, true CSS uses a scissor kick which most people do naturally because it is hard to implement a breaststroke kick if you are not used to it. So you may already be using a scissor kick already. The key points are the glide and body position for the rest of the stroke. Highest priority is to keep your head low and shoulders relaxed. Keep me posted if you feel any difference. 🙌😀🏊👍 -Coach Mandy
chinh luan it’s another skill to learn outside of freestyle. This stroke will teach you how to relax your breathing for freestyle as well! It’s all on how to move through the water relaxed and efficient. 👍🏼😄🏊🏼♂️ -Coach M
