There ' s probably something developmentally different with hisher tail , like maybe a bone grew weird or she broke a bone in its tailhipsomewhere around the butt when it was younger . I know a cat that used to have a straight tail , but after he dislocated his hip he never held his tail straight again , and it looks much like the curved tail of the cat in the gif when he holds it up . <| sep |> I ' m in exactly the same boat as you . My teacher said to try and keep legs straight slight bend in the knees , not locked out and point your toes , basically just using abdominals , glutes , hip flexors and extensors to move the legs . I was initially just bending my knees using my quads and hamstringsMy teacher is encouraging me to splash with my legs though , which I was always taught not to . I assume this is because my legs were always low in the water my body was not horizontal .