I had two knee replacements last year and didn't kick hardly at all for four months before that. For years before that, I was a minimalist on kicking because when I put in a hard kicking set my IT band would act up. I also have hammer toe.
The problem is that I get into the workout my toes cramp really hard. Last night they cramped up and I looked at them and there were two toes that were 90 degrees in the second joint. When this has happened, I cannot continue even to the other end of the pool and it will happen again very soon. Coming back from knee replacements, I have done and still do a lot of pulling. Now there seems to be more pressure between the water and the top of the foot than there was before. It almost always happens in the foot with the worse hammer toes on the leg that had an IT band issue before knee replacements. It happens when I get excited and try to make an interval, when I don't pull enough in warm up, and towards the end of workout, but sometimes near the beginning. I want to swim in the ocean again, but what if my toes cramp?
Does anybody have any suggestions? Has anybody else dealt with hammer toes and swimming and severe toe cramps? How does one deal with a swim meet where one cannot use a pull buoy in warm up? Is this something that might get better as I get more used to kicking after knee replacements?