Tried an interesting set tonight... did 10 50 frees on 45 seconds without kicking, just pulling.
I've always been a poor freestyle kicker, but I didn't expect the following result... I was going just as fast as I would be WITH a kick for that rate of turnover (35/34s), but with much less effort.
I found myself doing a bit more body rotation, I felt greater connectivity from my arms all the way down to my toes. I also found myself doing a deep straightarm catch (as opposed to my usual high elbow with the elbow withing a couple inches of the surface)... wasn't really trying to do something different, it just happened and I went with it.
Has anyone else had a similar experience when they removed their kick from their freestyle? Does anyone have any idea about how to train my kick so it can contribute more effectively?
I have a hunch that my kick may actually be counterproductive when I get tired, in that it doesn't help me go forward or gives a very poor return for the effort I put in... so maybe learning to freestyle kick in a way that syncs with my body rotation would be a way to start. (Not sure how to do that though, so ideas for learning rotation rhythm would be welcomed too.)
Thanks in advance!
Parents
Former Member
Were you using a pull buoy or not? If you were using a buoy this isn't all that surprising, but if you were not then it is.
No pull buoy. Just 1 foot braced over the other.
I think I have decent horizontal body position... regardless of your opinion about Total immersion's teaching methods, I believe Terry has the right idea with his head and head lead balance drills. That said I have always had a lot of trouble properly integrating the kick with the body rotation.
Note that when I removed my kick I found it easier to maintain a tight line from arm to toe, I was rotating more dramatically than usual and getting a sort of "inertial windmill" stroke... where the entry of 1 arm going in helped out the finish of the pull of the other arm. I tried to do this when I put my kick back in, but I couldn't rotate as much when I was doing kicking. Not sure what that means.
I breathed my normal amount (every 4 strokes) but was significantly less tired than when I had my kick going too.
I urge anyone who's read this to try doing a couple 50s or 25s of freestyle where you remove your kick, and focus on keeping your body line nice and straight, and try a little more rotation than usual, and see what happens.
Note I am not advocating eliminating kicking altogether (not really advocating anything for that matter)... the key thing here is that my kick didn't seem to be contributing significantly to my speed and may even have been inhibiting rotation. So I'm looking to develop a kick that will complement rather than inhibit my body rotation... which doesn't necessarily involve getting a more forceful kick. Anyone have any synchronizing kick timing drills/ideas?
Were you using a pull buoy or not? If you were using a buoy this isn't all that surprising, but if you were not then it is.
No pull buoy. Just 1 foot braced over the other.
I think I have decent horizontal body position... regardless of your opinion about Total immersion's teaching methods, I believe Terry has the right idea with his head and head lead balance drills. That said I have always had a lot of trouble properly integrating the kick with the body rotation.
Note that when I removed my kick I found it easier to maintain a tight line from arm to toe, I was rotating more dramatically than usual and getting a sort of "inertial windmill" stroke... where the entry of 1 arm going in helped out the finish of the pull of the other arm. I tried to do this when I put my kick back in, but I couldn't rotate as much when I was doing kicking. Not sure what that means.
I breathed my normal amount (every 4 strokes) but was significantly less tired than when I had my kick going too.
I urge anyone who's read this to try doing a couple 50s or 25s of freestyle where you remove your kick, and focus on keeping your body line nice and straight, and try a little more rotation than usual, and see what happens.
Note I am not advocating eliminating kicking altogether (not really advocating anything for that matter)... the key thing here is that my kick didn't seem to be contributing significantly to my speed and may even have been inhibiting rotation. So I'm looking to develop a kick that will complement rather than inhibit my body rotation... which doesn't necessarily involve getting a more forceful kick. Anyone have any synchronizing kick timing drills/ideas?
