Am I supposed to be kicking?

What should you advise a person who runs out a breath without a pull-buoy: to work on his body position or his kicking, or both? Definitely body position. The reason they tire quickly without a pull buoy is their legs sink and they have to kick hard to keep their legs up. They probably aren't even getting effective propulsion from their kick.

Just out of curiosity, I often hear that newbies can swim for ages with a pull-buoy but quickly get out of breath without it. Is the main problem that they have the wrong body position or does kicking also play a part? The reason I ask is because I personally can swim even if I don't use my legs at all with no problem. Kicking gives me extra speed but it has nothing to do with my body position or me running out of breath. What should you advise a person who runs out a breath without a pull-buoy: to work on his body position or his kicking, or both?

I have been working on my kick more but its still weak - 60 seconds for a 50. If I am swimming distance I drag my feet for mere stabiliy. Am I just lazy or should I be kicking away? Keep Working to improve your kick Do my Help my flutter kick is horrible program Focus on 25 kicking speed, get under 20 sec, then focus on 25 & 50 speed Distance is about conserving energy Use a quick flip kick Watch and copy Total Immersion Swimming Freestyle Demo by Shinji Takeuchi Total Immersion Swimming Freestyle Demo by Shinji Takeuchi - YouTube Michael Phelps-Freestyle-Multi Angle Camera Michael Phelps-Freestyle-Multi Angle Camera - YouTube

Definitely body position. The reason they tire quickly without a pull buoy is their legs sink and they have to kick hard to keep their legs up. They probably aren't even getting effective propulsion from their kick. I agree with Kirk on this. By body position (alone) they are going to have to work on their core, because with little or no kick, the core is going to have to keep the alignment for them.

ironically I despise pull bouys. No use for them.