Last week, I blundered upon a kick set that proved to be fun and challenging for the likes of me, that is to say, a fellow with pretty piss-poor SDKs.
The idea behind the set was to gradually build up my dolphin kicking capacity by starting out with all flutter kick and 0 dolphin kicks per length, then adding (1) dolphin kick off each wall per 50, then (2) per length per 50, then (3) per wall per 50, and so on, till I was kicking the whole thing butterfly.
This happened at the 1450 yard mark. By this point, I'd gradually worked my way up to 30 dolphin kicks (and 0 flutter kicks) per 25 to finish a set that ultimately proved 1500 yards of kicking.
I wrote about this blundering set and its aftermath two days later on my abdominal muscles in my most recent vlog entry here forums.usms.org/blog.php
Taking 30 dolphin kicks per 25, I realize, sounds pretty godawful to the natural cetaceans in our midst. Anyhow, a couple vlog readers wondered what the average number required is, so I thought I would conduct a poll.
This isn't an ordinary poll--I don't want responders to answer off the top of their heads. Rather, the next time you at practice, do this experiment and report back your actual findings.
1. Use a kick board
2. Do not use fins.
3. Conduct this experiment in a 25 yard course for consistency of replies.
4. Kick butterfly for an entire 50 without stopping. Count the number of total number of kicks you take. (I know you would take less doing actual SDKs without a board, but for this particular poll, please do it with a board on the surface.)
In my case, it took me 30 dolphin kicks down, and 30 dolphin kicks back, for the unremarkable score of 60. Please do not ask me what my time was, because I am sure it was over a minute.
And PLEASE only respond after you're tried this--do NOT go from memory or approximate what you think you should or could do. I want an accurate count!
Note: one last thing--just kick as normally as you can kick butterfly (which in my case is not that normal). No need to try for some record by gliding as far as possible after each kick; neither should you feel obligated to do millions of tiny whip like kicks, as if in imitation of your father's contribution to your begetting.
Just do it normally, or as normally as you can. I want to get an idea of what the range is.
Thanks!
Okay, at the end of warmup I did 2 x 50 dolphin kick with a board, the first one at about 80-85% effort and the next one a little harder:
#1 went 33 with 42 kicks total (21/21)
#2 went 30 with 43 kicks total (21/22)
Combine that with yesterday's 50 underwater SDK, where I went 26 with 42 kicks total. This is faster than I could do with a board and was close to all-out, I would guesstimate that I would have taken about 44 kicks with a board and gone a 28-29 with that same effort level.
The overall picture, at least in my case:
-- I guess when I go faster, kick at a higher frequency without sacrificing distance-per-kick TOO greatly
-- I take about as many kicks per lengths as many others here (the 41-50 category of the poll seems the most popular). Since my times are on the fast side, the difference would seem to be in the kick frequency rather than the DPK, at least in my case. Or, put another way, I can maintain the same DPK as many others while having a higher kick frequency.
It isn't really what I expected, since I have very flexible ankles I always assumed my DPK would be high while the frequency would be about average, rather than the other way around. But we haven't heard from many others, and certainly I could do far fewer kicks (maximizing DPK) if I accepted somewhat slower times.
Chris, I remember seeing the photos of you in Swimmer, and your ankles are more than flexible. It crossed my mind that your mother might have taken a tiny dose of thalidomide back in the day. Your feet looked like a seal's.
I agree that the 41-50 category is probably where many of the top butterfly kickers are likely to fall. I also think the difference you suggest between using a board vs. not using a board makes a relatively small amount of difference for most, maybe 1 or 2 kicks per length.
To those who claim to make an entire 50 in 10 kicks or less, and even those claiming 30 or less, I would love to see some YouTube evidence in support. Sure, anybody can lessen their overall count by gliding interminably between each kick. But even using this strategy, I have trouble believing you can make a whole 50 in 10 or less kicks.
As for the difference between DPK and frequency, I think the latter is probably a more important factor for most of us in speed. When I watch you, Chris, or Leslie, or Michael Ross do SDK's, I am always struck by how quickly you guys are whip tailing your way through the depths. The bigger the kick, the more you violate an optimal streamline, one would think; thus I sense that doing a bunch of quick, tight, streamlined kicks would propel you faster than more fewer and more exaggerated monster kicks.
One other question: I agree with Leslie that using a board to kick is hard on the shoulders, and for many reasons, this seems particularly true with fly kicks. On the other hand, it's hard to really work on endurance if you are forced to hold your breath length after length doing prolonged SDKs.
Do you see any value to those of us who are trying to get better at SDKs doing sets like the one I described in my vlog (1500 mixed flutter and fly kicks with a board, gradually reducing the percentage of flutter while increasing the percentage of fly)?
And is Leslie right about fin training being the way to go here? I know fins help increase ankle flexibility, but it's so much easier to kick SDKs with fins that I wonder if I should be practicing the fin-less variety I will actually be using in competition?
Okay, at the end of warmup I did 2 x 50 dolphin kick with a board, the first one at about 80-85% effort and the next one a little harder:
#1 went 33 with 42 kicks total (21/21)
#2 went 30 with 43 kicks total (21/22)
Combine that with yesterday's 50 underwater SDK, where I went 26 with 42 kicks total. This is faster than I could do with a board and was close to all-out, I would guesstimate that I would have taken about 44 kicks with a board and gone a 28-29 with that same effort level.
The overall picture, at least in my case:
-- I guess when I go faster, kick at a higher frequency without sacrificing distance-per-kick TOO greatly
-- I take about as many kicks per lengths as many others here (the 41-50 category of the poll seems the most popular). Since my times are on the fast side, the difference would seem to be in the kick frequency rather than the DPK, at least in my case. Or, put another way, I can maintain the same DPK as many others while having a higher kick frequency.
It isn't really what I expected, since I have very flexible ankles I always assumed my DPK would be high while the frequency would be about average, rather than the other way around. But we haven't heard from many others, and certainly I could do far fewer kicks (maximizing DPK) if I accepted somewhat slower times.
Chris, I remember seeing the photos of you in Swimmer, and your ankles are more than flexible. It crossed my mind that your mother might have taken a tiny dose of thalidomide back in the day. Your feet looked like a seal's.
I agree that the 41-50 category is probably where many of the top butterfly kickers are likely to fall. I also think the difference you suggest between using a board vs. not using a board makes a relatively small amount of difference for most, maybe 1 or 2 kicks per length.
To those who claim to make an entire 50 in 10 kicks or less, and even those claiming 30 or less, I would love to see some YouTube evidence in support. Sure, anybody can lessen their overall count by gliding interminably between each kick. But even using this strategy, I have trouble believing you can make a whole 50 in 10 or less kicks.
As for the difference between DPK and frequency, I think the latter is probably a more important factor for most of us in speed. When I watch you, Chris, or Leslie, or Michael Ross do SDK's, I am always struck by how quickly you guys are whip tailing your way through the depths. The bigger the kick, the more you violate an optimal streamline, one would think; thus I sense that doing a bunch of quick, tight, streamlined kicks would propel you faster than more fewer and more exaggerated monster kicks.
One other question: I agree with Leslie that using a board to kick is hard on the shoulders, and for many reasons, this seems particularly true with fly kicks. On the other hand, it's hard to really work on endurance if you are forced to hold your breath length after length doing prolonged SDKs.
Do you see any value to those of us who are trying to get better at SDKs doing sets like the one I described in my vlog (1500 mixed flutter and fly kicks with a board, gradually reducing the percentage of flutter while increasing the percentage of fly)?
And is Leslie right about fin training being the way to go here? I know fins help increase ankle flexibility, but it's so much easier to kick SDKs with fins that I wonder if I should be practicing the fin-less variety I will actually be using in competition?
