I have spent the last 20+ years with a 2 beat rotational kick, hip driven freestyle focusing on middle and ultra distance events(half and full iron). Fast twitch kid and ran the 100/200 and 100 hurdles in high school. Now back in the pool I have come to embrace what fast twitch I have left and apparently have a knack for the sprints!
Doing tons of kick work to begin the never ending process of getting a powerful 6 beat kick. It's pretty lame at the moment. Working on keeping my hips a little flatter and using that as my platform for a powerful flutter. My issue is that I seem to lose my balance and downhill feeling that is so ingrained with my 2 beat rotational kick once I focus on the 6 beat flutter. To fully engage my 6 beat it's feels like I need to let my legs sink a little bit which just seems wrong. When I do that I feel all that extra drag build up immediately and it's a momentum killer. I'm used to having my bum slightly breach the water with my hip driven stroke. Not able to do that successfully yet with my 6 beat. Ideas or thoughts on what I might be doing wrong or is this just how the 6 beat feels when amping it up for 50/100?
I was given a suggestion today by a really fast sprinter from a local club team to kind of squeeze my bum a little bit and kick even more compact than I am. Didn't really get the hang of it, but open to idea on what I might want to focus on with this new kick journey I'm on. Thanks.
Thanks for the additional info! Below I've listed a few drills that you can try. You'll see that some of them involve kicking within the context of the pull motion. You should practice these over short distances only, depending upon your level and ability, combined with fullstroke.
- Roll shoulders drill is excellent for achieving body balance, rotation in the water and maintaining a consistent and faster-paced kick. In this drill, you're on your stomach, arms at side and rotate along your body axis (keeping your head still) while kicking continuously. You breathe bilaterally to the side every 3rd rotation
- Single arm hesitation drill is a fundamental drill that will allow you to focus on keeping up your kick during the stroke cycle by using only one arm and hesitating for 2 seconds during the recovery phase of the pull. Be sure to breathe every stroke on this drill.
- The drill that you mentioned (the 6 beat switch) is what we call side-to-side, but you can also do a variation on this by taking 3 side-to-side strokes, followed by 3 fullstrokes for the duration of the set.
- Fingertip drag is also a great drill for developing a consistent kick throughout the duration of the stroke cycle. Fingertip drag mimics the fullstroke with the exception that you drag your fingertips across the water during the recovery phase of the pull, thus slowing down your arm recovery and allowing you to increase the speed and beats of your kick.
Given that you've been swimming over 20 years with a 2-beat kick, it will take a good deal of time and energy to work up to the 6-beat kick, so don't get frustrated if your progress is slower than expected - this is completely normal and it takes years for swimmers to develop this type of fast-paced kick. You can always check out my website (http://www.swimspire.com) or email me if you want further help! Good luck!
Julia Galan
http://www.swimspire.com
Thanks for the additional info! Below I've listed a few drills that you can try. You'll see that some of them involve kicking within the context of the pull motion. You should practice these over short distances only, depending upon your level and ability, combined with fullstroke.
- Roll shoulders drill is excellent for achieving body balance, rotation in the water and maintaining a consistent and faster-paced kick. In this drill, you're on your stomach, arms at side and rotate along your body axis (keeping your head still) while kicking continuously. You breathe bilaterally to the side every 3rd rotation
- Single arm hesitation drill is a fundamental drill that will allow you to focus on keeping up your kick during the stroke cycle by using only one arm and hesitating for 2 seconds during the recovery phase of the pull. Be sure to breathe every stroke on this drill.
- The drill that you mentioned (the 6 beat switch) is what we call side-to-side, but you can also do a variation on this by taking 3 side-to-side strokes, followed by 3 fullstrokes for the duration of the set.
- Fingertip drag is also a great drill for developing a consistent kick throughout the duration of the stroke cycle. Fingertip drag mimics the fullstroke with the exception that you drag your fingertips across the water during the recovery phase of the pull, thus slowing down your arm recovery and allowing you to increase the speed and beats of your kick.
Given that you've been swimming over 20 years with a 2-beat kick, it will take a good deal of time and energy to work up to the 6-beat kick, so don't get frustrated if your progress is slower than expected - this is completely normal and it takes years for swimmers to develop this type of fast-paced kick. You can always check out my website (http://www.swimspire.com) or email me if you want further help! Good luck!
Julia Galan
http://www.swimspire.com
