Transitioning from distance to sprint: the kick

Former Member
Former Member
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.
Parents
  • Former Member
    Former Member over 11 years ago
    Oh cool glad it's clicking for you too. I have even found it applies to my trusty 2 beat as well even though it's essentially a straight leg with that approach. It's more of a body line/rigidity thing with a 2 beat, but has certainly given me a boost towards the end of longer sets in that my legs don't get draggy. On good days my 2 beat would have my heels just kissing the surface only occasionally, but now they are there all the time which simply means less drag. Have yet to do a hammer session of longer stuff, but will try it out on my open water swim Sunday.
Reply
  • Former Member
    Former Member over 11 years ago
    Oh cool glad it's clicking for you too. I have even found it applies to my trusty 2 beat as well even though it's essentially a straight leg with that approach. It's more of a body line/rigidity thing with a 2 beat, but has certainly given me a boost towards the end of longer sets in that my legs don't get draggy. On good days my 2 beat would have my heels just kissing the surface only occasionally, but now they are there all the time which simply means less drag. Have yet to do a hammer session of longer stuff, but will try it out on my open water swim Sunday.
Children
No Data