Hi i counted my dolphin kicks after flip turn and i took 11 dolphin kicks to reach the 15m mark. Is that a good number? those dolphin kick were swift and fast ones. Should i dolphin kick after walls or just flip turn and freestyle?
I am aiming for 5-6 dolphin kicks for a 200m freestyle race.
Also is there any advantage for dolphin kicking off walls instead of just transitioning to normal freestyle?
And I remember Gary Hall touched on this here a while back. To paraphrase--if I'm remembering correctly--he said the kick is a dangerous weapon and you should work on it, BUT if you're not a good kicker you're probably never going to be a great kicker, so concentrating on it too much is probably a waste of time.
I think many swimmers, and maybe masters swimmers especially, need to keep this in mind. Just because some people can swim faster by doing a lot of SDKing doesn't mean everyone can. If you're faster on the surface then swim on the surface! You've got to remember that the goal is to swim is as fast as you can, not to look like Ryan Lochte.
Gary Hall actually appears to take the opposite view, from the articles that I have read. In his Finis blog from December 7, 2012, he debunks the myth that "kicking is overrated". (www.finisinc.com/.../gary-hall-swimming-myths-debunked-6).
In another article from Triathlete magazine in May 2013, he says "The good news about kicking is that if you don’t have good flexibility in your ankles, you can develop it very quickly (within weeks) and increase your propulsion without swimming harder." He encourages swimmers to improve their kick and emphasizes the importance of the kick in swimming. (triathlon.competitor.com/.../why-its-important-to-conquer-the-swim-kick_75540)
It's a huge discouragement to tell new swimmers that they may as well give up if they don't have a strong kick from the outset. It's true that you can be born with specific physical attributes that may give you an edge over the competition, but that does not mean that someone else can't surpass you through hard work and smart coaching.
And I remember Gary Hall touched on this here a while back. To paraphrase--if I'm remembering correctly--he said the kick is a dangerous weapon and you should work on it, BUT if you're not a good kicker you're probably never going to be a great kicker, so concentrating on it too much is probably a waste of time.
I think many swimmers, and maybe masters swimmers especially, need to keep this in mind. Just because some people can swim faster by doing a lot of SDKing doesn't mean everyone can. If you're faster on the surface then swim on the surface! You've got to remember that the goal is to swim is as fast as you can, not to look like Ryan Lochte.
Gary Hall actually appears to take the opposite view, from the articles that I have read. In his Finis blog from December 7, 2012, he debunks the myth that "kicking is overrated". (www.finisinc.com/.../gary-hall-swimming-myths-debunked-6).
In another article from Triathlete magazine in May 2013, he says "The good news about kicking is that if you don’t have good flexibility in your ankles, you can develop it very quickly (within weeks) and increase your propulsion without swimming harder." He encourages swimmers to improve their kick and emphasizes the importance of the kick in swimming. (triathlon.competitor.com/.../why-its-important-to-conquer-the-swim-kick_75540)
It's a huge discouragement to tell new swimmers that they may as well give up if they don't have a strong kick from the outset. It's true that you can be born with specific physical attributes that may give you an edge over the competition, but that does not mean that someone else can't surpass you through hard work and smart coaching.
