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?
The point of this forum is to help and encourage our fellow Masters swimmers, to be a positive force, and to give them hope in the pursuit of their dreams, as opposed to claiming that some are just "born" with it and encouraging them to just settle for less.
Maybe this was directed at me; if so then you've misunderstood greatly. The question driving the thread, it seems to me, is how many DKs are optimal off the wall, and what I'm saying is that it will depend on the swimmer. That's not the same as telling someone to give it up.
As mentioned before, I encourage the OP (and anyone else) to work on their kick and experiment with the number of kicks that works best for them. My main point about "natural kicking ability" is that IMO for some people, that optimum number is never going to be close to the double digits. Yes, that's just my opinion but it is not meant to discourage anyone. The opposite, in fact: lots of incredibly fast swimmers aren't great dolphin kickers (especially breaststrokers and freestylers, it seems to me).
But yes, working on improving the dolphin kick will probably increase that optimum number. One of the nice things about masters swimming is that we have time to experiment, we don't have to produce results every year. I think taking some time to work on something different (or try completely new events or whatever) is a great benefit of this mindset. So if someone wants to do so, I think it is a great idea to work on increasing underwaters and see if that helps. If nothing else it keeps one engaged in the sport.
I always get lapped by my team mates during flutter kick, but i was faster than them at the dolphin kick. So what is that suppose to mean?
Probably just that you have a strong core. Flutter kicks is more about pure leg strength/conditioning, you can engage your core a lot better on DK. You should take it as a promising sign in your quest for improving undewaters.
For sprinting,it really,really depends on how fast your surface sprint speed is vs your SDK.Whereas a fast SDK is faster than a fast 200 free on the surface,many fast sprinters are just faster than a fast SDK.You need to experiment for you.Get some 15M sprint times with various SDK counts and see.I'm not that fast a free sprinter,nor a great SDKer,but my optimum count came to 3 SDKs YMMV.
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).
It's strange because I know Gary posted more or less the same thing here, but now I can't find it. It must have been deleted. And, yes, he certainly advocates kicking as being important but I definitely recall him saying (and it may have been a reply to the original posting) that sometimes you've got to realize that if you're not a good kicker you probably shouldn't concentrate on it. Does anyone else remember this or am I dreaming?
Kicking is important and the vast majority of the top swimmers have great kicks. However, not everyone should be spending a lot of time underwater just because the elites are doing it. Yes, work on this skill for sure, but I think at some point you've got to realize that some people are naturals at this skill and others are not. You need to find out what works best for you, personally.
l The opposite, in fact: lots of incredibly fast swimmers aren't great dolphin kickers (especially breaststrokers and freestylers, it seems to me).I recall a post Jeff Commings mentioned his coach exhausted all efforts to get his ankles to flex with no success, what became speed brakes eventually led to a powerful weapon.
It's strange because I know Gary posted more or less the same thing here, but now I can't find it. It must have been deleted.
I recall this too, I think it was a suppliment to one of the myth debunks. It wasn't deleted, its out there, somewhere. The searching tool on our forum lost its ability to dig deeper into threads older than when the format was drastically changed. You have to manually go back and search page by page for anything earlier from the point it was changed last year.
I recall this too, I think it was a supplement to one of the myth debunks. I think you must manually go back and search page by page for anything earlier from the point the forum format was changed last year.
Yeah, what happened? When I search I get results from 2013, then anything else is about ten years old. It seems like results before 2013--except really old stuff--can't be searched.
I am actually faster just gliding to the surface off the turns in distances 100 and up. But in the 50, the one distance I'm alright at, I have no idea how many kicks I take. I need to experiment this in the future.
Yeah, what happened? When I search I get results from 2013, then anything else is about ten years old. It seems like results before 2013--except really old stuff--can't be searched.
I don't think he posted it here. But I remember it too. In fact he specifically mentioned Natalie Caughlin and said if you cannot kick like her, then don't bother.
But the "don't bother" wasn't work on kicking. He was dissecting hip vs shoulder driven freestyle, and the statement was if you don't have Nat's motor in the back, don't bother trying to be a shoulder driven freestyler.
Kickers are born not made and to be the fastest you swimmer can be, MOST of us would be better served trying to increase stroke rate not generating more power from the kick.
