I decided to get back into swimming after not swimming seriously for 30 years. Right now, I'm trying to figure out where my weaknesses are, time-wise, but my times don't make sense to me. Freestyle and backstroke have always been my fastest strokes. Butterfly has always been my weakest and *** stroke my slowest. I'm not concerned about my *** stroke right now but today, I discovered that my fly kick is significantly faster than my freestyle kick - like by 8 seconds in 25yds. I find this very weird, especially considering that I'm pigeon toed, making it impossible for me to keep my feet together during the fly kick. I would think that at the very least, my freestyle kick would be as fast as my fly, but not slower. Is this normal? I think there's something seriously wrong with my flutter and whatever is wrong, it's not related to drag (I've already ruled out drag).
I might have misinterpreted this but from your earlier posts it seems like you have registered for USMS and selected a club while you registered. To actually join that club you probably have to talk to the coach, fill out a form, and give them a check to pay for coaching and pool time however the club is structured.
The USMS membership gives you the ability to compete in masters meets, insurance to let you swim with master's clubs, written practices on these forums, a magazine in the mail, the ability to track how far you swim and earn prizes, etc.
Most clubs would be fine with you dropping in but it might be good to call beforehand to verify the practice time, that they have space for new members, and to see if they have any requirements from you such as printing out a membership form. Clubs often let you try for free before you need to pay.
Arthur, I apologize for the confusion my cluelessness may have caused. I'm just now starting to understand the context of all the aspects you mentioned. When I signed up for a membership to the USMS, I paid two fees - one to the USMS for $35 and one to South Texas LMSC for $10. I joined via online and after I selected an LMSC, the registration site asked me to pick a team, which I did without having a clue as to what picking a team meant (is this a virtual team? Is this a real team? Is this an online support team? That's how clueless I was) and it wouldn't let me opt out of picking a team (at least, I didn't see an option to opt out). A few days later, I got a "welcome to the team" email from the coach with some information on where the team practiced and when. I hadn't intended to join a team but I'm glad I did. I "accidentally" did exactly what I needed to do to keep myself motivated. Now I just need to see about transferring to a team closer to where I live and arrange the team/coach fee.
I went to my first practice this morning and all went well. I discovered that my flutter kick is fine, just weak in strength. Apparently, my main problem is my recovery. I tend to keep my entire arm tense throughout the stroke instead of loose from the elbow to the hands. It's going to be a hard habit to get out of but at least I'm now aware of the problem and know what doing it correctly feels like.
I decided to get back into swimming after not swimming seriously for 30 years. Right now, I'm trying to figure out where my weaknesses are, time-wise, but my times don't make sense to me. Freestyle and backstroke have always been my fastest strokes. Butterfly has always been my weakest and *** stroke my slowest. I'm not concerned about my *** stroke right now but today, I discovered that my fly kick is significantly faster than my freestyle kick - like by 8 seconds in 25yds. I find this very weird, especially considering that I'm pigeon toed, making it impossible for me to keep my feet together during the fly kick. I would think that at the very least, my freestyle kick would be as fast as my fly, but not slower. Is this normal? I think there's something seriously wrong with my flutter and whatever is wrong, it's not related to drag (I've already ruled out drag).
Most elites are faster at fly kick, but not by this margin. It is reasonible to believe that the difference might come from the fact that fly kick better exploits the contribution from the whole body. Also, there's less myths evolving around the fly kick. Of course, kicking with both legs together would be one of them. In reality, you should not try to keep your legs together whilst fly kicking (it doesn't make much sense to even try). At free, you have all the "don't splash" and the "don't bend the knees" advices etc, which may prevent someone from achieving optimal kick speed.
