Other than stop using a kick board does anyone have any ideas on how to reduce shoulder soreness associated with using a kick board. We have been really working on kick as part of our LCM training this season and my quads are sore but by far and a way my shoulders hurt the most. During the kick set I am fine but a few hours later my shoulders are stiff and sore.
Using the board to assist in a turn will eventually hurt your shoulder, do not pull down when making a turn (it is slightly faster but not worth it). Tighten the forearms while kicking, let the forearms absorb the stress.
Kicking with a standard kickboard does tend to put some strain on the shoulders if overused. There are plenty of other variations on kicking drills that you can try which are sometimes even more effective than using the board. Drills like kick at side, kick on your back, hyperkick are all great ways to develop the legs and the core at the same time. If you are required to use the board, you can try what Allen suggested - holding on to the very end of the board and keeping your face in the water, lifting your head to breathe. This will reduce some of the tension on your shoulders. But I would highly recommend varying your kick sets, if possible.
Because of the shoulder strain,and the fact that using a kick board moves you into an unstreamlined position, I almost never use one. Instead I kick using my snorkel.
Agree 100%. Or work on your back kick.
Also, pay attention to how you are gripping the board. Are you gripping tight? Are you pressing down on the board to help keep your head out of the water? In both cases this puts more strain on your shoulders than is good.
Next time, try to loosely place your hands on the middle of the board and focus on engaging your core to help stabilize your upper body.
-prw
You can try holding the kick board at the back end and keeping your face in the water,raising your head to breathe. That will decrease the stress on your shoulders. Because of the shoulder strain,and the fact that using a kick board moves you into an unstreamlined position, I almost never use one. Instead I kick using my snorkel.
I have this kick board that is more aerodynamic and is supposed to take the strain off your shoulders. www.swimoutlet.com/.../. It is easier on the shoulders than a regular board, but I don't use it enough to tell you whether in the long run it's better for you.
Other than stop using a kick board....
I'm curious why dispensing with the kickboard isn't an option. I have shoulder issues and have completely given up using one. I can do all the kicking I want (flutter front and back, and whip kick) without one. Losing the board also gives me the flexibility to use different arm positions during kick sets.
Streamlined (typically flutter kick on my back)
One arm forward, one back (flutter kick on front or back)
Both arms back (flutter kick on front or back, typically working on rotation)
Kick on back with arms in the air ("catch up" backstroke kick)
Underwater (generally dolphin or flutter kick on my back or side)
A smaller kickboard such as @DeniseMW suggested might help if you still want to use one. It will have less flotation, and allow your hands to press into the water, taking some strain off your shoulders.
I did streamline kick this morning with my snorkel and it helped a lot. I am still sore from friday
I had thought about not using a board before I posted but was after some other ideas. I like the idea of changing it up and exploring my hands on the board and will look at a different board. Maybe working on my back kick will be a good thing also. Thanks everyone.
For quite some time I've also been interested in finding ways to do a lot of kicking without stressing the shoulders. I can confirm success with some of the ideas posted above, and have a few other observations as well:
1) Ditch the board for backstroke kick. For backstroke kick, using the kick-board causes more frustration than it is worth. Going with no board (hereafter NB) puts me into a much more realistic body position, allows me to practice my streamline, makes flip turns possible, allows me to practice my SDKs off every wall and is just far superior.
2) Ditch the board for fly kick and do fly kick on your back. I only learned this recently. My daughter showed me how to do it and it is absolutely worth the effort to learn how. It is 100% better. My shoulders are so stiff that when I use a board for fly kick, every undulation pushes the board down into the water and stresses my shoulders. Moreover, I tend to flick my shins instead of dolphining. Kicking on my back solves these problems. Moreover, I get to practice my SDKs off every wall, it gives my abs a great workout, and I can breathe all I want, (except when doing SDKs of course).
3) Ok, now that you are not using the board for fly or back kick, you can do IM kick without having to worry about the kick board ending up at the wrong end of the pool, regardless of the distance, 100, 200, 300, ... whatever. How cool is that!
4) Breaststroke kick with a board seems reasonable so I haven't thought much about it, but I do like the 3-kicks-one stroke drill and will do that sometimes. Br kick on the back NB is a disaster for me.
5) Free kick (flutter on the belly) remains the most challenging to deal with. I find that if I turn my head to the side as if I am doing a freestyle breath I can get my head much closer to its proper position for swimming freestyle. This eases the stress on my shoulders and has the added benefit of getting me into a better body position. I switch sides every length, or half length to work on symmetry.
6) Sometimes I will do "shark fin kick". For shark fin kick, flutter kick on the side, top arm down along the side, bottom arm held outstretched in front holding the kickboard vertically so it looks like a shark fin in the water. It's supposed to work both the upbeat and downbeat of the kick. I find it remarkably challenging and have to adjust the intervals accordingly.
