Some background: I am a 52 year old 6'3" guy. I was an age-group swimmer from when I could walk - stopped swimming during Junior high because of a parental over involvement problem, a return to high school swimming may have saved my life (seriously) and college came after. For some reason after college life got in the way and I stopped swimming.
In January of 2016 I had a heart attack and three weeks later a stroke. Thankfully neither was deadly or had lasting effects. The stroke was caused by low blood volume due to genetic clotting disorders combined with dehydration made worse by being on diuretics (dr ordered). Coming out of my recovery period I started running and ran the Walt Disney World Marathon in January 2017. Being my stubborn self I ran it with a bone spur under my Achilles tendon. Unless I want surgery, running is out.
After a lot of hem-hawing I returned to the pool and started training for open water/distance events. I did not have good memories of pool swimming and have yet to attend a pool meet. Have now swam a few open water 5K's and done an ePostal event.
OK, now for my question: My primary stroke is breaststroke, always has been and probably always will be. I sink with backstroke, whomever invented fly is just evil, and freestyle, well that is a problem stroke for me since I had my stroke.
The kick is a problem, I seem to have lost some coordination and get tangled up. So, most of my freestyle time is spent with my legs dragging or barely kicking.
Any words of wisdom? My splits are embarrassing around :50-:54 for 50m. My breaststroke is around :53-1:02 for 50m. I concentrate on distance and am swimming 3.4K continuous in 1:03:00.
What can I do to regain my freestyle kick? I workout solo due to location and schedule.
I'm sorry to hear about your heart attack and stroke, C. I commend you for taking control of your health and getting yourself in the pool.
Is your loss of coordination in freestyle kicking due to permanent damage from the stroke you had or do you have full control over your legs? How is your flexibility? Can you point your toes? How often do you swim each week (days and yardage)?
Either way, the more kicking you do in practice, the better your kick will become. Doing kicking drills will help you concentrate just on the kick to improve your technique. Can somebody shoot some video of your freestyle for you? If so, post a video here, so we can see what you are doing and offer some suggestions.
Meanwhile, one of the things I do to maintain ankle flexibility (one of the keys to good kicking) is repetitive ankle circles (clockwise and counter-clockwise sets) during my dryland routine. Although I do it before my post-swim yoga routine, it's something easy that you can do while sitting at the computer or watching TV.
Another thing to keep in mind while kicking is to keep your kick narrow, both horizontally and vertically. To make sure I'm keeping my legs close together, I think about brushing my big toes against each as I kick. I also try to get the power from my hips and keep my legs fairly straight with little knee bend.
Check out the videos at http://www.goswim.tv . A basic subscription is free, and they consistently show great underwater footage of excellent swimmers.
I'm sorry to hear about your heart attack and stroke, C. I commend you for taking control of your health and getting yourself in the pool.
Is your loss of coordination in freestyle kicking due to permanent damage from the stroke you had or do you have full control over your legs? How is your flexibility? Can you point your toes? How often do you swim each week (days and yardage)?
Either way, the more kicking you do in practice, the better your kick will become. Doing kicking drills will help you concentrate just on the kick to improve your technique. Can somebody shoot some video of your freestyle for you? If so, post a video here, so we can see what you are doing and offer some suggestions.
Meanwhile, one of the things I do to maintain ankle flexibility (one of the keys to good kicking) is repetitive ankle circles (clockwise and counter-clockwise sets) during my dryland routine. Although I do it before my post-swim yoga routine, it's something easy that you can do while sitting at the computer or watching TV.
Another thing to keep in mind while kicking is to keep your kick narrow, both horizontally and vertically. To make sure I'm keeping my legs close together, I think about brushing my big toes against each as I kick. I also try to get the power from my hips and keep my legs fairly straight with little knee bend.
Check out the videos at http://www.goswim.tv . A basic subscription is free, and they consistently show great underwater footage of excellent swimmers.
