I'm something of a newbie to masters, though I've been swimming a long time. I have no kick, zero, nada. I have tried at masters swim workouts, but if I attempt to move down the lane using kick only, I float absolutely still in the water. If I kick a lot, I get cramps in feet and calfs. What to do???
I hate to say this, but...
Without increasing ankle flexibility, which was posted on another thread, it won't matter much if you use a board, snorkel, etc. In and of themselves, they will not improve your kicking ability. Yes, they will improve your body position and reduce frontal drag, but without better ankle flexibility, there will be no increase in forward propulsion.
So, if you "kick-in-place" or maybe even go backwards when you kick, find exercises to increase ankle, foot, and even toe flexibility to reduce backward drag. There are plenty of them. How successful they will be depends on your specific situation (age, swimming history, etc..). As an aside, the more I bicycle and the older I get, the more time I have to devote to stretching my ankles/toes before I swim to prevent cramps and keep my toe point.
Good Luck Sumo - don't give up on increasing those tight ankles of yours. :)
Co-sign. I am not a great flutter kicker to start with, and I have an ankle that I severely sprained about 4 years ago. That ankle is still tight. When I'm kicking, I can tell the difference between my floppy ankle and my tight ankle. Going to start back on my ankle flexibility exercises, so thank you all for the inspiration!
I hate to say this, but...
Without increasing ankle flexibility, which was posted on another thread, it won't matter much if you use a board, snorkel, etc. In and of themselves, they will not improve your kicking ability. Yes, they will improve your body position and reduce frontal drag, but without better ankle flexibility, there will be no increase in forward propulsion.
So, if you "kick-in-place" or maybe even go backwards when you kick, find exercises to increase ankle, foot, and even toe flexibility to reduce backward drag. There are plenty of them. How successful they will be depends on your specific situation (age, swimming history, etc..). As an aside, the more I bicycle and the older I get, the more time I have to devote to stretching my ankles/toes before I swim to prevent cramps and keep my toe point.
Good Luck Sumo - don't give up on increasing those tight ankles of yours. :)
Co-sign. I am not a great flutter kicker to start with, and I have an ankle that I severely sprained about 4 years ago. That ankle is still tight. When I'm kicking, I can tell the difference between my floppy ankle and my tight ankle. Going to start back on my ankle flexibility exercises, so thank you all for the inspiration!
