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???
67King,
I agree that kicking with fins can be a nice gentle way to improve ankle flexibility - with one caveat. The kicking action needs to be very similar to your kicking action without fins. Too many swimmers put fins on and proceed to bicycle kick which will not improve ankle flexibility nor kicking speed. And, because they are moving forward, they think they are doing it correctly.
Like so many of the posts, I have also sprained my ankle and noticed the difference between the feet. The worst case for me was having both ankles in a cast for 9 weeks. That does a number on ankle flexibility. It was very hard to go faster than 2 minutes per 100 when I started swimming again. Fortunately, they loosened up pretty quickly.
Sumorunner - thanks for posting this thread. I know your ankles feel like they cannot get looser, but I am sure they can improve to some degree if you can find the right exercises/stretches for you. Even calf raisers with full flex and point will help.
Paul
67King,
I agree that kicking with fins can be a nice gentle way to improve ankle flexibility - with one caveat. The kicking action needs to be very similar to your kicking action without fins. Too many swimmers put fins on and proceed to bicycle kick which will not improve ankle flexibility nor kicking speed. And, because they are moving forward, they think they are doing it correctly.
Like so many of the posts, I have also sprained my ankle and noticed the difference between the feet. The worst case for me was having both ankles in a cast for 9 weeks. That does a number on ankle flexibility. It was very hard to go faster than 2 minutes per 100 when I started swimming again. Fortunately, they loosened up pretty quickly.
Sumorunner - thanks for posting this thread. I know your ankles feel like they cannot get looser, but I am sure they can improve to some degree if you can find the right exercises/stretches for you. Even calf raisers with full flex and point will help.
Paul
