Hi all,
It's so funny--sometimes I see people at the pool who really go at it with the kickboard...and then other people wouldn't touch one if their life depended upon it.
I'll admit, I don't use one--mainly becuase I'm impatient, feel like I'm not going anywhere, and am a purist to a fault sometimes.
But, if you think that it's worthwhile, I would incoporate it, all for the sake of improvement.
The great questions are:
Will training with a kickboard make me a better, faster, super awesome swimmer?
And, if you train with one--why? Or, why not?
Thanks everybody (you know you're my outlet!)
JoAnne -aka, Jerrycat ;)
Parents
Former Member
I didn't know this:
Originally posted by Gareth Eckley
ION are you familiar with the concept of muscle imbalance ? This is where most swimmers have much stronger quadriceps than hamstrings and that strengthening the hamstrings to get a closer balance in the leg muscles can lead to a better kick.
This link explains it better than I can:
www.zoomers.net/new-muscleimbalances.htm
The second link is around ankle flexibility:
www.zoomers.net/new-thekick.htm
Sorry if this is info that you already know.
I understand that quite a few succesful coaches are working on even propulsion on the downbeat and upbeat ( squeezing water between the feet ) and that it does seem to make a difference.
I do a lot of flutter kick on my back and sides, with and without fins and I feel that it does more for my kick than kicking on a board ever did. I also stretch my ankles regularly and they are at my limit.
Every little bit helps !
My information is mostly empirical, and some bits gathered from books and the news.
So, in the flutter kick, the quadriceps making the downbeat are more developed than the hamstrings making the upbeat, and there is an imbalance in strength between the quadriceps and the hamstrings which when corrected towards some parity improves the entire flutter kick.
This imbalance between quadriceps and hamstrings explains why when I kick on my back mostly with my hamstrings I am lame, and when I kick flutter with mostly my quadriceps I am strong:
a month ago, in a 50 meter pool workout, I was doing 8x50 meter flutter kick with a kickboard leaving every 55 seconds, while I was making them in about 47 seconds each.
From your post and the first link, it looks like I have work in front of me, in the department of kicking on my back, so that I develop further my hamstrings for future flutter kick.
Sometimes when I kick strong, I build pain in the quadriceps, hamstrings and calf muscles, which is a sign that I am working on these, but from the first link it seems that I need to focus more work on the hamstrings.
As for ankle flexibility, I guess that compared to the pictures shown in the second link, I am at about 70 degrees of flexibility.
It's interesting to discover and learn more, from posts like this...
I didn't know this:
Originally posted by Gareth Eckley
ION are you familiar with the concept of muscle imbalance ? This is where most swimmers have much stronger quadriceps than hamstrings and that strengthening the hamstrings to get a closer balance in the leg muscles can lead to a better kick.
This link explains it better than I can:
www.zoomers.net/new-muscleimbalances.htm
The second link is around ankle flexibility:
www.zoomers.net/new-thekick.htm
Sorry if this is info that you already know.
I understand that quite a few succesful coaches are working on even propulsion on the downbeat and upbeat ( squeezing water between the feet ) and that it does seem to make a difference.
I do a lot of flutter kick on my back and sides, with and without fins and I feel that it does more for my kick than kicking on a board ever did. I also stretch my ankles regularly and they are at my limit.
Every little bit helps !
My information is mostly empirical, and some bits gathered from books and the news.
So, in the flutter kick, the quadriceps making the downbeat are more developed than the hamstrings making the upbeat, and there is an imbalance in strength between the quadriceps and the hamstrings which when corrected towards some parity improves the entire flutter kick.
This imbalance between quadriceps and hamstrings explains why when I kick on my back mostly with my hamstrings I am lame, and when I kick flutter with mostly my quadriceps I am strong:
a month ago, in a 50 meter pool workout, I was doing 8x50 meter flutter kick with a kickboard leaving every 55 seconds, while I was making them in about 47 seconds each.
From your post and the first link, it looks like I have work in front of me, in the department of kicking on my back, so that I develop further my hamstrings for future flutter kick.
Sometimes when I kick strong, I build pain in the quadriceps, hamstrings and calf muscles, which is a sign that I am working on these, but from the first link it seems that I need to focus more work on the hamstrings.
As for ankle flexibility, I guess that compared to the pictures shown in the second link, I am at about 70 degrees of flexibility.
It's interesting to discover and learn more, from posts like this...
