Personally, I think kickboards are evil, evil, evil. When I was swimming 20 years ago in high school I didn't see the point, and now that I'm 38 I still don't see the point.
Happily though, I've read in several books and seen on a few video tapes that many coaches have come around to my line of thinking, "Kickboards put you in an unnatural heads-up position, emphasize the least effective part of the stroke (the kick), and keep you from rotating."
Since I see people swim with kickboards every day I know many people disagree with me. But, there's no way they're going to change my mind. Instead - let's vote!
Parents
Former Member
They serve a purpose, but should used sparingly, and properly.
Not all kicking sets are to be done with a kickboard, just like not all kicking sets are to be done with fins.
I see fair amount of swim gear go misused. Not all kick sets and drills mean grab a kickboard and do laps... My coach found an article not too long ago that talks about 101 ways to kick... Some of them do use a kickboard, a lot of them don't. It depends what you're trying to accomplish with any particular kicking set.
Now, if you don't know why you're doing certain kicking sets or how to do them properly, it's not the kickboard's fault ;)
It's liek a debate which tennis shoes are best for running, well, it depends on what kind of running, where, how much, and what kind of a foot and posture you tend to have. Some runners swear by running barefoot too...
Things are seldom black or white, yes or no, same for the kickboard. If you don't hold it properly, it will strain your shoulders, if you do hold it properly, it will give your arms a bit of rest while you're working the leg muscles.
For some beginners, it will give them feel for the kick only, when having the whole body in water and stumbling through basics of balance is too confusing for them to know what their legs are doing.
If all kicking you do is do straight laps with the kickboard in kicking sets, you're missing out on about 100 other ways to kick and improve.
They serve a purpose, but should used sparingly, and properly.
Not all kicking sets are to be done with a kickboard, just like not all kicking sets are to be done with fins.
I see fair amount of swim gear go misused. Not all kick sets and drills mean grab a kickboard and do laps... My coach found an article not too long ago that talks about 101 ways to kick... Some of them do use a kickboard, a lot of them don't. It depends what you're trying to accomplish with any particular kicking set.
Now, if you don't know why you're doing certain kicking sets or how to do them properly, it's not the kickboard's fault ;)
It's liek a debate which tennis shoes are best for running, well, it depends on what kind of running, where, how much, and what kind of a foot and posture you tend to have. Some runners swear by running barefoot too...
Things are seldom black or white, yes or no, same for the kickboard. If you don't hold it properly, it will strain your shoulders, if you do hold it properly, it will give your arms a bit of rest while you're working the leg muscles.
For some beginners, it will give them feel for the kick only, when having the whole body in water and stumbling through basics of balance is too confusing for them to know what their legs are doing.
If all kicking you do is do straight laps with the kickboard in kicking sets, you're missing out on about 100 other ways to kick and improve.
