Where I work out there is usually a girl who swims at around the same time as I usually do.Well, a lot of times she is in the lane next to mine.She is quite a good swimmer.I noticed that my average pace is faster than hers by about 7-8 meters per 50 , but there is one thing that bothers me - kicking sets!Whenever I happen to be doing a kicking set(ok, I have to admit here - I do very little kicking work, which I should probably improve on) and she happens to be kicking, too, she goes FASTER!!!Does that mean that she is just a good kicker or I am missing out on some improvements that I could see if I kicked more?I do a constant 6-beat kick when swimming free and it is not bad, but that girl just made me think.Do you think my times would drop by a considerable amount if I concentrated on hard kicking sets?
Hey Hooked don't feel bad a lot of guys don't kick worth a darn, one reason is that their ankles don't have the flexibility that most female swimmers have, thus you can't position your foot optimally for the best propulsion. Stiff ankles are great for walking but lousy for swimming. You might try doing some ankle assessment and maybe some gentle (!) stretching. Also try kicking with some small fins which will also help stretch your ankles, and is great cardio conditioning. I do sprint sets of kicking, fast 50's with little rest - its killer but in a good way.
Hey Hooked don't feel bad a lot of guys don't kick worth a darn, one reason is that their ankles don't have the flexibility that most female swimmers have, thus you can't position your foot optimally for the best propulsion. Stiff ankles are great for walking but lousy for swimming. You might try doing some ankle assessment and maybe some gentle (!) stretching. Also try kicking with some small fins which will also help stretch your ankles, and is great cardio conditioning. I do sprint sets of kicking, fast 50's with little rest - its killer but in a good way.
