I am slow, and when I mean slow, I mean slow. I can do a 26 sec 50 with fins, but without I come in just under 1:20! I think a big part of it is just taking the fins off and doing a lot of kick sets to learn to feel the water better with my feet. I have a good breaststroke kick so I don't think my problem is an overly weak pair of legs, although they could be in better shape. Also, myankles are fairly flexible as I can point my toes and make my feet bend backwards past an even position with my shins. However, I do think that I need to loosen up my ankles when I kick. I feel like I get more out of my kick for those brief moments when I allow my ankles to snap back and forth with my kick. I think I actually need to relax more to kick faster as weird as that sounds.
I suppose the answer to my question is that I simply need to take of the fins and do kick set after kick set until I learn to feel the water better with my feet and become more efficient.
congratulations
you have made serious improvements on your flutter kick
remember the last thing I wrote in the post about how to improve your kick
I swear this WILL WORK
you are now proof of that!
Blue Horn's times for all out 25 streamline flutter kick
03/25 :20
03/18 :22
03/04 :24
OK
here's a few things to add to the mix
1) distance per kick drills
concentrate on feeling the water with your feet and shins and going further with each kick
don't worry about time, count your kicks
2) fast 50 kicks
you are ready to add fast 50 kicks to the mix
so now start training and testing 25's and 50's
if you're kicking a 50 with no board,
take one arm pull into the turn and flip it
splitting becomes inportant for 50's and up
you need to learn how to kick fast but
hold back a little to save some energy for your last 25
3) time to 10ths of a sec
start doing your test kicks with a timer on a stop watch
4) short sprint kicks
Do a few 10 yard, 12.5 yard and 15 yard
all out kicking blasts to improve your all out kicking speed
take lots of rest
5) self talk / belief
add self talk while you're kicking, just repeat
"I'm a fast kicker"
the more you believe it the faster you'll kick
6) kick while you swim
learn to use your new kick when you sprint freestyle swim
so do a few sprint 25's where you concentrate on blasting your legs, stick with a 2 beat for longer stuff
7) streamline dolphin kicking
start training and testing sprint streamline dolphin kicking
8) test and train with a board from a push
Blue Horn you have made significant improvements on your flutter kick and i believe you have much more are ahead of you
I'm proud of you and happy for you.
Ande
ps anyone else out there want to give this a try?
Originally posted by Blue Horn
I did my weekly timing and did much better than I thought I could. I had someone time me on the pace clock and did three all out kicks from a dive off the blocks for 25 yards. I went 21, 20 and 20. I didn't think I would hit that number for a while.
Better yet in my main kick set I did a 12 x 25 yards all of which were uner 30 except my last two and they were 30 and 31. I has hitting anywhere from 27 to 29 (during the week I have been training at a 25 meter pool which I think has helped too)! When I started three weeks ago, I seriously had a hard time getting down below 40 and by the end my 6th 25 (yards) I was getting closer to 45. I still can't believe what three weeks of following your advice has done for my kick! I just figured it was a breastroker thing and I would always have a horrible flutter kick. Don't get me wrong, I know that I am still snail slow, but the improvement has been far beyond what I thought I could accomplish in this time period. I can't explain how excited I am right now.
Thinking back on everything I think the fins really hurt my kick. It was like I couldn't feel the water when I took them off. But I couldn't keep up without them. When I start swimming with the team again, I will just do shorter distances if I have to. I really think that developing a feel for the water with my feet and my shins has been the biggest improvement for me. That and bending my knees. Before, I was trying to keep my legs completly straight and kick with my ankles only. Trust me, that doesn't work.
Thanks for all your help Ande. It has really paid off thus far.
Hook'em
Blue
congratulations
you have made serious improvements on your flutter kick
remember the last thing I wrote in the post about how to improve your kick
I swear this WILL WORK
you are now proof of that!
Blue Horn's times for all out 25 streamline flutter kick
03/25 :20
03/18 :22
03/04 :24
OK
here's a few things to add to the mix
1) distance per kick drills
concentrate on feeling the water with your feet and shins and going further with each kick
don't worry about time, count your kicks
2) fast 50 kicks
you are ready to add fast 50 kicks to the mix
so now start training and testing 25's and 50's
if you're kicking a 50 with no board,
take one arm pull into the turn and flip it
splitting becomes inportant for 50's and up
you need to learn how to kick fast but
hold back a little to save some energy for your last 25
3) time to 10ths of a sec
start doing your test kicks with a timer on a stop watch
4) short sprint kicks
Do a few 10 yard, 12.5 yard and 15 yard
all out kicking blasts to improve your all out kicking speed
take lots of rest
5) self talk / belief
add self talk while you're kicking, just repeat
"I'm a fast kicker"
the more you believe it the faster you'll kick
6) kick while you swim
learn to use your new kick when you sprint freestyle swim
so do a few sprint 25's where you concentrate on blasting your legs, stick with a 2 beat for longer stuff
7) streamline dolphin kicking
start training and testing sprint streamline dolphin kicking
8) test and train with a board from a push
Blue Horn you have made significant improvements on your flutter kick and i believe you have much more are ahead of you
I'm proud of you and happy for you.
Ande
ps anyone else out there want to give this a try?
Originally posted by Blue Horn
I did my weekly timing and did much better than I thought I could. I had someone time me on the pace clock and did three all out kicks from a dive off the blocks for 25 yards. I went 21, 20 and 20. I didn't think I would hit that number for a while.
Better yet in my main kick set I did a 12 x 25 yards all of which were uner 30 except my last two and they were 30 and 31. I has hitting anywhere from 27 to 29 (during the week I have been training at a 25 meter pool which I think has helped too)! When I started three weeks ago, I seriously had a hard time getting down below 40 and by the end my 6th 25 (yards) I was getting closer to 45. I still can't believe what three weeks of following your advice has done for my kick! I just figured it was a breastroker thing and I would always have a horrible flutter kick. Don't get me wrong, I know that I am still snail slow, but the improvement has been far beyond what I thought I could accomplish in this time period. I can't explain how excited I am right now.
Thinking back on everything I think the fins really hurt my kick. It was like I couldn't feel the water when I took them off. But I couldn't keep up without them. When I start swimming with the team again, I will just do shorter distances if I have to. I really think that developing a feel for the water with my feet and my shins has been the biggest improvement for me. That and bending my knees. Before, I was trying to keep my legs completly straight and kick with my ankles only. Trust me, that doesn't work.
Thanks for all your help Ande. It has really paid off thus far.
Hook'em
Blue
