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.
How important is the kick??? I think not very important.
Oh, how I wish you were coaching the club I used to swim with! I quit because I could not kick in a propulsive manner to save my life, and kick sets were such a huge part of the workout. I can flutter kick 25m with a board, if I'm willing to reach my max heart rate and spend the next five minutes recovering.
I don't understand the obsession with kick sets -- except that I truly suspect Ande's right. But I don't want him to be right; I want George to be right. ;)
How important is the kick??? I think not very important.
Oh, how I wish you were coaching the club I used to swim with! I quit because I could not kick in a propulsive manner to save my life, and kick sets were such a huge part of the workout. I can flutter kick 25m with a board, if I'm willing to reach my max heart rate and spend the next five minutes recovering.
I don't understand the obsession with kick sets -- except that I truly suspect Ande's right. But I don't want him to be right; I want George to be right. ;)
