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.
Yep. Sucky and horrible it still is, and it may be getting worse. I am going to ask Coach to videotape me next opportunity. I have been working on my kick for 7 months after a decade of irregular attendance. There are several factors: I have one bad knee (no hamstring strength and very limited knee bend) and I have a lot of loose skin on both legs that goes every which way when I kick which makes my hips/legs hurt. Coach has us do a LOT of drills and kicking; usually he caves and puts fins on me as it's hard for the others to pass me when I get "stuck". In college, it seems like I was a passable kicker but that was "then".
Yep. Sucky and horrible it still is, and it may be getting worse. I am going to ask Coach to videotape me next opportunity. I have been working on my kick for 7 months after a decade of irregular attendance. There are several factors: I have one bad knee (no hamstring strength and very limited knee bend) and I have a lot of loose skin on both legs that goes every which way when I kick which makes my hips/legs hurt. Coach has us do a LOT of drills and kicking; usually he caves and puts fins on me as it's hard for the others to pass me when I get "stuck". In college, it seems like I was a passable kicker but that was "then".
