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.
When I use the dolphin, swimming or just kicking my big toes almost touch together at all times. My ankles are relaxed and the toes are pointed in. Pidgeon toed the legs are not held tight together but are relaxed. Heels are seperated at times as much as 14 inches.
George, this is something I just discovered this past year. I've also found that a slight inward rotation of the toes during flutter kick adds more drive to the kick. If I had a prior swimming background or a coach, I might have stumbled on this sooner.
When I use the dolphin, swimming or just kicking my big toes almost touch together at all times. My ankles are relaxed and the toes are pointed in. Pidgeon toed the legs are not held tight together but are relaxed. Heels are seperated at times as much as 14 inches.
George, this is something I just discovered this past year. I've also found that a slight inward rotation of the toes during flutter kick adds more drive to the kick. If I had a prior swimming background or a coach, I might have stumbled on this sooner.
