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.
I am a full stroke person and I spend little time in the water.
Fast kicking only is a thing I will not do. What I want is an efficient kick that works well with the arm stroke.
To kick so hard during training to me is a waist of effort. The propulsive force of the legs while swimming is minimal when you compare it to the propulsion we get from the upper part of the body. Now I am not saying leg action in the crawl is not needed but the legs are not the driving force.
I prefer my crawl swimming to be full stroke with a few SDKs off the dive and turn.
I prefer my butterfly to be full stroke. I do do my SDK as part of my fly never more than 15 yards after a dive or turn.
I must ad I do some sculling and kicking on my back but the kicking is to make sure the kick technique is correct.
I am a full stroke person and I spend little time in the water.
Fast kicking only is a thing I will not do. What I want is an efficient kick that works well with the arm stroke.
To kick so hard during training to me is a waist of effort. The propulsive force of the legs while swimming is minimal when you compare it to the propulsion we get from the upper part of the body. Now I am not saying leg action in the crawl is not needed but the legs are not the driving force.
I prefer my crawl swimming to be full stroke with a few SDKs off the dive and turn.
I prefer my butterfly to be full stroke. I do do my SDK as part of my fly never more than 15 yards after a dive or turn.
I must ad I do some sculling and kicking on my back but the kicking is to make sure the kick technique is correct.
