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.
Chris - Yes the kick can be worked on in swim sets.
When I swam the Marathon races I used to do lots of fast swimming. During off season it was 50s and 100s repeats in a pool. I also did 5min swims at near all out and I certainly kicked hard. However it was always full stroke.
When I finally got out doors to swim I would swim 5min sprints every 20 mins and these were done at near all out I called these sprints. My sprints were done with a big kick. But when doing long swims I did a relaxed leg kick action. I could not keep a big kick action for 3 hours. During a long race if my stroke pace was slow I kicked harder to make my stroke rate pick up.
I would rather see all leg action done in full stroke swimming. I think kick sets would take from full stroke. Therefore to me kick sets without swimming is a waste of time.
Fort
It is almost 10 years since I have competed. My last race was 10 years ago this May. That was after after a 30 year no compete time. This is going to be my ten year comeback.
I did swim during all of my no compete years I taught swimming and did lots of demonstrations to my students.
I still believe the legs are for balance and when you are swimming fast the legs must kick fast while you swim fast or they would not balance your arm stroke. Legs to me are still not the driving propulsion part of the stroke the upper body is. What is the upper body when I say upper body. I mean from the hips up. The lower part of the body to me is the legs.
I used to also teach hockey in the old days and thought you would like to see a few pointers we gave.
�� Never sacrifice correct technique for a high number of reps or sets
�� Maintain neutral alignment of the head & neck through movement, chin 3-4” off the chest
�� Move slowly throughout Range of Motion for strength
�� Fatigue weaker muscles first – oblique, upper & lower abdominal, back
�� Originate movement in the abdominal region
�� Maintain a tight contraction of the abdominal throughout the entire exercise
�� Limit Range of Motion of the abdominal region to 45 degrees or less
�� Train opposite and opposing muscle groups
�� Choose a variety of exercises and mix them up
Chris - Yes the kick can be worked on in swim sets.
When I swam the Marathon races I used to do lots of fast swimming. During off season it was 50s and 100s repeats in a pool. I also did 5min swims at near all out and I certainly kicked hard. However it was always full stroke.
When I finally got out doors to swim I would swim 5min sprints every 20 mins and these were done at near all out I called these sprints. My sprints were done with a big kick. But when doing long swims I did a relaxed leg kick action. I could not keep a big kick action for 3 hours. During a long race if my stroke pace was slow I kicked harder to make my stroke rate pick up.
I would rather see all leg action done in full stroke swimming. I think kick sets would take from full stroke. Therefore to me kick sets without swimming is a waste of time.
Fort
It is almost 10 years since I have competed. My last race was 10 years ago this May. That was after after a 30 year no compete time. This is going to be my ten year comeback.
I did swim during all of my no compete years I taught swimming and did lots of demonstrations to my students.
I still believe the legs are for balance and when you are swimming fast the legs must kick fast while you swim fast or they would not balance your arm stroke. Legs to me are still not the driving propulsion part of the stroke the upper body is. What is the upper body when I say upper body. I mean from the hips up. The lower part of the body to me is the legs.
I used to also teach hockey in the old days and thought you would like to see a few pointers we gave.
�� Never sacrifice correct technique for a high number of reps or sets
�� Maintain neutral alignment of the head & neck through movement, chin 3-4” off the chest
�� Move slowly throughout Range of Motion for strength
�� Fatigue weaker muscles first – oblique, upper & lower abdominal, back
�� Originate movement in the abdominal region
�� Maintain a tight contraction of the abdominal throughout the entire exercise
�� Limit Range of Motion of the abdominal region to 45 degrees or less
�� Train opposite and opposing muscle groups
�� Choose a variety of exercises and mix them up
