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.
nancy,
I'm not sure what to tell you
I've purposely avoided commenting on injuries and post surgery stuff because that's the realm for doctors and physical therapists.
I'd really need to see what you mean by
"My feet don't go travel in a straight path - they wobble and feather even though the legs travel where I want them to. I think this might be an important clue. The feet seem to dump water rather than catching it. When I kick barefoot it feels kind of like fist swimming. Has anyone else felt like this, or seen others who kick like this ? Our team's coaches hadn't heard of this."
I've never heard of it either, could you make a video and put it on youtube?
Ande
Long time no write. I ended up getting a craniotomy and taking a 2-1/2 week unscheduled break from the pool. The surgeon removed a large benign growth that was smushing my brainstem and causing physical problems. Surprise!
Then I did dry-head kickboard workouts for another 2+ weeks. I was kicking about 2000y total with fins with solid effort -- burning quads and high heart rate. I had significant atrophy and some anemia but kicking with fins built my legs back up very quickly.
5 weeks post-op I was allowed to swim/dip my head in pool water. I still do not kick any faster than I did before surgery. I still mostly drag my legs when I swim. Yet I dropped a lot of time on my swims almost immediately - 15 seconds on a 200y free. I'm swimming faster than I have for years. I believe this is a result of the surgery and effects on my brainstem. I thought for sure all the kicking would make me faster at it, but it didn't.
The other night during warmdown I did a little kicking while hanging on the laneropes so I could watch my feet kick. My feet don't go travel in a straight path - they wobble and feather even though the legs travel where I want them to. I think this might be an important clue. The feet seem to dump water rather than catching it. When I kick barefoot it feels kind of like fist swimming. Has anyone else felt like this, or seen others who kick like this ? Our team's coaches hadn't heard of this.
Ande, I have your recommendations from earlier but haven't had the opportunity to try them out. I still am not diving and we're very constrained on pool space so I don't get to call the shots on what we do at practice.
nancy,
I'm not sure what to tell you
I've purposely avoided commenting on injuries and post surgery stuff because that's the realm for doctors and physical therapists.
I'd really need to see what you mean by
"My feet don't go travel in a straight path - they wobble and feather even though the legs travel where I want them to. I think this might be an important clue. The feet seem to dump water rather than catching it. When I kick barefoot it feels kind of like fist swimming. Has anyone else felt like this, or seen others who kick like this ? Our team's coaches hadn't heard of this."
I've never heard of it either, could you make a video and put it on youtube?
Ande
Long time no write. I ended up getting a craniotomy and taking a 2-1/2 week unscheduled break from the pool. The surgeon removed a large benign growth that was smushing my brainstem and causing physical problems. Surprise!
Then I did dry-head kickboard workouts for another 2+ weeks. I was kicking about 2000y total with fins with solid effort -- burning quads and high heart rate. I had significant atrophy and some anemia but kicking with fins built my legs back up very quickly.
5 weeks post-op I was allowed to swim/dip my head in pool water. I still do not kick any faster than I did before surgery. I still mostly drag my legs when I swim. Yet I dropped a lot of time on my swims almost immediately - 15 seconds on a 200y free. I'm swimming faster than I have for years. I believe this is a result of the surgery and effects on my brainstem. I thought for sure all the kicking would make me faster at it, but it didn't.
The other night during warmdown I did a little kicking while hanging on the laneropes so I could watch my feet kick. My feet don't go travel in a straight path - they wobble and feather even though the legs travel where I want them to. I think this might be an important clue. The feet seem to dump water rather than catching it. When I kick barefoot it feels kind of like fist swimming. Has anyone else felt like this, or seen others who kick like this ? Our team's coaches hadn't heard of this.
Ande, I have your recommendations from earlier but haven't had the opportunity to try them out. I still am not diving and we're very constrained on pool space so I don't get to call the shots on what we do at practice.
