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.
Parents
Former Member
There are a lot of us out there with horrible flutter kicks. I had an epiphany while watching a floswimming video of a collegiate kicking set...they were doing
20x100's, alternating fast/recovery, 2:00 min interval.
The fastest kickers were coming in at about a 1:06. This suggests that their kicks are about 12 seconds slower than their 100 free workout pace, and maybe only 8 to 10 seconds slower than their fly or back workout pace.
I thought my flutter kick was good, but I only come in at around a 1:40. This means my kick is a whopping 30 seconds slower than my workout pace.
Looks like my kick is probably the weakest aspect of my swimming and may hinder my speed rather than help. And I didn't think I had a bad kick!
Gonna start doing a lot more of it, both during swims and as kick-only sets. We'll see how it shapes up.
There are a lot of us out there with horrible flutter kicks. I had an epiphany while watching a floswimming video of a collegiate kicking set...they were doing
20x100's, alternating fast/recovery, 2:00 min interval.
The fastest kickers were coming in at about a 1:06. This suggests that their kicks are about 12 seconds slower than their 100 free workout pace, and maybe only 8 to 10 seconds slower than their fly or back workout pace.
I thought my flutter kick was good, but I only come in at around a 1:40. This means my kick is a whopping 30 seconds slower than my workout pace.
Looks like my kick is probably the weakest aspect of my swimming and may hinder my speed rather than help. And I didn't think I had a bad kick!
Gonna start doing a lot more of it, both during swims and as kick-only sets. We'll see how it shapes up.
