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
I have been slacking.
I started two more test sets, and they started out with 21s. After 4 25s on 21, I called the set a failure and moved on to doing 50s on a minute, which I made.
The 8x75, 25 sprint k, 50 ez seems to be too mentally tough for my weak mind that early in the morning to do every practice. So I give up.
I only have coached workouts 3 times a week for a little over an hour, so instead of dedicating ~15 minutes to do this kick set each workout, I am going to try something new, that will disrupt practice much less.
This actually might have been what Ande was suggesting a couple posts ago, and I misunderstood. Ande said to incorporate my new kick into my stroke, and I have no problem sprinting with a strong six beat kick, when I am all out sprinting. The problem is, when I swim moderate, but arms are moderate, and my kick is easy 2 beat.
So, starting with this morning's practice, I started six beat kicking everything, and matching it to the set. EZ sets are six beat ez, not 2 beat, and on up the food chain. This will probably help my kick endurance more than any kick sets I could have done, because now I am treating kick like 50% of my stroke, instead of the red headed step child standing in the corner getting no attention.
I feel like I am a total cop out, changing my plan before achiving my goal. The goal still stands, I really want to achive it and be a good kicker overall. I am definitely already a much better kicker than I was six weeks ago.
I have been slacking.
I started two more test sets, and they started out with 21s. After 4 25s on 21, I called the set a failure and moved on to doing 50s on a minute, which I made.
The 8x75, 25 sprint k, 50 ez seems to be too mentally tough for my weak mind that early in the morning to do every practice. So I give up.
I only have coached workouts 3 times a week for a little over an hour, so instead of dedicating ~15 minutes to do this kick set each workout, I am going to try something new, that will disrupt practice much less.
This actually might have been what Ande was suggesting a couple posts ago, and I misunderstood. Ande said to incorporate my new kick into my stroke, and I have no problem sprinting with a strong six beat kick, when I am all out sprinting. The problem is, when I swim moderate, but arms are moderate, and my kick is easy 2 beat.
So, starting with this morning's practice, I started six beat kicking everything, and matching it to the set. EZ sets are six beat ez, not 2 beat, and on up the food chain. This will probably help my kick endurance more than any kick sets I could have done, because now I am treating kick like 50% of my stroke, instead of the red headed step child standing in the corner getting no attention.
I feel like I am a total cop out, changing my plan before achiving my goal. The goal still stands, I really want to achive it and be a good kicker overall. I am definitely already a much better kicker than I was six weeks ago.
