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.
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I haven't had a chance to try this yet, but it seems like a very good suggestion for how to learn the rhythm: U.S. Masters Swimming Discussion Forums - View Single Post - Freestyle kick question
What's funny to me is that it seems completely natural to have a six-beat kick for backstroke, yet it feels so weird with freestyle. Perhaps it's just my years of two-beat kick that I need to overcome.
Thanks, saw that post and tried it yesterday and today. It is the best kicking drill I have come across, yet. It forces you to transfer the kicking motion directly into full stroke. I can't do it, yet. It is going to take a lot of practice but I think I should be able to do it with time.
I haven't had a chance to try this yet, but it seems like a very good suggestion for how to learn the rhythm: U.S. Masters Swimming Discussion Forums - View Single Post - Freestyle kick question
What's funny to me is that it seems completely natural to have a six-beat kick for backstroke, yet it feels so weird with freestyle. Perhaps it's just my years of two-beat kick that I need to overcome.
Thanks, saw that post and tried it yesterday and today. It is the best kicking drill I have come across, yet. It forces you to transfer the kicking motion directly into full stroke. I can't do it, yet. It is going to take a lot of practice but I think I should be able to do it with time.
