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.
Former Member
Go, Mazzi!
I'll set the same goal - under 25 by end of July (mine's SCY, so you're way ahead of me, but that's OK - we're still on the same team).
Go notsofast! Maybe a day even I and you will have a Lightning fast kick...SCY or SCM or whatever, get under 25 is a start....;)
it's all relative he goes
21.0 in the 50 SCY free
I'm sure he wants to break 21 then 20.5 and maybe even 20.0
Sprinters need to have an amazing kick
Eddie Reese told me Ian Crocker flutter kicked a 50 scy from a push in 24.6
Years ago Shaun Jordan flutter kicked a 50 with a board from a dive in 23.3
Those times show us what's possible.
In college I went 28.0 from a push in practice
I invite people to explore kicking and get closer to your true potential.
You can kick way faster than you think you can and when you integrate your kick with your stroke you'll swim faster faster.
Many swimmers have had remarkable
so it would be huge for Jazz
if he could improve his
25 flutter kick flutter kick with a board from
15 to 14, 13, 12 or 11
he should also work on lowing times in 15, 25's, 50's 75's & even 100's
The best way to develop this ability is to do the training I described in this thread.
www.usms.org/.../showpost.php
so Jazz
way to go
keep keep us posted on your progress as you
train and test in the coming weeks
let's see how much you can bring it down
this training will help you improve your 25 and 50 FREE times
Let's find out how much
I'm finally joining the horrible flutter kick club. I didn't do very many kick sets before, but Ande's writings have convinced me. I did 3x25 flutter with a board today, and I went about :15 on them. I'm going to keep hitting the fast flutter sets and hoping for a :14 now.
:15 is not horrible at all, it's amazing (SCY ? dive or push off wall ?)
awesome
way to go donna
keep it up
Ande
Kicking is very important if you want to be competitive in the sprints.
For 3 years my sprints were stuck, couldn't break :30 for anything. My kicking was pathetic. This year, with a new coach and a great deal of focus on both sprinting in practice and kick, Kick, KIck, KICk, KICK, SPRINT KICK! I found that I not only broke :30 but getting down to a 27.83 at Nationals leading off a relay. My 100 was able to go from 1:08.9 to 1:01.52 and my 200 from 2:31.00 to a 2:19.64.
My 25 kicks with a board have gone from :32 to :24. And in the 50 from a 1:05 to a :52.
There is no way I could have done any of this without a good kick. Now the goal is to get to 26 in the 50 and that will be about where I was as a kid. This week alone I had over 4000 meters of just Kicking.
Kicking also does wonders for those who want to loose the fat off the hips and thighs! :cheerleader: Just an added bonus.
I'm finally joining the horrible flutter kick club. I didn't do very many kick sets before, but Ande's writings have convinced me. I did 3x25 flutter with a board today, and I went about :15 on them. I'm going to keep hitting the fast flutter sets and hoping for a :14 now.
Hey I saw part of your fleet today. A Jetta with license plate HANDS 6. Nice!
:15 is not horrible at all, it's amazing (SCY ? dive or push off wall ?)
That's SCY with a push, and it's all relative. Kicking is the weak link in my stroke.
I'm finally joining the horrible flutter kick club. I didn't do very many kick sets before, but Ande's writings have convinced me. I did 3x25 flutter with a board today, and I went about :15 on them. I'm going to keep hitting the fast flutter sets and hoping for a :14 now.
JAZZ
very nice keep it up
pretty soon you should get someone to time you on your test kicks
so you can have and report results to the 10th of a second
because it's the last few tenths you're able drop that mean everything
Eventually you'll get to sticking points,
that's where you'll struggle to eek out improvements
you might need to go most of a season with no progress
but you're likely to see improvement when you taper
so keep it up and let's see how much being a faster kicker helps your 50 free
ande
Update
Today I did 12x25 flutter kick with a board, every fourth one fast.
:15
:14
:14
Definitely faster after less than one week.
Fort,
Does fast kicking with a board help though?
probably,
let's say when you started
you could kick a 25 in 20 and
now you can kick it in 15
if you can integrate it
your new improved kicking ability should help you swim faster faster.
How do you integrate the kick with the stroke?
When you do sprints with rest, concentrate on blasting your legs.
Also work on blasting your legs over 15's, 25's, 50's 75's & 100's
you need to develop some speed endurance for your kick
I provide links to my key kicking posts at:
www.usms.org/.../showpost.php
you should test your kick
train to improve it then
retest
If you don't want to post them here
you can PM them or email them to me
you need to be held accountable to someone
accept the challenge
Step up and
Kick Faster Faster.
Ande
Does fast kicking with a board help though? I'm a fast flutter kicker with a board, but not when I swim freestyle, especially for more than a 50.
How do you integrate the kick with the stroke?
Over kicking drills? Or just plain swimming freestyle and being aware of your kick? If it's only the latter, I think I'll pass for now.
are you faster?
when you go 21.0
it's gets more difficult to drop time
I hope faster kicking helps you get there
it should
ande
Once I started doing flutter kick sprints, my stroke felt different. This week I've been kicking with my ankles a little higher, taking fewer strokes per length, and using a straight-arm recovery. These things feel like they are related. Like, I'm more aware my kick and the need for high ankles in fast kicking, and in order to keep my stroke rate up while doing that I have to windmill.
the main thing is get used to using your kick
stop lazy legs
concentrate on your kick when you sprint
try 6 beat kicking everything for the entire practice
How about synchronizing kicking with the stroke ?
I think that for a slower kicker that improve to be a decent/good/awersome kicker the crucial step is integrate the kick into the stroke, at the end of day there's no race about kicking only.
Kicking without any connections with the rest of body don't look at all like the way to go, just look at World-class swimmers.
Ande and/or anyone, can you throw in some drills/suggestions to work at syncronizing the kick with the stroke, so even some members of The Club : Horrible Flutter kicker can add the famous 6-beats kick at your arsenal a day ?
regards
