I have always used a 6-beat flutter kick when swimming freestyle - nothing else feels "natural."
I have noticed that when I do sets of 100s, my times are actually faster when I do then with a pull buoy than when I swim - by about 5 secs. - and I can maintain the same time for 6-8 100s.
It would appear my kick is actually slowing me down and I don't know what to do to fix it.
I was a fairly good swimming 25 years ago and coaches back then told me my technique was great. Even now the non-competitive lap swimmers who watch me swim also comment how nice and smooth and rhythmic my stroke looks and "sounds" lap after lap. (My point is I'm not "thrashing around the pool" or making beginner swimmer's errors).
Also, no one I swim with competes and I don't belong to a swim club, so no coach to consult.
Here's what I'm thinking: When I use a pull buoy, my hips are higher causing less drag. I'm thinking that I need to keep my nose pointed straight down to raise my hips.
All suggestions/advice/drills are welcome! Please help.
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Former Member
Thanks for the links, Paul.
When I joined Masters three years ago, I trained extensively with a pull buoy, primarily because it was easier and it allowed me to swim longer sets at faster intervals. My solution? I forced myself to swim sets of 200s and slowly built up an aerobic base. At the time, my 100s were faster with a pull buoy than without. The result--yesterday I swam a set of 8x200 on 2:40 which required moderate effort (En2). Two years ago I could not have done this without a pull buoy. I did change from a two beat to a four beat kick, although I don't know how much this helped, since I have a relatively weak kick. Now I use the pull buoy sparingly, mainly in warm up or breath control sets.
The bottom line is that I think it's a conditioning problem.
Thanks for the links, Paul.
When I joined Masters three years ago, I trained extensively with a pull buoy, primarily because it was easier and it allowed me to swim longer sets at faster intervals. My solution? I forced myself to swim sets of 200s and slowly built up an aerobic base. At the time, my 100s were faster with a pull buoy than without. The result--yesterday I swam a set of 8x200 on 2:40 which required moderate effort (En2). Two years ago I could not have done this without a pull buoy. I did change from a two beat to a four beat kick, although I don't know how much this helped, since I have a relatively weak kick. Now I use the pull buoy sparingly, mainly in warm up or breath control sets.
The bottom line is that I think it's a conditioning problem.
