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.
Parents
Former Member
By any chance did anyone see the show on FitTV about Ball State conditioning programs? It highlighted a young girl who was trying to get a few seconds off of her 100 free.The coaches were all looking at the girl's technique and making minor corrections. This did cut her time. Something I thought was really interesting was that no one mentioned how she lifted her head as she came out of her stremline and as she got to the wall for her turn. I'm always amazed by people who do this. Where do they think they are going? Don't they ever count their strokes? If the girl had simply not looked forward as she was coming out of streamline, she probably would have cut as much time as she did by getting rid of cupping her hand.
By any chance did anyone see the show on FitTV about Ball State conditioning programs? It highlighted a young girl who was trying to get a few seconds off of her 100 free.The coaches were all looking at the girl's technique and making minor corrections. This did cut her time. Something I thought was really interesting was that no one mentioned how she lifted her head as she came out of her stremline and as she got to the wall for her turn. I'm always amazed by people who do this. Where do they think they are going? Don't they ever count their strokes? If the girl had simply not looked forward as she was coming out of streamline, she probably would have cut as much time as she did by getting rid of cupping her hand.
