My flutterkick does not move me at all

My flutter kick moves me to tears. It moves other people to laughter. Try Zoomers as well. They'll point out the inconsistencies in your kick real fast.

Originally posted by scyfreestyler I second the idea of ditching the kickboard as well as focusing on a streamlined kick. The only thing I would add is that kickboards can bring on shoulder problems if used incorrectly. Any kicking I do is on my back in streamline. Can you please develop a little more? I guess that the almost hyper-extend of the arms when one is holding the board that is the cause of the shoulder pain. Can you advise a good way to hold the board? I have no doubt you are right. But the kick board is hugely popular, they exist since ever and are available in any pool. They couldn't be that bad.

Originally posted by Zirconium Can you please develop a little more? I guess that the almost hyper-extend of the arms when one is holding the board that is the cause of the shoulder pain. Can you advise a good way to hold the board? I have no doubt you are right. But the kick board is hugely popular, they exist since ever and are available in any pool. They couldn't be that bad. Kickboards tend to place a lot of pressure on the shoulders and they also place your body in a position that is not conducive to proper swimming. http://h2oustonswims.org/ There is an article titled "Better Kicking" on the above website that talks about kicking and the use of kickboards. Give it a look and see what you think. Shoot, look at all of his articles while you are there, I have learned a lot from that guys writing and it's fun reading to boot. As far as the popularity of kickboards, all I can say is that old habits die hard. People still smoke cigarettes knowing full well that it substanially increases their risk of an early and painful death.

I tried this again today without the boards and made a note to really point my toes. Getting rid of the board really helped. At least i moved forward a little. But it was painfully slow, very slow, i should say. I also realized that I'm extremely slow with my freestyle coz this lady next to me was practicing her flutterkicks (with a kickboard), and she was faster than me!!! I was trying that slow, relaxed long stroke thing, and when I see other people do it, it's relaxed, long, smooth, and fast. Mine was slow, slow slow. I guess I'll find out why tomorrow at my first masters class!

The only real solution for me was to kick, kick and kick some more. And my kick was absolutely horrible. I actually felt like I was going backwards at times. You should check out Ande's advice to me on my thread asking for help with my kick. I have seriously gone from kicking 1:35+ 50 to under 1:00 in a matter of a month or two.

Great, will do!! No, seriously, I'm definately worse than you. I've swam breaststroke all my life and i just taught myself the crawl last week and without my arms, i will just stay in place. I cannot even finish 25 yards because it will take like 5 minutes. I'll keep trying. :)

You are bending your knees too much and not streaching your ankles good enough, your ankles have to be loose.

Whenever I've seen a swimmer not move at all by kicking, it was because they weren't pointing their toes enough. Good swimmers will normally have their toes pointed so they're more or less in line with their shins. If you don't do that, it's even possible for your kick to move you backwards! It may help to practice with fins for awhile. Fins have the effect of forcing your ankles to flex. Just make sure you don't become dependent on them. I'd also suggest getting rid of the kickboard. If you're balanced in the water, you shouldn't need one to do kicking laps, and it tends to hold your body in a position that is very unlike what you will use when you're swimming. Also, remember that most of your propulsion in swimming doesn't come from your kick. One of the dangers when you do lots of kicking laps is that your objective can become to develop a kick that's powerful rather than a kick that's streamlined. A wide, flailing kick can be very powerful, and may actually help you to go faster when you're doing kicking laps with a kickboard, but it's so unstreamlined that it can slow you down when you go to whole stroke swimming. Bob

Originally posted by Bob McAdams Whenever I've seen a swimmer not move at all by kicking, it was because they weren't pointing their toes enough. Good swimmers will normally have their toes pointed so they're more or less in line with their shins. If you don't do that, it's even possible for your kick to move you backwards! It may help to practice with fins for awhile. Fins have the effect of forcing your ankles to flex. Just make sure you don't become dependent on them. I'd also suggest getting rid of the kickboard. If you're balanced in the water, you shouldn't need one to do kicking laps, and it tends to hold your body in a position that is very unlike what you will use when you're swimming. Also, remember that most of your propulsion in swimming doesn't come from your kick. One of the dangers when you do lots of kicking laps is that your objective can become to develop a kick that's powerful rather than a kick that's streamlined. A wide, flailing kick can be very powerful, and may actually help you to go faster when you're doing kicking laps with a kickboard, but it's so unstreamlined that it can slow you down when you go to whole stroke swimming. Bob I second the idea of ditching the kickboard as well as focusing on a streamlined kick. The only thing I would add is that kickboards can bring on shoulder problems if used incorrectly. Any kicking I do is on my back in streamline.

I'll try to ditch the kickboard and point my toes. I have good flexibilty on my ankles, but if i point them, they are tight not loose, am i wrong here? also, if i ditch the kickboard, how do i breath? just turn my head sideways looking at my armpit? thanks!