Does anyone else here NOT kick when they swim freestyle?
When I was 19, a coach told me that a lot of "real" freestylers don't kick, which was a surprise to me because every other coach I'd had would yell at me to kick during my events. I grew up thinking I was the odd one out, but maybe someone on here knows what I'm talking about...
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Former Member
I did pull sets faster than a lot of people, but I couldn't freestyle kick to keep up during kick drills. It seems logical that if I can't get a lot of speed out of my kick, it's better to just minimize drag and keep my legs streamlined with my body.
I think this is may be true to a degree for certain body shapes.
I train with a guy that can't go much faster than about 1:06 for 100m free.However he can pace @ 1:12 for each 100 m in a 2km ocean race.He hardly kicks at all.His kick is basically for balance and enough to keep his legs up.When he does kick sets it's unbeleivably slow.After much analysis I've come to the conclusion that he just isn't designed to kick well and hence he has naturally learnt to conserve kicking energy and put the extra effort into his arms.When you look at his body he has shorter legs in comparison to his torso.He has bandy legs.He is duck footed.
I did pull sets faster than a lot of people, but I couldn't freestyle kick to keep up during kick drills. It seems logical that if I can't get a lot of speed out of my kick, it's better to just minimize drag and keep my legs streamlined with my body.
I think this is may be true to a degree for certain body shapes.
I train with a guy that can't go much faster than about 1:06 for 100m free.However he can pace @ 1:12 for each 100 m in a 2km ocean race.He hardly kicks at all.His kick is basically for balance and enough to keep his legs up.When he does kick sets it's unbeleivably slow.After much analysis I've come to the conclusion that he just isn't designed to kick well and hence he has naturally learnt to conserve kicking energy and put the extra effort into his arms.When you look at his body he has shorter legs in comparison to his torso.He has bandy legs.He is duck footed.
