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...
Parents
Former Member
So what do you say to a person who has very little use of their legs. Like somebody with MS.
I agree in a perfect world you need to kick but lets be honest everybody has limitations in different ways. This case could be argued for ages and that's why it is important that swimmers get to swimming coaches becasue it will only be then that they will get proper technique advise.
We can all speculate on different techniques but we are all guessing what this person really needs. Remember that biomechanics is written based on a human being perfect for swimming. I would say at least 90% of people here at this forum do not fall into that catergory. Some people may be further away then others. This is the skill of coaching. Being able to adapt the biomechanical principles to help the swimmer swim their best. Sometimes we have to break rules.
I coach a masters swimmer (45-49 age group)who can go around 9mins for an 800 freestyle and he does not rotate and has very little kick. I can play with his stroke (to make it look like Ian Thorpe) but it will take years for him to adapt this stroke, so he will swim bad times in the mean time. If he is swimming extremely slow for him do you think that he will continue swimming. I think not.
I would rather wait for his times slow down then gradually change the stroke. There are still plenty of things that I can work on but are not what you would find in a biomechanics book.
So what do you say to a person who has very little use of their legs. Like somebody with MS.
I agree in a perfect world you need to kick but lets be honest everybody has limitations in different ways. This case could be argued for ages and that's why it is important that swimmers get to swimming coaches becasue it will only be then that they will get proper technique advise.
We can all speculate on different techniques but we are all guessing what this person really needs. Remember that biomechanics is written based on a human being perfect for swimming. I would say at least 90% of people here at this forum do not fall into that catergory. Some people may be further away then others. This is the skill of coaching. Being able to adapt the biomechanical principles to help the swimmer swim their best. Sometimes we have to break rules.
I coach a masters swimmer (45-49 age group)who can go around 9mins for an 800 freestyle and he does not rotate and has very little kick. I can play with his stroke (to make it look like Ian Thorpe) but it will take years for him to adapt this stroke, so he will swim bad times in the mean time. If he is swimming extremely slow for him do you think that he will continue swimming. I think not.
I would rather wait for his times slow down then gradually change the stroke. There are still plenty of things that I can work on but are not what you would find in a biomechanics book.
