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
When you're already training 20k/day or more, as Jensen did, how practical is it to improve your conditioning? Same question applies to many Masters who are squeezing in their workouts to full lives.
You've taken my remark about conditioning somewhat out of context--I was explaining why, in my opinion, it's easier to swim with a pull buoy. Because the energy cost of kicking is higher, full stroke swimming requires better conditioning, even if the kick is relatively nonpropulsive and mainly used for balance.
I used Jensen simply as an example of a distance swimmer with a propulsive kick. Personally I think it's hard to argue with the final result, regardless of whether he might have been faster with less kick.
My point was that a) the kick can be propulsive, b) if it is, by all means use it, and c) if it's not propulsive, it still plays an important role in balance.
When you're already training 20k/day or more, as Jensen did, how practical is it to improve your conditioning? Same question applies to many Masters who are squeezing in their workouts to full lives.
You've taken my remark about conditioning somewhat out of context--I was explaining why, in my opinion, it's easier to swim with a pull buoy. Because the energy cost of kicking is higher, full stroke swimming requires better conditioning, even if the kick is relatively nonpropulsive and mainly used for balance.
I used Jensen simply as an example of a distance swimmer with a propulsive kick. Personally I think it's hard to argue with the final result, regardless of whether he might have been faster with less kick.
My point was that a) the kick can be propulsive, b) if it is, by all means use it, and c) if it's not propulsive, it still plays an important role in balance.
