Freestyle kick

Kudos to you Mr. Park on your admirable contributions to physically challenged youth. On that note, Mr. Laughlin's contribution to the sport is very well deserved. Swimming long and smooth translates brilliantly to any distance. Veterans work on technique no matter how high their achievements.

This supposition was confirmed last winter when I taught a paraplegic triathlete in the Endless Pools in our Swim Studio. At the beginning of the lesson, he wasn't kicking, he wasn't rotating, and his toes were dragging on the pool floor as he attempted freestyle At the end of the lesson (which was heavily modified from the means we use to teach fully-able athletes) he was still unable to kick, but in what seemed miraculous, his legs moved to a balanced, horizontal position aligned nicely behind his hips. There was even a suggestion of an involuntary 2-beat kick. All of this lower body action, in someone who was paralyzed below mid-abdomen, was produced by rotation initiated in the arms and shoulders, where he was quite powerful, by spearing each arm forward strongly to a "target" which we had imprinted earlier. Congratulations for this. If I had immobilized his legs with a rubber band - inhibiting them from whipping semi-independently with each rotation - I don't think we would have seen that occur. If you immobilize anyone's legs with a rubber band, part of the reason why their legs sink is this limitating effect on rotation. I agree. The other part being of course the fact that the *actions* taking place at the upper body level have a strong *opposite reaction* on at the lowerbody level. Head position (too high), head movement (breathing too high), downward forces applied during the catch, pull through phase done with extened arms as well as other factors contribute to lower body sinking when doing this drill with the band. By letting the swimmer struggling for a while, he may (in fact I have noticed that they always do) find ways to naturally improve balance, by modifying some of these bad behaviours. And as you may guess, the real magical touch is when we remove the band and ask them to give an other try to this 'light 2beat kick'. The 'victory kind of' smile on their face as they reach the other end of the pool makes me keep faith on this misunderstood drill. Thanks for the chat Terry, from the reputation that you have, I am surprised to discover someone with whom it seems to be very pleasant to chat with. I own a copy of your book (the yellow one about free style for newbies). Though I can't agree with all of its content, I can only recommend it and I do it on a regular basis. Bests, Charles

I have been impressed by Terry's conduct (and patience) in these forums; both in not 'pushing' his very successful product and showing a lively desire to exchange information and opinions relating to improvements in our shared passion: swimming. To me, these forums are perfect for this kind of exchange and within the context of free debate have rarely been abused (& he is gone). Recently I sold a copy (before I closed the doors forever) of Terry's book to a swim instructor at the local pool (teaching adults) and watched her employ the book to turn a bunch of thrashers into smooth, economical, hip-rotating prospects for Masters in a very short time- I was impressed. I have watched similar classes many times over the years show little progress. Basically, I think what Terry (& others) advocates on this forum seems to boil down to this: inform yourself, apply yourself, improve yourself- keep repeating the process.

Peter, Terry is a gentleman for sure after we try to put words in his mouth that he really did not say. I would love to go to one of his courses and would probably accept his instruction, I even toyed with the idea of teaching with the TI plan but it seemed to me to not fall into my actually signinig up as it was too much telling about me. I am open minded and feel he is doing a good thing. I must have read his posts wrong, eg selling more books than the 2 mentioned and my impression of his way or no way. Sorry Terry I did even start to make the plan to join with you but the wrong kind of emails came back to me. I may have been one of your exponents but it did not work out that way.

Just wanted to add never swim unless you intend to win. When I raced the Marathon circuit I did not always win but except for 3 races I finished in the money, and I was always in contention to win money which I needed to supprt my wife and six kids. I sometimes even swam only for the prize but I did have sponsors to pay most of the bills and to help me make a profit. I never did an individual swim like Councillman's long swim or like several others, I only entered races that had prize money.

Sometimes that advice departs from the prevailing paradigms, which prompts some to repeat cliched criticisms of TI. Earlier in this thread you posted (in part): "The kick really shouldn't be used for balance as redistributing weight and mass above the waist is a far more efficient way to accomplish that. In short sprints it may contribute something to propulsion, but that is probably neglible." You also used the analogy of a car with front and rear wheels turning at different speeds. My response was: "There is a problem with this analogy. The wheels of the car are turning at a constant speed, but a swimmer has periods of acceleration and deceleration during each stroke cycle. Clearly there are many swimmers with a very propulsive kick, Popov being a good example (able to kick 50m in 28 seconds). As for distance swimmers, Bill Rose has stated that a six beat kick was an essential part of Lars Jensen's success in the 1500 in Athens. Many coaches (Maglischo among them) believe that the primary function of a nonpropulsive kick is to provide balance. Supporting this view is the example of a swimmer with a relatively weak kick who is faster with a pull buoy than full stroke swimming. Presumably hip rotation is no better (and possibly worse) with a pull buoy than without. I have heard it said (Rick DeMont?) that you should build your stroke around your strengths; specifically, if you have a propulsive kick, by all means build the stroke around it." No criticism of TI here, so perhaps you would care to address these points?

George and I are very polite people; of course we're both quick to deal out a quick right cross to the chops where it is deserved. Luckily, that has not been necessary in the forums since San Diego seceded. Good to hear that news re Canada workshops, but beware- don't forget your passport 'cause Uncle Sam is getting sticky Jan 1st. re returning Americans (by plane).

so it guess having big feet would also be a good thing? if you have floppy, big feet then it's like wearing fins! You got it. That is because it allows for a better foot's angle of attack (relative to the surface of the water).

What happened each time I immobilized my legs with a rubber band was: 1) they began to drag, and 2) I went much slower, because 3) my arms had to do all the work, with little contribution from core muscle, thus fatiguing rapidly. That basically confirms that the leg kick action also contributes to keep the lower body at the surface. Actually that's not a hypothetical experiment at all, but one I estimate I performed well over a hundred times back in the days when I believed, as most do, that swimming propulsion is produced by the "arms department" and "legs department" working somewhat independently of each other -- each therefore needing to be strengthened with "pulling sets" and "kicking sets." That wasn't my main purpose in talking about this drill, but the band around the ankles exercise is a drill to improve one's potential to improve balance without the kick. That is not a pulling exercise. It is aimed at raising the swimmer's awareness level. Same principle as the swim with fists drill for instance.

Most people would say I shouldn't take the bait, but my patience has worn thin with comments that are not only snarky and smartass, but, increasingly offensive. In the first place, I did not specifically refer to you or your books in my post, although that's certainly a reasonable assumption on your part. My point was that the "one size fits all" approach (which is by no means restricted to swimming books) is flawed, in my opinion, but does lend itself to mass market appeal. Secondly, when you openly criticize mainstream coaching philosphy on this forum (not to mention in your books and on your website), you can expect to be challenged. Finally, you never responded to my critique (which was neither snarky nor smartass) of your original post.