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...
Former Member
I have a friend who is struggling with this at the moment, lately he has been doing very well in pull sets and not very well in full-stroke sets. Any suggestions on the likely cause and cure?
I had that problem when I joined Masters three years ago. I "cured" it by improving my conditioning--sets of 200s (no buoy), then 300s, 400s, ladders, etc. I did try a four-beat kick (after a lifetime of two-beat kicking), and had a coach watch my stroke to determine whether I was rotating enough or letting my hips sink. In the end, the key for me was better conditioning. I switch between a two- and four-beat kick now.
If the original question was the role of the freestyle kick, I don't think you can say unequivocally that it's not propulsive--at the very least providing some propulsion during the deceleration phase of the stroke cycle (that's where the car analogy comes up short). Clearly there is an important role in balance--which is why it's easier to swim with a pull buoy. The energy cost of kicking is higher, thus requiring better condioning. It is my understanding that Jensen worked very hard on his kick. While he didn't beat Hackett, his silver medal swim in Athens was phenomonal. He nailed his splits, which incidentally were written on his kick board in practice.
This past spring, I had the great honor of sitting next to Peter Daland at the NCAA's in Atlanta.
Mr. Daland and I were watching the finals of the 1650, during the race, he told me his nickname for Larsen. He said he calls him "Mr. Kick" Mr. Daland said that Lar's kick is impressive but he thinks Jensen would be better suited to turn down the kick and increase his spl.
That coming from Peter Daland.
Who is Peter Daland?
I can see how his commentary, as well as others who have said the same in this thread, about reducing the intensity of his kick would make him faster. Physiologically speaking the legs are comprised of more skeletal muscle than the arms/shoulders so they are going to require more ATP to perform. If a person can secure more propulsion through an extra stroke or two per length than with a more intense kick then the most efficient answer would be to use more SPL and abandon the overdriven kick. I think Larsen needs to head up to Club Wolverine and swim with the rest of the dream team up there. He and Erik Vendt can duke it out everyday in the pool...push each other to a new WR.
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.
"Who is Peter Daland"
Peter Daland is considered to be one of the best coaches to ever set foot on a pool deck. He lead USC for several decades and served as the Olympic head coach in either '68 or '72.
In a previous post, Terry mentioned that " Many people try to kick harder to swim harder," I have found that I have had this problem over the years, but mainly when it comes to sprinting freestyle. The last several months, I have made it a point to try not to think about my kick when sprinting, instead think about good rotation, clean entry, good catch on the water.
The darn thing is, after reading these posts the last few days, we did a sprint set this morning at practice and I was paying too much attention to driving my stroke with my legs, instead of driving with my body.
This provided a good lesson for me, no matter how fast I want to go, don't allow my legs or arms be what dictates my speed alone. Yes, a lesson I have known and preached to others for a long time but didn't use for myself.
We also have to agree that one glove does not fit all. We have all been brought up by different experiences and circumstances. Me originally a 400 1500m or 440 - 1 mile guy who had to change to sprints as I was not able to train hard enough (limited to 500 hard work a day) to do distance. Then sprints for years. Then in 1963 started to swim marathon swims but found it easyier to do a six beat kick then a 2 or 4 beat. Then to my amazement swimming in salt water which made my feet kick in the air so had to change my head position for salt water swims in order to kick in the water.
I don't want to post this in the "swimming help" thread because I don't want to scare the original poster. Gull80 suggested totalimmersion.net to somebody looking for swimming help. I had to do a double take to make sure Gull actually made that post. For those who haven't seen it, go take a peek. This is a once in a lifetime event!
Resistance is futile.
Believe it or not, I bought one of Terry's books a few years ago (and read it cover to cover). Besides, he said I was a "thoughtful and inquisitive swimmer."
From Controversy to a love in, Gull you have me almost convinced to buy the book. I think you have accussed me in the past of being a TI person. What an awful thing to wake up at 6 am before I have my coffee and read this mushy stuff.
