Frustrated

midaged - please stick with it! It will get better. It can take a long time to see results, but if you are consistent and keep trying and keep trying to learn (also from these boards), you will see improvements. Keep up the good work! scyfreestyler - Sorry to hijack this thread for a minute, but I was looking for you. I am going to SF to do Alcatraz on September 16, then driving to Monterey for a day or so, then down to So Cal. It's a long story, but I was wondering if your team would have a masters workout in Salinas/Monterey on Tuesday, September 19, preferably in the early morning? I would love to get a good workout that morning before I drive to LA. Thanks for any info you can offer. Diana

I have felt your pain. It takes a lot of time to become a good swimmer, especially when you are not on a team with constant input from a coach or teammates. When I was getting started I found that much of my improvement simply snuck up on me. Balance and rhythm especially. Things like catch, pull, and turns require a bit of conscious effort to figure out but in the end you really just need some more time in the water. I suspect that you will look back 3 months from now and be amazed at just how far you have actually come. Keep up the hard work and it will pay off.

It will take some time, I think is natural for people to kick from the knees than the hips. I see it all the time. It's been a habit to kick from the knee and now your trying to "kick" the habit. You butt is dropping because you problably starting kicking from the knees before you realized you were kicking from the knees. People tend to do this at the begining of learning how to swim because they are tired, most of the time you don't realize your tried and starting kicking from the knees. Try doing some kick drills with a kick board, keeping your face in the water looking only at the lane line, while your kick. This will help your to keep your head down while helping your concentrate only on kicking. If you don't have a kick board, put your arms out in front of you with your hand on top of one another, then put your face down, and kick. I tell people just learning to kick like thunder, once you stop kicking from the knees you can start to control the kick into more of the water and not be splashing so much. Question, I've never used flippers, so I really don't know, but does the flippers "really" make you flat and give you the position you want? They could be giving you a false since of doing this, just a thought. The good news is - is once you get it, you won't go back to kicking from the knees.

Originally posted by DianaC midaged - please stick with it! It will get better. It can take a long time to see results, but if you are consistent and keep trying and keep trying to learn (also from these boards), you will see improvements. Keep up the good work! scyfreestyler - Sorry to hijack this thread for a minute, but I was looking for you. I am going to SF to do Alcatraz on September 16, then driving to Monterey for a day or so, then down to So Cal. It's a long story, but I was wondering if your team would have a masters workout in Salinas/Monterey on Tuesday, September 19, preferably in the early morning? I would love to get a good workout that morning before I drive to LA. Thanks for any info you can offer. Diana Diana, I don't swim with the club to which I belong. The only potential Master's workout around here would be at the Pattullo swim center in Seaside, Ca. which is just a few miles from Monterey. You can reach the swim center at 831-899-6805. The only time I have been to their facility was for a meet. It is a new facility, indoors, 25 yard, etc.. Pretty nice place actually but their lap swim/practice hours don't really work well with my family life right now. Another option would be to swim at the Monterey Sports Center where I swim. It is also a 25 yard pool, indoors, and is very clean and well kept. Here is a link to the facility's webpage... www.monterey.org/.../ Sorry I could not be of greater assistance to you. If you have any other questions please feel free to send me an email or a message in USMS.

Matt, Thanks so much for the info on the Monterey Sports Center. That will be perfect. I am staying in Monterey, so I will just swim there Tuesday morning before I head to LA. That will work out really well. Thanks a bunch! Diana

Originally posted by Concho Pearl It will take some time, I think is natural for people to kick from the knees than the hips. I see it all the time. It's been a habit to kick from the knee and now your trying to "kick" the habit. You butt is dropping because you problably starting kicking from the knees before you realized you were kicking from the knees. People tend to do this at the begining of learning how to swim because they are tired, most of the time you don't realize your tried and starting kicking from the knees. Try doing some kick drills with a kick board, keeping your face in the water looking only at the lane line, while your kick. This will help your to keep your head down while helping your concentrate only on kicking. If you don't have a kick board, put your arms out in front of you with your hand on top of one another, then put your face down, and kick. I tell people just learning to kick like thunder, once you stop kicking from the knees you can start to control the kick into more of the water and not be splashing so much. Question, I've never used flippers, so I really don't know, but does the flippers "really" make you flat and give you the position you want? They could be giving you a false since of doing this, just a thought. The good news is - is once you get it, you won't go back to kicking from the knees. Interesting thought! When I first read this it definitely threw me off for a second. Then I remembered a girl I used to see come to the pool all the time to swim laps. She would put on fins and spend about three laps fighting them before throwing them on the side of the pool and finishing her workout with a "knee-down" kick. I've never seen anyone fight fins like that before. She somehow managed to use only her knees (not her hips) while wearing them. It looked so odd that I started watching other people who used fins. Everyone else I saw that kicked "knee-down" and then put on fins seemed to start using their legs correctly. Even if the improved position doesn't change your kick, when you pay close attention to how it feels to swim with them on it gives you a really good idea of what you're aiming for. -Carrie __________________ SwimOutlet.com

Learning to kick from the hip is tough. I had some success teaching my kids to kick from the hip by having them do vertical kicking. I have them vary the size and tempo of their kick in the hopes that they will feel the "right" kick.