"What do YOU need to do to have a major swimming breakthrough?"

Well, I had a case of the terrible freestyle kick. Nothing worked in my age group/high school/college years but I was so far behind the rest of my teammates I became depressed and hopeless rather than doing something about it. Last spring (a year and a half ago) I had an appendectomy with complications and all I was allowed to do after the first two months after recovering from the complications was walk. At first very slowly, for very short distances and eventually up to a couple mile power walk. I noticed when I got back into the pool my kick felt a bit stronger than usual but went back to plain swimming and was still as slow as usual despite trying various kick drills, etc. My kick was holding steady and slow showing no signs of improvement even though all my other swimming was getting faster and comparably much faster than my kicking. In March I decided I didn't have much time to spend in the pool, so I would need to make the most of cross training to get my aerobic base and concentrate on technique and sprints in the pool. So I literally LEARNED to run (something never before attempted) and starting enjoying cycling more over the spring and summer. I was hoping through all this that it would improve my kicking but also overall endurance. I also spent most of my summer practices in open water, so haven't really been able to measure small individual progresses well. Well, 3 weeks ago I started getting back in the pool and HOLY COW!!!! My very, very sad 25 yard sprint flutter kick with board making my legs scream for mercy has turned from 45 seconds at best into 28 seconds! My kicking over longer distances averaging about 50 seconds per 25 is now averging 35 seconds per 25. So, what do I need to have a major swimming breakthrough? Buck all conventions and dare to do something totally different because I had a hunch it would work for me.

Well, I had a case of the terrible freestyle kick. Nothing worked in my age group/high school/college years but I was so far behind the rest of my teammates I became depressed and hopeless rather than doing something about it. Last spring (a year and a half ago) I had an appendectomy with complications and all I was allowed to do after the first two months after recovering from the complications was walk. At first very slowly, for very short distances and eventually up to a couple mile power walk. I noticed when I got back into the pool my kick felt a bit stronger than usual but went back to plain swimming and was still as slow as usual despite trying various kick drills, etc. My kick was holding steady and slow showing no signs of improvement even though all my other swimming was getting faster and comparably much faster than my kicking. In March I decided I didn't have much time to spend in the pool, so I would need to make the most of cross training to get my aerobic base and concentrate on technique and sprints in the pool. So I literally LEARNED to run (something never before attempted) and starting enjoying cycling more over the spring and summer. I was hoping through all this that it would improve my kicking but also overall endurance. I also spent most of my summer practices in open water, so haven't really been able to measure small individual progresses well. Well, 3 weeks ago I started getting back in the pool and HOLY COW!!!! My very, very sad 25 yard sprint flutter kick with board making my legs scream for mercy has turned from 45 seconds at best into 28 seconds! My kicking over longer distances averaging about 50 seconds per 25 is now averging 35 seconds per 25. So, what do I need to have a major swimming breakthrough? Buck all conventions and dare to do something totally different because I had a hunch it would work for me.