I have a two beat crossover kick. I am not sure why I even do the crossover thing. Perhaps I do it to maintain flotation while using two beats. I have noticed that if I stop kicking altogether my legs sink. Or perhaps it is happening when I am rotating to breathe.
There is another thread on this forum titled: Two beat crossover kick - is it bad? but this thread ended up talking about a two beat kick as opposed to a 4 or 6 beat kick and never discussed the crossover aspect of it at all. In that thread George mentioned that Rowdy Gaines had a crossover kick but I couldn't find any of Rowdy's videos on the web at all. Does anyone have this peculiarity or know of someone else who does?
My other question and my main intention of starting a new thread about this: is this a bad habit I should get rid of?
The thing is that I consider myself a sprinter and I feel this way of kicking is holding me back from improving my times. Because of the crossover thing I can't increase the tempo of my kick. My legs crossover while they should be doing the third of the fourth beat. My kick is weak and ineffectual and when I watch videos of the top sprinters, all of them are kicking like motorboats. Do you have to be a six beat kicker to be a good sprinter?
Finally, when I try to kick with my legs side by side, not only does it mess up my rhythm, but it also exhausts me. I can barely do a fifty with a six beat kick without wanting to collapse. But I feel it is something I could train myself to do. Yesterday I went to the pool for an hour and just practiced six beat, regular flutter kick. It was painful and required tremendous concentration and effort on my part but by the end of the hour, I did manage to go 28.72 for a 50m free. It didn't feel that good (it is hard to explain but it feels like my arms and legs are out of sync).
If this is a bad habit I should get rid of what is the best way of going about it? Should I just be doing tons of kicking sets? My flutter kick with a board (and without but just no arms) has improved quite a bit lately (thanks to the advice of Ande) but I just can't seem to fit it together with the arms. It is like there is no connection between the upper and lower half of the body. I have a weak lower back and this could be part of the problem. Another thing: I have noticed from watching myself on video that I have a higher head position than I thought I had. Could this higher head position be instrumental in forcing my hips down and thus making it more difficult to kick?
Sincerely Syd
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Former Member
... my main intention of starting a new thread about this: is this a bad habit I should get rid of?
The thing is that I consider myself a sprinter and I feel this way of kicking is holding me back from improving my times.... Do you have to be a six beat kicker to be a good sprinter?
... when I try to kick with my legs side by side, not only does it mess up my rhythm, it also exhausts me....
... My flutter kick with a board ... has improved quite a bit lately ... but I just can't seem to fit it together with the arms. It is like there is no connection between the upper and lower half of the body....
... I have noticed from watching myself on video that I have a higher head position than I thought I had. Could this higher head position be instrumental in forcing my hips down and thus making it more difficult to kick?
i had an interesting chat with a swim coach yesterday. his philosophy is one i agree with wholeheartedly: you need to find your own stroke/technique. you may be at a point where you need to find a coach that can help you do that.
i believe the most important aspects of efficient swimming are good streamlining and balance (which usually delivers the best speed). if changes you make throw off your streamlining and balance, then maybe those are not the right changes for you.
raising your head is definitely going to lower the hips. i tend to raise my head a bit more in sprints, but i don't know that it has that much of a positive affect on my times, i just do it because it feels better sometimes.
the general consensus ranges from 2-beat kick for distance, to 6-beat+ kick for sprints. one thing is for sure: the larger muscles of the legs will use an extraordinary amount of energy compared to how much propulsion they give you. again, you most likely just need to experiment and find what is right for you.
you might find these articles by Coach Emmett Hines helpful:
Better Kicking
A Question of Balance
Resistance and Submission
i searched for the thread you referenced and found this one:
Two-beat crossover kick...bad?
and this one too:
proper flutter kick
HTH
... my main intention of starting a new thread about this: is this a bad habit I should get rid of?
The thing is that I consider myself a sprinter and I feel this way of kicking is holding me back from improving my times.... Do you have to be a six beat kicker to be a good sprinter?
... when I try to kick with my legs side by side, not only does it mess up my rhythm, it also exhausts me....
... My flutter kick with a board ... has improved quite a bit lately ... but I just can't seem to fit it together with the arms. It is like there is no connection between the upper and lower half of the body....
... I have noticed from watching myself on video that I have a higher head position than I thought I had. Could this higher head position be instrumental in forcing my hips down and thus making it more difficult to kick?
i had an interesting chat with a swim coach yesterday. his philosophy is one i agree with wholeheartedly: you need to find your own stroke/technique. you may be at a point where you need to find a coach that can help you do that.
i believe the most important aspects of efficient swimming are good streamlining and balance (which usually delivers the best speed). if changes you make throw off your streamlining and balance, then maybe those are not the right changes for you.
raising your head is definitely going to lower the hips. i tend to raise my head a bit more in sprints, but i don't know that it has that much of a positive affect on my times, i just do it because it feels better sometimes.
the general consensus ranges from 2-beat kick for distance, to 6-beat+ kick for sprints. one thing is for sure: the larger muscles of the legs will use an extraordinary amount of energy compared to how much propulsion they give you. again, you most likely just need to experiment and find what is right for you.
you might find these articles by Coach Emmett Hines helpful:
Better Kicking
A Question of Balance
Resistance and Submission
i searched for the thread you referenced and found this one:
Two-beat crossover kick...bad?
and this one too:
proper flutter kick
HTH
