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
Parents
Former Member
QUOTE=TheGoodSmith;113434]Syd,
The year is 2007, not 1977. Bag the 2 beat crossover kick.
John Smith
I was afraid of a comment like this, but at the same time I welcome it. You see the crossover thing is not something that I adopted as a strategy but is rather something that has developed naturally over time to compensate for bad flotation or aid with rhythm. It has become an integral part of my stroke and eliminating it or 'bagging it" as you humourously pointed out is going to require relearning a whole new way of swimming: a daunting task at 40! But if it must be done, then it must be done. I appreciate your straightforwardness! :)
...I decided to adopt a 4 beat crossover kick since I thought I need it for balance and flotation (it was easier for me to swim with a pull buoy than without). I think it helped, but the problem may just have been a lack of conditioning. I still cannot do a six beat kick--it doesn't feel natural--but I can switch back and forth from two to four beat. I believe I do get some additional propulsion from the four beat kick, which is helpful at the end of a race.
I know what you mean about the pull buoy thing. I reckon I swim just as fast with one and my legs tied up as I do without. I am also feeling the lack of conditioning. My legs have never worked this hard before. I still struggle to do a 50m flutter kick in under 60 seconds.
rowdy at race pace
has kind of a 4 beat cross over kick
his ankles cross in one part of his kick cycle
Do you have any videos of Rowdy, Ande? I would love to watch regardless of the crossover kick or not. Even though I am not American he was one of my swimming heroes.
I was always told that any cross-over kick that is done naturally is usally done by big guys. Over 6 ft 2 & 210 pounds. Before my collectomy I used to weigh 210. A coach tried to get me to do a cross-over kick but I couldn't. When I tried I always remember hearing my dad yelling at me that I wasn't kicking.
I wouldn't consider myself big. I am 183cm and weigh 76kg's (which is about 6' and 167 pounds). I certainly don't have a lumbering frame.
my kick greatly affects my balance as i move through the water. i guess i'm lucky in that i've found a natural, balanced rhythm between my arms and legs in this respect. i pretty much exclusively do a 6-beat kick, but i don't give it that much thought really, i mostly just do what feels right at the time.
Thanks for that Bud. I really appreciate your detailed posts. I always find them interesting. I am going to try out suggestions from those articles you linked you. Interestingly, even though it has only been two days, there has been an improvement: yesterday was easier than the first day. It hasn't become natural yet. I have to concentrate really hard or I lapse back into the crossover thing. I know it is going to take time though.
Thanks for your input everyone.
Syd
Reply
Former Member
QUOTE=TheGoodSmith;113434]Syd,
The year is 2007, not 1977. Bag the 2 beat crossover kick.
John Smith
I was afraid of a comment like this, but at the same time I welcome it. You see the crossover thing is not something that I adopted as a strategy but is rather something that has developed naturally over time to compensate for bad flotation or aid with rhythm. It has become an integral part of my stroke and eliminating it or 'bagging it" as you humourously pointed out is going to require relearning a whole new way of swimming: a daunting task at 40! But if it must be done, then it must be done. I appreciate your straightforwardness! :)
...I decided to adopt a 4 beat crossover kick since I thought I need it for balance and flotation (it was easier for me to swim with a pull buoy than without). I think it helped, but the problem may just have been a lack of conditioning. I still cannot do a six beat kick--it doesn't feel natural--but I can switch back and forth from two to four beat. I believe I do get some additional propulsion from the four beat kick, which is helpful at the end of a race.
I know what you mean about the pull buoy thing. I reckon I swim just as fast with one and my legs tied up as I do without. I am also feeling the lack of conditioning. My legs have never worked this hard before. I still struggle to do a 50m flutter kick in under 60 seconds.
rowdy at race pace
has kind of a 4 beat cross over kick
his ankles cross in one part of his kick cycle
Do you have any videos of Rowdy, Ande? I would love to watch regardless of the crossover kick or not. Even though I am not American he was one of my swimming heroes.
I was always told that any cross-over kick that is done naturally is usally done by big guys. Over 6 ft 2 & 210 pounds. Before my collectomy I used to weigh 210. A coach tried to get me to do a cross-over kick but I couldn't. When I tried I always remember hearing my dad yelling at me that I wasn't kicking.
I wouldn't consider myself big. I am 183cm and weigh 76kg's (which is about 6' and 167 pounds). I certainly don't have a lumbering frame.
my kick greatly affects my balance as i move through the water. i guess i'm lucky in that i've found a natural, balanced rhythm between my arms and legs in this respect. i pretty much exclusively do a 6-beat kick, but i don't give it that much thought really, i mostly just do what feels right at the time.
Thanks for that Bud. I really appreciate your detailed posts. I always find them interesting. I am going to try out suggestions from those articles you linked you. Interestingly, even though it has only been two days, there has been an improvement: yesterday was easier than the first day. It hasn't become natural yet. I have to concentrate really hard or I lapse back into the crossover thing. I know it is going to take time though.
Thanks for your input everyone.
Syd
