Originally posted by Paul Smith
Here's the deal folks...forget about weights...if you REALLY want to make a significant break through in your swimming relative to competition stop swimming for 4-8 weeks and go to kick only workouts...as you ease back into swimming you will have the opportunity to "learn" how to integrate a new and powerful element to your stroke...something that 90% of the swimmers I see competing do not do well....
This really caught my attention. I seem to have been hearing this a lot lately: people coming back after a shoulder op, doing kick only workouts and then having their best seasons ever.
I don't doubt the authenticity of it either. I am just interested on what is actually going on. Why should this be the case?
Has anyone ever scientifically measured the amount the kick contributes to forward propulsion? I mean ratio wise, compared to the arms, what would it be? 80% arms : 20% legs?
What about the swimmers who are great kickers in workouts but can't translate it into faster swimming?
How do we actually integrate the kick into our swimming so that it becomes a new and powerful element to our stroke as Paul suggests?
Would it be fair to say that a big part of the improvement these (post op/ focus on kicking )swimmers achieve can be attributed to the strengthened core which is a result of the additional kicking. In other words more credit given to the strengthened core than increased forward propulsion.
I don't know. I just throw out these ideas for discussion.
Syd
Parents
Former Member
In his book, The Science of Swimming, Doc Counsilman devotes several pages to the kick
Thanks for that post...
You know I was thinking more about this question during my swim tonight, and a few concepts came to mind...
First I should quantify my experiences by saying, I wasn't the fastest that ever was, but I have swam and obsessed about swimming my whole life... and I still do...
That doesn't give me a PHD in bio-mechanics, but I'm not sure how else to explain these experiences, other than to just go ahead and say it... I've been studying some videos of top swimmers, and seem to be able to explain what I'm seeing pretty well... anyways, enough digression...
The thing about the kick, Like the Doc said, it depends on the event, the abilities of the athlete, etc. and the various points within the event/stroke.
Fly for example requires dolphin action, but a smaller amplitude and higher frequency is needed to match the tempo of the arms... If you over-kick and have too large of an amplitude the streamline and undulation will be compromised, and you'll swim slower than your potential.
After watching Phelps again, that is where he is very masterful in his lower body action... His kick has the perfect amplitude, very effective, but I'd argue that it has a relatively lower output of energy compared to his counter-parts. It's not a forced motion by any stretch of the imagination, instead he seems to go deeper with his head and torso, while the amplitude of his kick is tighter and closer to the surface.
Okay, and backstroke, the kick goes from under-water dolphin to flutter to under-water dolphin to flutter, over and over depending on the distance... The thing is, the requirements for the kick are varied at different points through-out this event... The kick oscillates between low amplitude dolphin and a very high frequency flutter, ideally at an even higher frequency and lower amplitude after breaking the surface.
You see what I'm trying to say here, I'll not go into breastroke or free, perhaps other members can elaborate. (breastroke is not my strength)
The point is, the skill-sets required for top swimming performance, in terms of the kick, alternates throughout the different phases of a race.
You can't just get an a kick-board and hammer out 10,000 meters and expect to reach those goals... You need to be able to switch from one type of kick to the other without missing a beat. This requires a variety of strategies designed specificly to reach these alternating race modes.
Jonathan Miller
PS
If your weakness is a range of motion limitation, then that is something that could be targeted out of the water. See this link,
forums.usms.org/showpost.php
Happy Swimming,
In his book, The Science of Swimming, Doc Counsilman devotes several pages to the kick
Thanks for that post...
You know I was thinking more about this question during my swim tonight, and a few concepts came to mind...
First I should quantify my experiences by saying, I wasn't the fastest that ever was, but I have swam and obsessed about swimming my whole life... and I still do...
That doesn't give me a PHD in bio-mechanics, but I'm not sure how else to explain these experiences, other than to just go ahead and say it... I've been studying some videos of top swimmers, and seem to be able to explain what I'm seeing pretty well... anyways, enough digression...
The thing about the kick, Like the Doc said, it depends on the event, the abilities of the athlete, etc. and the various points within the event/stroke.
Fly for example requires dolphin action, but a smaller amplitude and higher frequency is needed to match the tempo of the arms... If you over-kick and have too large of an amplitude the streamline and undulation will be compromised, and you'll swim slower than your potential.
After watching Phelps again, that is where he is very masterful in his lower body action... His kick has the perfect amplitude, very effective, but I'd argue that it has a relatively lower output of energy compared to his counter-parts. It's not a forced motion by any stretch of the imagination, instead he seems to go deeper with his head and torso, while the amplitude of his kick is tighter and closer to the surface.
Okay, and backstroke, the kick goes from under-water dolphin to flutter to under-water dolphin to flutter, over and over depending on the distance... The thing is, the requirements for the kick are varied at different points through-out this event... The kick oscillates between low amplitude dolphin and a very high frequency flutter, ideally at an even higher frequency and lower amplitude after breaking the surface.
You see what I'm trying to say here, I'll not go into breastroke or free, perhaps other members can elaborate. (breastroke is not my strength)
The point is, the skill-sets required for top swimming performance, in terms of the kick, alternates throughout the different phases of a race.
You can't just get an a kick-board and hammer out 10,000 meters and expect to reach those goals... You need to be able to switch from one type of kick to the other without missing a beat. This requires a variety of strategies designed specificly to reach these alternating race modes.
Jonathan Miller
PS
If your weakness is a range of motion limitation, then that is something that could be targeted out of the water. See this link,
forums.usms.org/showpost.php
Happy Swimming,
