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
interesting discussion
I don't think swimmers are going 5 - 8 feet deep on SDKs
I'd say it's more like 2 - 4, with 3 being ideal
I'd add that if a swimmer sdk's on her side she doesn't need to go as deep
Ande...the ones who are doing it with great success are going far deeper than you suggest...Coughlin kicked the bottom of the pool (7') coming off the turn when she first broke 1:00 in the 100m back a few years ago. And there is no way Crocker could go 10-15m off turns in the 100 coming off at 3-4'.
And 3' would mean you are pretty much coming off in a straight line vs. the checkpoint analogy mentioned earlier....body types do come into play but i encourage people to play with it more and see for themselves.
In fact at workout yesterday i had a couple of the swimmers do just this..and the checkmark analogy was key in them understanding. Both swimmers came up 3'-5' past the flags vs. about at the flags when they changed the attack angle and felt it was less effort (which would make sense).
interesting discussion
I don't think swimmers are going 5 - 8 feet deep on SDKs
I'd say it's more like 2 - 4, with 3 being ideal
I'd add that if a swimmer sdk's on her side she doesn't need to go as deep
Ande...the ones who are doing it with great success are going far deeper than you suggest...Coughlin kicked the bottom of the pool (7') coming off the turn when she first broke 1:00 in the 100m back a few years ago. And there is no way Crocker could go 10-15m off turns in the 100 coming off at 3-4'.
And 3' would mean you are pretty much coming off in a straight line vs. the checkpoint analogy mentioned earlier....body types do come into play but i encourage people to play with it more and see for themselves.
In fact at workout yesterday i had a couple of the swimmers do just this..and the checkmark analogy was key in them understanding. Both swimmers came up 3'-5' past the flags vs. about at the flags when they changed the attack angle and felt it was less effort (which would make sense).
