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
Adding my answers to Ande's:
1. I tend to be weaker SDK-ing on my back. Not off the start so much, but off the turns. What's the best way to improve that?
I'm the opposite -- much more comfortable on my back. First thing: verify your streamline is still correct, with your ears between your arms (watch the head position). If that is fine, then ask yourself: why are you weaker? It is much the same motion. Is it a comfort thing? If so, practice until it feels comfortable Water up your nose? I exhale continuously while on my back but I guess there are other methods (nose plugs?).
2. What's the best way to integrate your flutter kick with your freestyle? I think I'm fast kicking with a board, but not so swell kicking otherwise in non-50 distances.
I'll pass on this, since I don't really have a true flutter kick in my freestyle (you have to see it to understand; not something to emulate).
3. If you're better SDK-ing on your side than your back, should you do more side kicking in backstroke? I guess maybe this is one of those test it and time it things. I only see a few people SDK-ing on their side.
A standard reason given for side SDK is to avoid generating surface waves, which wastes energy. I think this is a little bogus unless you are quite near the surface. In my last meet, the pool was only 4'8" deep on one side, so I couldn't have been too deep on turns, but I didn't see any surface waves on the video.
One potential legitimate reason I can see is for feedback on depth below the surface. On my back, I know exactly how deep I am and so the breakout is easy to judge. On my stomach this is gone and I have a harder time with this. Kicking on the side might help, but after experimenting some I decided to forego this for now.
4. When you're SDK-ing, what role do your arms and upper body play?
They should be still with arms rigid and as tight as you can make them. The narrower the "prow," the better the streamline (watch the elbows). You can also use hands/arms to control your depth. When I break out in backstroke, I believe I take a little extra bend at the waist and very slightly change the angle of my arms to go to the surface (it is hard to be sure exactly what I do without underwater video; it is mostly instinctive).
Hope this helps,
Chris
Adding my answers to Ande's:
1. I tend to be weaker SDK-ing on my back. Not off the start so much, but off the turns. What's the best way to improve that?
I'm the opposite -- much more comfortable on my back. First thing: verify your streamline is still correct, with your ears between your arms (watch the head position). If that is fine, then ask yourself: why are you weaker? It is much the same motion. Is it a comfort thing? If so, practice until it feels comfortable Water up your nose? I exhale continuously while on my back but I guess there are other methods (nose plugs?).
2. What's the best way to integrate your flutter kick with your freestyle? I think I'm fast kicking with a board, but not so swell kicking otherwise in non-50 distances.
I'll pass on this, since I don't really have a true flutter kick in my freestyle (you have to see it to understand; not something to emulate).
3. If you're better SDK-ing on your side than your back, should you do more side kicking in backstroke? I guess maybe this is one of those test it and time it things. I only see a few people SDK-ing on their side.
A standard reason given for side SDK is to avoid generating surface waves, which wastes energy. I think this is a little bogus unless you are quite near the surface. In my last meet, the pool was only 4'8" deep on one side, so I couldn't have been too deep on turns, but I didn't see any surface waves on the video.
One potential legitimate reason I can see is for feedback on depth below the surface. On my back, I know exactly how deep I am and so the breakout is easy to judge. On my stomach this is gone and I have a harder time with this. Kicking on the side might help, but after experimenting some I decided to forego this for now.
4. When you're SDK-ing, what role do your arms and upper body play?
They should be still with arms rigid and as tight as you can make them. The narrower the "prow," the better the streamline (watch the elbows). You can also use hands/arms to control your depth. When I break out in backstroke, I believe I take a little extra bend at the waist and very slightly change the angle of my arms to go to the surface (it is hard to be sure exactly what I do without underwater video; it is mostly instinctive).
Hope this helps,
Chris
