How much does a good kick contribute?

In his book, The Science of Swimming, Doc Counsilman devotes several pages to the kick in freestyle swimming. He states that "the arm stroke in the crawl is the main source of propulsion and, in the case of most swimmers, the only source of propulsion. The kick serves primarily as a stabilizer and means of keeping the feet high in a streamlined position." Counsilman, who, had a doctorate in what we would call today, exercise physiology, did much scientific experimentation with swimmers. He did an experiment used to measure the effectiveness of the flutter kick at various speeds. He found out that at speeds greater than five feet per second, kicking did not contribute anything to the speed of the swimmer and that in some instances, actually created an increased drag! Counsilman says that the longer the race, the less emphasis is placed on the kick. The heart can supply only so much blood to active muscles. If the swimmer kicks exceedingly hard, too much blood is channeled to the leg muscles and there is less blood available to the muscles which pull the arms through the water, with the result that they fatigue more easily. When sprinting, a swimmer rides higher in the water and if the swimmer does not increase the kick tempo and kick effort, the front part of the body will rise and his legs will drop further into the water. Counsilman sites a research project from 1965 by Adrian, Singh and Karpovich which indicates that as the swimmer swam faster and approached top speed, the kick became increasingly important factor. Counsilman concludes that a swimmer "can kick too much, but can also kick too little. The degree of effort needed in the kick must be experimented with and, in the final analysis, the swimmer should adopt the method that allows him to swim the fastest. This, of course, will vary, within limits with different swimmers and with the different distances they are swimming." The final paragraph of this section of the book goes on to say that Counsilman does "not believe that the primary function of the kick is propulsion." I think what Counsilman advocated 40 years ago is still applicable today. Of course 40 years ago we were not kicking 15 meters underwater. But still I think what Doc is saying has merit. Certainly for those of us who concentrate on the longer distances, the kick surely is a stabilizer. And for those sprinters who are able to integrate the kick properly, a strong kick may add propulsion especially underwater.

Wow. 1:02's for the 100...with a board. The kid coming in on :59 (back kick) looked like he was just floating into the wall. Thanks for posting that.

I emphasis "integrated" above because as many of you have seen/experienaced a lot of strong "kickers" can't coordiante that strength with their arm/core movements..... Hmmmm... ya, that's what I was trying to say... "integrated" Even think of the other strokes... You can kick "too hard" in butterfly and backstroke, and it throws off the swim/body position... Timing, integration, co-ordination, all very important. Also, like Coach Tom said, in breastroke the kick is critical...

Kicking speeds up the arm tempo. Developing a good kick also turns your legs into part of the machine... rather than having them drag along for the ride.

I have seen high school swimmer kick a 50yd free in less that 28 seconds and I'm sure world class athletes are significantly faster. A great kick goes with a great pull like peas and carrots. The amount of propulsion a kick contributes to the entire swim is an interesting question. The breastroke kick has a disproportionatley larger propulsive contribution than the other three strokes but each kick contributes not only propulsive power but other vital benefits; The kick balances and stabalizes the body, helps maintain momentum during the various quadrants of the stoke, and stops the lower body from sinking. A great kick is like streamlining, if it improves your times will drop. Good luck, Coach T.

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? Syd I'm sure these tests have been done... The thing is, Starts and Turns are a great way to reduce time in a race, and that's all kick... So, no wonder people come back from intense kick training and go faster... Sure, it's worth the effort, just from that point of view... Fast kicking = Faster result... Especially now that so much of the swim is under-water... Also, a strong kick helps to maintain body position at top speeds, and this combined with the arm cycle is certainly going to generate more propulsion... You make a good point too, stronger core = improved forward motion. All these factors combined makes kicking an important training area... Although, increased flexibility in the ankles may generate more propulsion than stronger muscles in the quads... Just a thought...

Hey guys...I never at any time said that kicking provided MORE of the speed/power than the arms/core....Then let me say it; for some kicking appears to be faster than arms/core body. Check out Natalie Coughlin’s 50 free at SCN swimnetwork.com/index.php around 1:18:20. She is one of the last swimmers into the water and the last to surface after underwater kicking (no arms). She surfaces a head of the field and then does not pull away on the surface. Which would lead me to believe she is faster kicking than swimming; she can pull away from the field kicking only but not swimming (arms and legs). This is even more evident off the turn where she turns about 0.1 ahead of the field but surfaces a full body length ahead. Lochte is another example.

thanks for the link around 1:19:20 there's some great underwater footage of Natalies side style SDK off the turn where where she really pulls away from the field plus going deeper and further gets her under her own draft and all the waves and turbulence, kicking on her side gives her longer columns of water the Mens 50 fr A final goes around 1:25:00 Then let me say it; for some kicking appears to be faster than arms/core body. Check out Natalie Coughlin’s 50 free at SCN swimnetwork.com/index.php around 1:18:20. She is one of the last swimmers into the water and the last to surface after underwater kicking (no arms). She surfaces a head of the field and then does not pull away on the surface. Which would lead me to believe she is faster kicking than swimming; she can pull away from the field kicking only but not swimming (arms and legs). This is even more evident off the turn where she turns about 0.1 ahead of the field but surfaces a full body length ahead. Lochte is another example.

Then let me say it; for some kicking appears to be faster than arms/core body. Check out Natalie Coughlin’s 50 free at SCN swimnetwork.com/index.php around 1:18:20. She is one of the last swimmers into the water and the last to surface after underwater kicking (no arms). She surfaces a head of the field and then does not pull away on the surface. Which would lead me to believe she is faster kicking than swimming; she can pull away from the field kicking only but not swimming (arms and legs). This is even more evident off the turn where she turns about 0.1 ahead of the field but surfaces a full body length ahead. It shows that her underwater is faster than THEIR underwater and that she keeps her push-off (or dive) speed for a longer time than they do. It does not prove that -- once she starts swimming -- she gets more propulsion from legs than arms. I believe Ande has it right about "crossover" points. The fastest parts of any race are off the block and the walls. The goal is to extend this part as long as possible and break out when you have slowed to your regular swim speed. I do NOT believe this really "saves" the arms because everything is connected: if you go too far underwater you will accumulate too much oxygen debt (you're using large leg muscles and...oh, yeah...you CAN'T BREATHE under there). Taken too far, it doesn't matter how fresh your arms are, you'll still die (been there). One can train to go ever further underwater. Kicking speed determines how effective your SDK is at the beginning of the race; that plus training determines how effective it is at the end of the race (where you can REALLY make some gains on your competition). A modest goal, if you are interested: every season add one additional kick off the walls. Practice it on EVERY SINGLE SET that you do. Do that for several seasons until you are happy (or hit 15m every time). Work on hypoxic sets -- today, for example, our last set was 10 x 50 on the 0:50 where the 2nd lap had to be no breath SDK (use zoomers if you absolutely must, but wean yourself as soon as you can). And do one HARD (ie, not "social") kick set a day, if possible. You'll see a difference.

I believe Ande has it right about "crossover" points. The fastest parts of any race are off the block and the walls. The goal is to extend this part as long as possible and break out when you have slowed to your regular swim speed. I've been thinking about this a lot lately and agree totally. I was watching a video of a race (in this case it was the 100 IM exhibition at the Texas Invite) and it really struck me how uniform someone like Ian Crocker keeps his speed. Yes, his underwaters are sensational, but when he surfaces he's able to maintain that speed. Your average swimmers looks like they dive in, come to the surface, turn, breakout, swim some more, etc. In contrast someone like Crocker has a much more fluid race. They aren't constantly slowing down and speeding up.