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. First of all -- Doc never knew that 17 inch feet, that acted like fins, could produce that much propulsion. Today as swimmers get stronger, taller, and have bigger and more flexible feet, the kick is will continue to be more propulsive and contributes a great deal to swimming speed. With that being said the feet cannot produce the lift and drag forces that the hand can produce, and unless we can become fish like some people often want us to swim like, then two hands, attached to two forearms will produce an amount of propulsion feet and legs (as big and strong as they are) cannot match. As swimmers adapt to higher and higher stress, faster, more effective and efficient kicking, in spring and long distance events will become vital as a propulsive mechanism. The distance swimmers in another decade will increase the amount of propulsion derived from the feet if they are to keep dropping times. Kicking will continue to become an ever increasing means of propulsion as swimmers evolve and become faster. Tall, strong swimmers with big feet will become the norm in the coming decades, it's a given. Good luck, Coach T.

The debate about kicking is silly really, almost willy nilly, because we all know the show don't flow without kicking mo-jo... The question is, how does the vast majority reach that same level of proficiency in their under-water kick? It simply won't happen if you don't have the appropriate range of motion in your ankles... See this link, forums.usms.org/showpost.php

First of all -- Doc never knew that 17 inch feet, that acted like fins, could produce that much propulsion. But do we? I'm pretty confident no elite swimmer has feet anywhere near that long. I read recently that the average height--so I'm guessing average foot size, too--has remained fairly constant in the U.S. since WWII. The U.S. used to be the tallest country in the world. We've been eclipsed by many European nations in the last decade or two. In fact the Dutch are now the tallest people in the world. This may have something to do with their success in swimming recently. And, of course, this is just the average height. It's possible the standard deviation has increased. Also, I'm guessing the influx of immigrants from south of the border and Asia has helped to keep the U.S. height pretty constant. It's entirely possible that Americans of European heritage have continued to get taller. But, seriously, 17" would be an exceptionally long foot.

I believe he's talking about Ian Thorpe, who's feet are size 17. Oh, gotcha. Size 17 and 17" are too very different things! :)

But do we? I'm pretty confident no elite swimmer has feet anywhere near that long. I read recently that the average height--so I'm guessing average foot size, too--has remained fairly constant in the U.S. since WWII. The U.S. used to be the tallest country in the world. We've been eclipsed by many European nations in the last decade or two. In fact the Dutch are now the tallest people in the world. This may have something to do with their success in swimming recently. And, of course, this is just the average height. It's possible the standard deviation has increased. Also, I'm guessing the influx of immigrants from south of the border and Asia has helped to keep the U.S. height pretty constant. It's entirely possible that Americans of European heritage have continued to get taller. But, seriously, 17" would be an exceptionally long foot. I believe he's talking about Ian Thorpe, who's feet are size 17.

i was talking with eddie reese the other day watching a kick set and he said the fastest flutter kickers splash a lot when they are kicking with a board and when they're swimming freestyle fast ande That's sort of the point I was trying to make.

great points! we can train to improve our 1) flat out SDK speed and 2) how effective our SDK is at the end of races, how far and fast we go off the 2nd to the last turn and the last turn in races flatout SDK speed is a factor of streamline, pushoff (jumping force) technique and leg strength end of race SDK depends on the above plus mental toughness, conditioning and correct splitting. chris, explain what you mean by the "modest goal" give a few examples ande 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.

there's a kid on my team that pulls insanely fast, but kicks really slow. He's one of the fastest freestylers on the team. He pulls twice for every kick. he just pulls 2 times really quick followed by one GIANT kick. It's not unheard of for swimmers with a strong dolphin kick to swim freestyle with a dolphin kick instead of a freestyle. It's just sort of like people with a great breastroke kick accidentally kicking breastroke in butterfly. It's almost instinctual.

How I integrate kicking into a workout: Today after wam up main set was: LCM 4 x 200's @ 3:15 (swam 175 free/50 back-7SDK's off each wall) 2 x 50 recover @ 1:15 3 x 200's @ 3:00 (used split fins and snorkel kicking 6 x 6-5 SDK's off each wall) 2 x 50's recover @ 1:15 2 x 200's @ 2:45 (pulled with snorkel-3 x SDK's off each wall) 2 x 50's recover @ 1:15 1 x 200 (kicked dolfin kick on my back/7 SDK's off each wall)

Paul, by a 6x6 kick do you mean a regular 6 beat kick? Syd Syd...its actually 6 kicks on my left side crossover (take3 strokes) then 6 kicks on my right side...i do however try and maintain a 6 beat kick while doing this. Its somewhat relative however...depedning on the "pressure" a 6 beat kick can be powerful or light...I try to build every rep to powerful on the final repeat...swimming or kicking.