Most important phase in swimming???

RE: Most important phase in swimming???

Former Member — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:00:20 GMT

Paul you are right it is not just one thing it is all of the above and many more. The kick is very important to me and I do and have kicked like hades in a 50, 100, and 200. But when I swam in the marathon races I found that a hard furious kick is not important and it only balances. I never kick hard in training and never swim at top speed during training, but in a 50 or 100 race fly or free it is a very kick oriented event for me. The kick in the sprint is what gives you a fast time. The faster the kick is, the faster your stroke is, the faster your time is.

RE: Most important phase in swimming???

Former Member — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:18:05 GMT

Is it not surprising how polls can be so wrong. Now I do not want to get into politics.

RE: Most important phase in swimming???

Paul Smith — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 11:48:49 GMT

You kick freaks are out of your minds. A good kick will certainly make a good swimmer great, but it's all about the arms. I have dragged my feet to some fairly respectable times over the years. And I can't tell you how many of you non kicking naysayers I've blown by the last 5 yards by ratcheting up my kick and won races the last 30 years....so please....keep up with your two beat foot draggin!! :) For me swimming is such an all body experiance that I simply can't say that it is any of the single things George lists, I beleive each in its own right deserves time and focus through lots of drill work but just like a great kick, if you can't put the whole thing together non of it matters. Interesting however that the list did not include core development/integration since in all sports its the single biggest source of power ties all things together?

RE: Most important phase in swimming???

Former Member — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 16:05:31 GMT

Would have voted for core body position. Not the streamline but sucking in the gut and having a tight core or vessel. Then go from there. Guess that's not a phase. Need to lock and load before I can get moving properly. When I'm swimming with an arched back with gut out and head up, I'm just spinning and going nowhere.

RE: Most important phase in swimming???

Former Member — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:53:06 GMT

I think you could have a poll like this for all 4 strokes and the outcome would be completely different for all 4. Maybe you could do one for each? In the meantime I decided to vote for streamline, or the glide between strokes. It might not be the most crucial for me as a *** stroke swimmer, but I find that that is where I can loose of lot of speed that I just carried off the wall and have tried to continue with my kick and pull.

RE: Most important phase in swimming???

Former Member — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 14:49:04 GMT

I watched a video today of construction workers digging out a foudation for a home. It was done by a couple of workers one who was in a hurry and one that was slow and methodical. The fast worker was doing more than the slow worker at first but like the hare and the tortoise the slow worker accomplished more volume in the end.

RE: Most important phase in swimming???

Former Member — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 12:01:02 GMT

Its really impossible to say that one aspect contributes the most to swimming because it depends on the level of the swimmer and what the event is. The one which creates the most propulsion is clearly the catch and then subsequently the pull, because once you catch a lot of water, it is pretty easy to move it back, but catching that water is what is difficult. After your arms can bring you up to a certain speed, it is much more worthwhile to learn to apply that force smarter, that is, cut through the water with shoulder rotation and streamline. Depending on the event, I think the kick has different importance, Cullen Jones couldn't kick like Laure Manadou and expect do do nearly as well, just like it is impossible to meet a good breaststroker who can't kick. So all in all, it is impossible to say if one aspect is the most important, that is a question for individual swimmers based on their certain skills.

RE: Most important phase in swimming???

Former Member — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 11:28:18 GMT

I answered this along the lines of "if I sucked at everything else, which would make me go fastest?" I think more than anything else what matters is how your strokes transmit force against the water. That occurs catch to finish. Your hands could enter sloppy, your kick could be bad, etc. but if you transmit power well you'll move forward quickly.

RE: Most important phase in swimming???

Former Member — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 15:19:23 GMT

The only way the kick could be important is to use this device www.popularmechanics.com/.../4223354.html Signal processing has been used by a swimmer from Duke, www.pratt.duke.edu/.../

RE: Most important phase in swimming???

Allen Stark — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 07:50:06 GMT

The way to make the kick really important is to swim breaststroke(or butterfrog.)Even then the most important is catch to finish,butthere are 2,pull and kick(and the also important integration of them both.)

RE: Most important phase in swimming???

Former Member — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 17:18:06 GMT

Kurt It was a belief in the 40s that most of your speed came from the kick. It was rated as 70 percent of your forward movement. It was then determined later it comprised of only 10 percent of your forward movement. I am convinced it helps but I like you believe it is the arms.

RE: Most important phase in swimming???

Former Member — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 13:59:13 GMT

Are you reffering to the role for G Protein G-Beta-Gamma Isoform Specificity in Synaptic Signal Processing.

RE: Most important phase in swimming???

Former Member — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 13:47:25 GMT

How about none of the above? The most important phase is the synaptic signals enabling any of the muscles to function.

RE: Most important phase in swimming???

Kurt Dickson — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 11:55:54 GMT

You kick freaks are out of your minds. A good kick will certainly make a good swimmer great, but it's all about the arms. I have dragged my feet to some fairly respectable times over the years.

RE: Most important phase in swimming???

Former Member — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 09:36:18 GMT

I wish that there were "All of the above."

RE: Most important phase in swimming???

Donna — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 09:04:09 GMT

I have dragged my feet to some fairly respectable times over the years. I'm with you on this one Kurt! I too drag my legs most of the time and can still swim respectable times for my age.

RE: Most important phase in swimming???

Former Member — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 08:01:39 GMT

Most sports skills require the athlete to "set-up" or begin properly or everything else falls apart. In golf, starting without the proper grip is enough to predict failure. In swimming, without "setting-up" a proper catch all else is of little consequence. A streamlined body without a effective catch is a sleak slow vessel. You can finish your stroke with the power of Zeus but all you'll be doing is churning water faster then the swimmer next to you. There are many elements important to swimming fast but unless you have a great catch you can nix fast swimming. 16 out of 20 Gold Medal and 43 of 60 medals won in Athens was won with a EVF stroke. It's not the wave of the future, it's always been here but now we're learning how to train swimmers to improve it. George Block American Swimming Coaches Association (Past President and Head Swimming Coach NISD ". It's the single most important skill (Early Vertical Forearm Position) that differentiates every level. In the following Swimming World website video/interview www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../preview.asp titled Freestyle Coaching - Catch or Release, eleven coaches at the recent Senior Nationals at Irvine California were asked the question; what would you teach first when teaching the freestyle. Nine of the eleven said the catch (Early Vertical Forearm EVF), one said the release, and one said both are equal. Nine of the eleven said things like: a great catch leads to a great release; absolutely and definitely the catch (must be taught first), without the catch the rest doesn’t matter; elbow over the hand is what we teach. It’s time that everyone knows that the catch is not just an important component to swimming fast, it’s vital for every stroke and every swimmer can improve it.

RE: Most important phase in swimming???

Chris Stevenson — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 02:19:22 GMT

One has only to see my strokes to realize that I am not one to over-analyze mechanics. I put "shoulder roll" because that is probably what I emphasize the most but it obviously only applies to two strokes. In butterfly I would probably answer "catch to finish" and I have absolutely no business offering an opinion on breaststroke. The key is, I think, to get the big muscles of the core engaged and give your arms as much leverage as possible. But overemphasizing a shoulder roll can lead to a stroke rate that is too diminished. In SCY/SCM I would argue that the turns make kick and streamline far more important than 10% but the importance is reduced in LCM and almost disappears in OW swimming.