Hi I have had fairly bad case of biceps tendonitis for quite some time now and have not been able to swim. I have been doing kick sets every day for several weeks now, but realized that I wasn't _really_ doing the flutter kick in order to get more propulsion (otherwise I really don't move very much at all).
In any case, after reading these forums I decided to buy some Zoomers fins and started doing all my kicking with them for the past week. Initially I was quite happy with them (except blisters but I think I have solved that problem now). However, I have a concomitant knee problem (I went to an orthopod some time ago for it and he said by the physical exam it might be a medial meniscus issue - pain on the inside of my right knee - but since it was still relatively mild he was hesitant to do an MRI as surgery would not be something that would be considered at this point, which sounds reasonable to me) and I have noticed this week it has gotten worse (I did also stupidly sprint for my bus on Monday which I immediately felt caused some knee upset, and that certainly contributed a lot to it, but I'm still wondering about the Zoomers).
I know initially I did not feel the Zoomers aggravate my knee pain but now I'm not sure (although today I seem to have had more knee pain in general throughout the day so I'm not really sure if working out with them really added anything to it or if its just that my knee pain was still there when I was using them). In any case, I was wondering people's opinions about whether my increasing knee pain this week might be related to the Zoomers or perhaps simply to using them too much too soon? Anyone with knee problems noticed that Zoomers aggravate them? Are any other short fins better for knees or am I just stuck ineffectively kicking with no fins since I can't swim cuz of the shoulder probs?
Oh yeah I'm only doing flutter kick and I'm fairly sure I'm doing it correctly with the Zoomers (my legs are certainly straight and I am not kicking from the knees although I wonder if maybe I am locking them more than I should be perhaps).
Thanks
Misha
Parents
Former Member
Perhaps the slow motion is throwing me off and I am completely off base but my guess at what you should work on is smoother integration of your arms, roll, and kick. The relative timing of your arms and roll varies somewhat from one stroke to the next. I could be totally wrong but the impression I get is that you are concentrating on moving your arms through the S pull pattern, which I think George is correct is too exaggerated.
What I would suggest you try is working on integrating your arm recovery and pull with your body roll. One way to do that is to do a drill where you add a short glide phase to each arm pull and really concentrate on arm extension in front - don't just extend the arm forward but push the whole shoulder forward as if you are reaching for something on a high shelf just out of reach. Concentrate on extending out front at the same time you are finishing with the other arm and glide for about a second with one arm fully extended and the other remaining at your hip - this should give you a good feel for how the arms and body roll can integrate together smoothly. After the glide start your catch and the recovery of the other arm at the same time. To go to full stroke just eliminate the glide.
Don't think about following an S pattern, think about moving your arm into a position where your whole forearm is perpendicular to the direction you are traveling in, sometimes called Early Vertical Forearm but the forearm doesn't have to be vertical just perpendicular to the direction you are swimming. Think about getting your elbow out to the side early, the S component is just part of this action.
See youtube.com/watch
Anyway, just something to try, see if it works for you.
Perhaps the slow motion is throwing me off and I am completely off base but my guess at what you should work on is smoother integration of your arms, roll, and kick. The relative timing of your arms and roll varies somewhat from one stroke to the next. I could be totally wrong but the impression I get is that you are concentrating on moving your arms through the S pull pattern, which I think George is correct is too exaggerated.
What I would suggest you try is working on integrating your arm recovery and pull with your body roll. One way to do that is to do a drill where you add a short glide phase to each arm pull and really concentrate on arm extension in front - don't just extend the arm forward but push the whole shoulder forward as if you are reaching for something on a high shelf just out of reach. Concentrate on extending out front at the same time you are finishing with the other arm and glide for about a second with one arm fully extended and the other remaining at your hip - this should give you a good feel for how the arms and body roll can integrate together smoothly. After the glide start your catch and the recovery of the other arm at the same time. To go to full stroke just eliminate the glide.
Don't think about following an S pattern, think about moving your arm into a position where your whole forearm is perpendicular to the direction you are traveling in, sometimes called Early Vertical Forearm but the forearm doesn't have to be vertical just perpendicular to the direction you are swimming. Think about getting your elbow out to the side early, the S component is just part of this action.
See youtube.com/watch
Anyway, just something to try, see if it works for you.
