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
You might try practicing dolphin kicking, that might give you better feedback on how to achieve propulsion and it's easier to think about and feel what you are doing when moving both legs in unison.
As George said, a proper kick is a sort of whipping action, you kick down with your knee first and then the foot, and the knee actually starts up again while the foot is going down (otherwise you will end up with a very deep kick). Think of the bend in the knee coming mostly from the downward movement of the knee rather than an upward movement of the foot. Your leg should be pretty much straight during the upward movement.
You might try practicing dolphin kicking, that might give you better feedback on how to achieve propulsion and it's easier to think about and feel what you are doing when moving both legs in unison.
As George said, a proper kick is a sort of whipping action, you kick down with your knee first and then the foot, and the knee actually starts up again while the foot is going down (otherwise you will end up with a very deep kick). Think of the bend in the knee coming mostly from the downward movement of the knee rather than an upward movement of the foot. Your leg should be pretty much straight during the upward movement.
