Flutter kick, breaststroke kick

watch videos of the best swimmers then say to your student do it like they do people, especially children, get muddled down with lengthy verbal instructions give simple instructions there's plenty of great swimmer footage on youtube there's many excellent swimming videos on the market I asked something about the flutter kick rhythm in another thread, but I think the thread died before anyone read my post. I was wondering if someone could help me understand how to establish a rhythm, such as a 6-beat kick. The 2-beat makes sense, as I kick with the right leg while catching with my right arm, and vice versa. But on 6-beats I become totally lost, and cannot get that rotation umph from the kick. Is there a trick to getting the timing right? Is there a single right way? My question on the breaststroke kick is how do you teach someone to drop their legs prior to the kick. If the hips and legs stay high, then the kick partially goes out of the water (which is what happens with my son). Thanks.

Regarding the Breaststroke, I would guess that legs kicking air is more of a symptom of something else that needs correcting. Look at the recovery to streamline for example, or the strength of the pull, or are the hips bending... I'm not as qualified as most others on this forum, so take this with caution. I'm guessing the lack of response from others is because their are too many possibile reasons to know how to respond; they might recommend a video posted for general analysis.

I'm a musician, so that influences my approach to this timing issue. Here's my suggestion: Say "1-2-3, 4-5-6." As you do it, clap your hands on 1 and 4. Speed up and slow down, giving yourself a good sense of what 3 to 1 feels like. In the water, you'll be putting your hand in the water on 1 as you begin to kick "1-2-3." Then, put your other hand in the water on 4 as you begin to kick "4-5-6."

The hips should drop naturally while beginning the pull and lifting the head for breath. It's a fluid motion and it sounds like your son could be trying to kick before the head has started to come out of the water. If that's not it, something else might be out of sync. You might want to have him try to pull his heels into his rear while in streamline and kick from there without the breath a few times. And make sure his head is pointed down while in streamline...if it isn't, it could throw things off too. I don't know hoe old your son is, bit my 9 year old got a lot from the GoSwim Brendan Hansen DVD. It really breaks the stroke down into manageable pieces.

The hips should drop naturally while beginning the pull and lifting the head for breath. It's a fluid motion and it sounds like your son could be trying to kick before the head has started to come out of the water. If that's not it, something else might be out of sync. You might want to have him try to pull his heels into his rear while in streamline and kick from there without the breath a few times. And make sure his head is pointed down while in streamline...if it isn't, it could throw things off too. I don't know hoe old your son is, bit my 9 year old got a lot from the GoSwim Brendan Hansen DVD. It really breaks the stroke down into manageable pieces. I agree with the above,also,if you bend at the hips in recovering your legs they come out of the water more easily than if you only bend at the knees(which is also more streamlined and therefore much faster.)