OK gang.
The "kicking" bullies have rounded on me even though I had a fantastic swim this weekend. They are telling me I need to kick, my coach said don't over do it b/c it disrupts the stroke...
I can kick, I maybe didn't intergrate it in my 100FR to their approval but I am not convinced that kicking alone is the way to go.
I think working 100's with kick focus is a better way rather than yards and yards at "meh" pace.
What % of your yards do you kick per week, and how much of that is with fins?
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Former Member
OK, right about hijacking the thread. Back on topic.
In the past I have done massive kick sets, as much as 2K breaststroke kick in a single workout. But I have found, even for breaststroke where the kick makes up the largest part of the total propulsion, that I benefit far more from working on the front half of the stroke. Making the arm pull strong and mostly directed backwards (i.e., NOT sculling) and the recovery rocket fast has had the greatest benefit to my stroke. My best ever 100 BR was about a year ago and was, at age 65, 2 1/2 seconds faster than my best college time in the stroke when I was age 18.
So, I don't work the kick at all, beyond warmup, anymore in practice. My personal experience is that I cannot mimic what I do with the arms in any cross-training effort but that I can engage the right combination of leg muscles with a variety of other exercises than swimming.
OK, right about hijacking the thread. Back on topic.
In the past I have done massive kick sets, as much as 2K breaststroke kick in a single workout. But I have found, even for breaststroke where the kick makes up the largest part of the total propulsion, that I benefit far more from working on the front half of the stroke. Making the arm pull strong and mostly directed backwards (i.e., NOT sculling) and the recovery rocket fast has had the greatest benefit to my stroke. My best ever 100 BR was about a year ago and was, at age 65, 2 1/2 seconds faster than my best college time in the stroke when I was age 18.
So, I don't work the kick at all, beyond warmup, anymore in practice. My personal experience is that I cannot mimic what I do with the arms in any cross-training effort but that I can engage the right combination of leg muscles with a variety of other exercises than swimming.
