Does anyone else flat out refuse to do kick sets because they hate it and are convinced the knee will get aggravated to the point that the returns become negative?
Is there evidence to support that you are in fact better off avoiding kicking or am I just being a wuss?
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Former Member
Although it is of common belief that flutter kick power comes from the hip, in reality most power generated comes from quadriceps muscles during the extension of the leg.
Just to make sure we talk about the same things here, my statement applies to sprint flutter kicking (which for me begins at a pace of 50sec per 50m).
When a baseball player throws a ball, the motion is initiated by the whole body rotation weight transfer then the upper back then the shoulder then the arm then the wrist then the fingers. Same goes with flutter kick action. (hopefully) Initiated by the Hip (like you point out) then Huge quadriceps contribution to finish the leg extension and hopefully, if ankles are floppy enough they act like fins (flippers).
In this equation, the knee kinds of act like a buffer, absorbing tremendous amount of energy which is the result of the flexing/extending action. The leg recovers fully straight (of course) then during the downsweep it flexes, then whip, then recover fully straight again etc.
I take the time to detail all this because again, it is of common belief that swimming is a low impact activity especially for lower limbs. While this may be true if you don't intend to sprint, for me (as well as for the OP it seems) this belief is totally false.
Anyone with loose knees would probably benefit from tightening them at the Gym.
Although it is of common belief that flutter kick power comes from the hip, in reality most power generated comes from quadriceps muscles during the extension of the leg.
Just to make sure we talk about the same things here, my statement applies to sprint flutter kicking (which for me begins at a pace of 50sec per 50m).
When a baseball player throws a ball, the motion is initiated by the whole body rotation weight transfer then the upper back then the shoulder then the arm then the wrist then the fingers. Same goes with flutter kick action. (hopefully) Initiated by the Hip (like you point out) then Huge quadriceps contribution to finish the leg extension and hopefully, if ankles are floppy enough they act like fins (flippers).
In this equation, the knee kinds of act like a buffer, absorbing tremendous amount of energy which is the result of the flexing/extending action. The leg recovers fully straight (of course) then during the downsweep it flexes, then whip, then recover fully straight again etc.
I take the time to detail all this because again, it is of common belief that swimming is a low impact activity especially for lower limbs. While this may be true if you don't intend to sprint, for me (as well as for the OP it seems) this belief is totally false.
Anyone with loose knees would probably benefit from tightening them at the Gym.
