What would you consider as the most important reason to include kicking in your workouts?
Also, what do you see as the main difference and purpose between the exercises kicking with a board and kicking without a board?
A good way to concentrate on emphasizing your kick during a swim set is to do swimming golf, i.e. combine your time with your stroke count. This works great for a set of 50's. If you descend the set (meaning keep lowering your total score) you'll see the relationship between your kick and speed. This is especially true if you have the ability to control your kick like opening and closing a valve instead of like a switch (either on or off). For me, my times descend when I increase the kick and keep the stroke count the same. You have to keep all other variables the same, in particular the number SDK's.
An excellent way to work on increasing kick tempo is vertical kicking. At least for me, when the resistance goes up (e.g. raising arms higher out of the water) the kick tempo has to increase to keep your whole head above the water. My goal this year is to go at least 30 seconds with a 10 lb. diving brick held over my head. So far my pr is 22 seconds. This also really works your hamstrings as well as the quads.
A good way to concentrate on emphasizing your kick during a swim set is to do swimming golf, i.e. combine your time with your stroke count. This works great for a set of 50's. If you descend the set (meaning keep lowering your total score) you'll see the relationship between your kick and speed. This is especially true if you have the ability to control your kick like opening and closing a valve instead of like a switch (either on or off). For me, my times descend when I increase the kick and keep the stroke count the same. You have to keep all other variables the same, in particular the number SDK's.
An excellent way to work on increasing kick tempo is vertical kicking. At least for me, when the resistance goes up (e.g. raising arms higher out of the water) the kick tempo has to increase to keep your whole head above the water. My goal this year is to go at least 30 seconds with a 10 lb. diving brick held over my head. So far my pr is 22 seconds. This also really works your hamstrings as well as the quads.
