The SDK Lane

Hey Karl, congrats on improving your SDK kick count for your 25 how did you start? from a push or dive? what sort of suit did you wear? How much did you rest before testing it? if you SDK a 25 yards in 25 seconds with 30 kicks, you have some efficiency issues I think Chris Stevenson & I do 18 - 20 kicks in a 25 at race pace. Right now your flutter kick is much faster than your SDK Sight unseen I can't really tell you what your SDK technique issues are or give you suggestions on how to fix them other than: + keep doing fast 15 & 25 SDK's with lots of rest to see if you can improve your speed TEST with REST + do small amplitude SDKs (too much knee bend might be slowing you down) + increase your frequency you did 30 kicks in 25 seconds 30/25 = 1.2 (so you're doing 1.2 kick cycles each second) a few weeks ago I SDKed 25 in 9.8 & probably did 20 kicks 20/9.8 = 2.0 ( i did 2.0 kick cycles each second, but if you remove the dive and the glide and start the watch when I start kicking, it's probably a bit faster) + stretch your feet & ankles to improve your effortless toe point, + do DPK SDKs where you focus on efficiency & exaggerate your glide, find out how few kicks it takes you to SDK across the pool + how's your pushoff & your streamline PUSH OFF HARD STREAMLINE SKINNY + remember SFF Tip 165 Build a Better Boat ONLY SDK in RACES if IT'S FASTER & a better use of your energy. First the good news. Today I went a full 25 SDK in :25 on 30 kicks. (My lowest kick count ever is 27, but I think it was slower.) When I first completed a full 25 about 6 weeks ago it took me 40 kicks. That's progress! I have also been timing 10 yd SKDs, (when I can find someone to time me). I am more than a full second faster than I was several months ago. I like that trend. In comparison, however, I can flutter kick a 25 in :19. (Probably faster actually, I haven't tested that in a few months because I have been working on other things.) This suggests that my flutter kick is faster than my SDK. So I did some testing. I was swimming repeat 100s backstroke, using 3 SDK per wall. After doing 7 with very consistent times, I decided to push it harder. #8 was 2s faster, and I noticed that I didn't use 3 SDk on every turn. I thought, "that's interesting, I will do only 1 or 2 SDK off each wall and see what happens". #9 was another 1s faster. I decided to skip the SDKs entirely on the last one. #10 was 2s faster yet. Today was my second day back in the pool after much more of a break than I planned, owing to a head cold, so maybe this isn't great data, but it strongly suggests that I should not be doing SDK in races yet (except possibly on the start, I think they are a little effective on my start). Back to the pool tomorrow...

Hey Karl, congrats on improving your SDK kick count for your 25 how did you start? from a push or dive? what sort of suit did you wear? How much did you rest before testing it? if you SDK a 25 yards in 25 seconds with 30 kicks, you have some efficiency issues I think Chris Stevenson & I do 18 - 20 kicks in a 25 at race pace. Right now your flutter kick is much faster than your SDK Sight unseen I can't really tell you what your SDK technique issues are or give you suggestions on how to fix them other than: + keep doing fast 15 & 25 SDK's with lots of rest to see if you can improve your speed TEST with REST + do small amplitude SDKs (too much knee bend might be slowing you down) + increase your frequency you did 30 kicks in 25 seconds 30/25 = 1.2 (so you're doing 1.2 kick cycles each second) a few weeks ago I SDKed 25 in 9.8 & probably did 20 kicks 20/9.8 = 2.0 ( i did 2.0 kick cycles each second, but if you remove the dive and the glide and start the watch when I start kicking, it's probably a bit faster) + stretch your feet & ankles to improve your effortless toe point, + do DPK SDKs where you focus on efficiency & exaggerate your glide, find out how few kicks it takes you to SDK across the pool + how's your pushoff & your streamline PUSH OFF HARD STREAMLINE SKINNY + remember SFF Tip 165 Build a Better Boat ONLY SDK in RACES if IT'S FASTER & a better use of your energy. First the good news. Today I went a full 25 SDK in :25 on 30 kicks. (My lowest kick count ever is 27, but I think it was slower.) When I first completed a full 25 about 6 weeks ago it took me 40 kicks. That's progress! I have also been timing 10 yd SKDs, (when I can find someone to time me). I am more than a full second faster than I was several months ago. I like that trend. In comparison, however, I can flutter kick a 25 in :19. (Probably faster actually, I haven't tested that in a few months because I have been working on other things.) This suggests that my flutter kick is faster than my SDK. So I did some testing. I was swimming repeat 100s backstroke, using 3 SDK per wall. After doing 7 with very consistent times, I decided to push it harder. #8 was 2s faster, and I noticed that I didn't use 3 SDk on every turn. I thought, "that's interesting, I will do only 1 or 2 SDK off each wall and see what happens". #9 was another 1s faster. I decided to skip the SDKs entirely on the last one. #10 was 2s faster yet. Today was my second day back in the pool after much more of a break than I planned, owing to a head cold, so maybe this isn't great data, but it strongly suggests that I should not be doing SDK in races yet (except possibly on the start, I think they are a little effective on my start). Back to the pool tomorrow...