We love to SDK. It's the 5th stroke. It takes skill, strength, flexibility, conditioning & mental toughness.
For many it's the 2nd fastest stroke, but it's not a legal stroke.
We wish it was legal. We wish there weren't 15 m restrictions in races.
We count our kicks because kicks count.
We train to SDK faster. Some call SDKs underwaters or dolphins.
What are you doing to improve your SDK?
How many do you take in each race?
Help! My SDK is Horrible! has many tips & a program to get faster.
Here's a helpful post in it.
What are your SDK times?
15, 25, 50, 75, 100, 150 & 200?
Spend some time in the SDK lane & you'll be kicking faster before you know it.
the breastroke lane
The Middle Distance Lane
The Backstroke Lane
The Butterfly Lane
The SDK Lane
The Taper Lane
The Distance Lane
The IM Lane
The Sprint Free Lane
The Pool Deck
My age group coach is constantly preaching to "ride the glide", meaning the explosive jump off the walls before beginning any kicking (or the pulldown in breaststroke). Why slow yourself down when you're already going the fastest you can right off the wall? You don't want to glide too long, but it's actually unnecessary to begin kicking of any kind too early off the walls.
Even a tight streamline glide can be better than an open poorly executed "superman" streamline w/ kicking.
Indeed. I started to think about this because I have been watching a lot of age group swim meets recently and it appears to me that many kids start kicking too soon, (sometimes even in the air off the start!) and most start their breaststroke pullout waaaaay too soon. That made me wonder; when is the correct time to start kicking? I've never really thought about it. I just start kicking when instinct tells me to, like Chris says. I now think maybe I start kicking too soon in freestyle. I milk my breaststroke pullouts for all they are worth because my breaststroke is weak so I'm definitely not too soon there. I've been playing with my backstroke kickouts and now think maybe I start kicking too late. I need to find a coach with a watch...
My age group coach is constantly preaching to "ride the glide", meaning the explosive jump off the walls before beginning any kicking (or the pulldown in breaststroke). Why slow yourself down when you're already going the fastest you can right off the wall? You don't want to glide too long, but it's actually unnecessary to begin kicking of any kind too early off the walls.
Even a tight streamline glide can be better than an open poorly executed "superman" streamline w/ kicking.
Indeed. I started to think about this because I have been watching a lot of age group swim meets recently and it appears to me that many kids start kicking too soon, (sometimes even in the air off the start!) and most start their breaststroke pullout waaaaay too soon. That made me wonder; when is the correct time to start kicking? I've never really thought about it. I just start kicking when instinct tells me to, like Chris says. I now think maybe I start kicking too soon in freestyle. I milk my breaststroke pullouts for all they are worth because my breaststroke is weak so I'm definitely not too soon there. I've been playing with my backstroke kickouts and now think maybe I start kicking too late. I need to find a coach with a watch...
