Is it possible to develop a great kick later in "life"?
Former Member
I'm 37. I've been swimming for 2.5 years. I'm a triathlete and was told for the longest time that kick wasn't important so I didn't do any kick sets and focused primary on my upper body form.
I've completely turned my thinking around on kicking and I'd like to develop my kick. I've been told/read that it is difficult to develop a great kick if #1 - you didn't start young and incorporate it #2 - if you developed a stroke like I did and then tried to incorporate good kicking.
In others opinions is it possible to develop a strong kick given what I've outlined above? I have a good coach right now and we've started a plan to do lots of kick sets (of different types) and weight my workouts over the next several months towards kick sets and other drills given my next A race isn't until mid-Sept.
Parents
Former Member
You can at least improve your kick significantly, but I am not sure everyone can be a great kicker.
I disagree with "difficult to develop a great kick if #1 - you didn't start young". What this really means is developing a strong kick, if you don't naturally have one, is hard work, and hopefully you have already done the hard work :)
I think kick has as much technique involved as pull, but you don't have the same fine motor control in your feet that you have in your hands (or you would be a soccer player not a swimmer), and you can't watch your kick. This retards the learning process, and learning to kick well is a lot of time consuming experimentation.
You have a great plan for improving your kick. My kick is faster as a master than it was as a kid, and what has helped me the most is kicking fast. Instead of worrying about finishing the kick sets like when I was a kid, I have no problem doing 25s with lots of rest FAST and not worrying about what the set actually is. I learned to kick fast (for me) first, before I went back to longer kick sets. I think this is important.
Ande's suggestions to kick all out with lots of rest was what put me on the right track to improve my kick.
You can at least improve your kick significantly, but I am not sure everyone can be a great kicker.
I disagree with "difficult to develop a great kick if #1 - you didn't start young". What this really means is developing a strong kick, if you don't naturally have one, is hard work, and hopefully you have already done the hard work :)
I think kick has as much technique involved as pull, but you don't have the same fine motor control in your feet that you have in your hands (or you would be a soccer player not a swimmer), and you can't watch your kick. This retards the learning process, and learning to kick well is a lot of time consuming experimentation.
You have a great plan for improving your kick. My kick is faster as a master than it was as a kid, and what has helped me the most is kicking fast. Instead of worrying about finishing the kick sets like when I was a kid, I have no problem doing 25s with lots of rest FAST and not worrying about what the set actually is. I learned to kick fast (for me) first, before I went back to longer kick sets. I think this is important.
Ande's suggestions to kick all out with lots of rest was what put me on the right track to improve my kick.
