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
Ditch the kickboard.I don't think traditional kick sets with kick boards are going to do you a lot of good for improving your kick as the board puts your body in a very different position than when you're swimming. I prefer kicking on my sides, hands at my hips, head facing down, switching sides either in the lap (to work on body roll as well) or for each lap. This drill has a number of added benefits beyond kicking -- head position, body roll, learning to swim on your side.
Work your body rotation. I have no clue how you swim, but I see way too many triathletes swim "flat" in the water. I grew up as a solid, 2-beat kicker as a fairly decent distance swimmer, but my kick for my events was less about propelling me forward and more about propelling my body rotation around the long axis. If you can think of your 2 beat kick as initiating the body roll, you'll end up getting decent kick propulsion, but more likely end up with longer distance-per-stroke and will slice through the water better.
Don't use pull buoys. Again, I see lots of triathletes resort to doing a lot of pulling sets with buoys. That's great if you want to build your arms, but I think they are detrimental to a fully-connected freestyle. They train your body not to learn the muscle / coordination connections between pull and kick. Plus, I think they generally make people swim flatter in the water.
Totally agree with pwb. I ditched a kickboard several months ago. All my kicking has been either on my back or on my side, with the bottom arm extended.
Benefiits: My balance in the water is better. My conditioning has gotten better. I am kicking faster now that anytime I can remember. My backstroke kicking has improved greatly, which has translated into faster backstroke swimming.
If you feel the need to "pull" use a band around the ankles instead of a buoy between the thighs. The band will still allow you to rotate, plus you will have to improve your balance in the water or your legs will be dragged down.
Ditch the kickboard.I don't think traditional kick sets with kick boards are going to do you a lot of good for improving your kick as the board puts your body in a very different position than when you're swimming. I prefer kicking on my sides, hands at my hips, head facing down, switching sides either in the lap (to work on body roll as well) or for each lap. This drill has a number of added benefits beyond kicking -- head position, body roll, learning to swim on your side.
Work your body rotation. I have no clue how you swim, but I see way too many triathletes swim "flat" in the water. I grew up as a solid, 2-beat kicker as a fairly decent distance swimmer, but my kick for my events was less about propelling me forward and more about propelling my body rotation around the long axis. If you can think of your 2 beat kick as initiating the body roll, you'll end up getting decent kick propulsion, but more likely end up with longer distance-per-stroke and will slice through the water better.
Don't use pull buoys. Again, I see lots of triathletes resort to doing a lot of pulling sets with buoys. That's great if you want to build your arms, but I think they are detrimental to a fully-connected freestyle. They train your body not to learn the muscle / coordination connections between pull and kick. Plus, I think they generally make people swim flatter in the water.
Totally agree with pwb. I ditched a kickboard several months ago. All my kicking has been either on my back or on my side, with the bottom arm extended.
Benefiits: My balance in the water is better. My conditioning has gotten better. I am kicking faster now that anytime I can remember. My backstroke kicking has improved greatly, which has translated into faster backstroke swimming.
If you feel the need to "pull" use a band around the ankles instead of a buoy between the thighs. The band will still allow you to rotate, plus you will have to improve your balance in the water or your legs will be dragged down.
