2 beat kick and timing

I never understood the 4 beat. So, You are alternating which foot you are starting each stroke with? So, - right foot / left foot with right hand. then - Right foot / left foot with left hand. etc. If that is the case then is it really that bad that I'm using the right foot with the right hand on a two-beat? Hi there.. new here but tot this is interesting topic to share my 2cents. I'm with RadSwim... kick should be initiated to drive body roll & opposite hand into water. Look at Benko for example.. during long distance 2 beat. If u using same legs & hands, I think u may be initiating roll with shoulders rather than core muscles. This is how i visualize the kick variations.. hope it is relevant. Sorry if I am wrong. A) 2 Beat :- both kick is actually a "rotate" kick. R-pause-R. Core muscles wind up setting up lower leg (say u r swimming right side, its ur right leg). Same time recovery arm reach its peak ready to spear into the water. I am using a bent arm. Kick begins from abs muscles release... its like a quick snap that spears hands into water. Feeling of "drive" fwd from the leg beat down. Leg is j position back to stream line as u rotate, & relax into catch from the "drive". There is no upbeat feeling like u have in 4 or 6 beat In my opinion, body position is more difficult to maintain through out stroke... less swim rotation,.. legs easily sink on long pause cuz I use front quadrant. Need a catch pure vertical high elbow b4 push & careful up sweep not pushing u down. Not comfortable for me, but good drill I notice there are also variation where a cross over instead of a pause is used. R-cross-R. B) 4 beat : k-R-pause-k-R My timing & feel is quite the same to the 2 beat... if u r good at 2 beat, getting to 4 is very natural. Difference is in the setup, ur setup as u wind abs muscles, there is actually a downbeat kick. Say u swim on ur right... ur left leg down beat, upbeat on right. Timing is similar... u use an additional kick when u setup big rotate kick. A setup kick > a rotate drive kick > pause / glide > back to setup kick again. Compare to the 2-beat, this is easier to "drive" fwd, more roll, much more natural streamline, cleaner catch, better stroke per length, & d pause / cross over phase isn't as long. Also I use it for drills only, not my actual swim. C) 6 beat : k-R-K-k-R-K I purposely trained myself to use a 6-beat.. took many years but now its natural with my front quad. Best stroke per length & good for my tennis shoulder. The only difference with the 4 beat is that instead of pause, u add a kick j about d upsweep (i mark above as capital "K") Then come the setup kick again during hand recovery, & then the big "R" kick that spear hand into water (other hand j finish catch & ready for insweep) Many variations to 6 beat kick.. mine time is for front quad. I tried kayak style on 6 beat... too tiring & not getting enough roll, amazes me how Popov did it so smooth & relax. j my 2 cents..:)

I never understood the 4 beat. So, You are alternating which foot you are starting each stroke with? So, - right foot / left foot with right hand. then - Right foot / left foot with left hand. etc. If that is the case then is it really that bad that I'm using the right foot with the right hand on a two-beat? Hi there.. new here but tot this is interesting topic to share my 2cents. I'm with RadSwim... kick should be initiated to drive body roll & opposite hand into water. Look at Benko for example.. during long distance 2 beat. If u using same legs & hands, I think u may be initiating roll with shoulders rather than core muscles. This is how i visualize the kick variations.. hope it is relevant. Sorry if I am wrong. A) 2 Beat :- both kick is actually a "rotate" kick. R-pause-R. Core muscles wind up setting up lower leg (say u r swimming right side, its ur right leg). Same time recovery arm reach its peak ready to spear into the water. I am using a bent arm. Kick begins from abs muscles release... its like a quick snap that spears hands into water. Feeling of "drive" fwd from the leg beat down. Leg is j position back to stream line as u rotate, & relax into catch from the "drive". There is no upbeat feeling like u have in 4 or 6 beat In my opinion, body position is more difficult to maintain through out stroke... less swim rotation,.. legs easily sink on long pause cuz I use front quadrant. Need a catch pure vertical high elbow b4 push & careful up sweep not pushing u down. Not comfortable for me, but good drill I notice there are also variation where a cross over instead of a pause is used. R-cross-R. B) 4 beat : k-R-pause-k-R My timing & feel is quite the same to the 2 beat... if u r good at 2 beat, getting to 4 is very natural. Difference is in the setup, ur setup as u wind abs muscles, there is actually a downbeat kick. Say u swim on ur right... ur left leg down beat, upbeat on right. Timing is similar... u use an additional kick when u setup big rotate kick. A setup kick > a rotate drive kick > pause / glide > back to setup kick again. Compare to the 2-beat, this is easier to "drive" fwd, more roll, much more natural streamline, cleaner catch, better stroke per length, & d pause / cross over phase isn't as long. Also I use it for drills only, not my actual swim. C) 6 beat : k-R-K-k-R-K I purposely trained myself to use a 6-beat.. took many years but now its natural with my front quad. Best stroke per length & good for my tennis shoulder. The only difference with the 4 beat is that instead of pause, u add a kick j about d upsweep (i mark above as capital "K") Then come the setup kick again during hand recovery, & then the big "R" kick that spear hand into water (other hand j finish catch & ready for insweep) Many variations to 6 beat kick.. mine time is for front quad. I tried kayak style on 6 beat... too tiring & not getting enough roll, amazes me how Popov did it so smooth & relax. j my 2 cents..:)