Has anyone heard of this technique or used it in swim practices?
It seems to do nothing for me other than takes 2 min to do a 50 !!
I would rather use small fins or just use my own 2 feet !
Agree absolutely.
And I still don't see the benefit. Kicking with shoes takes away the major source of propulsion in the kick, so exactly how does it work (stress) your core/legs/butt more than regular kicking? Seems gimmicky to me.
And it is the exact opposite of using fins, whom many advocate as a means to build leg/core strength.
Agree. I'm never doing it.
I think it gives a performance boost when you take them off. Like swimming with fists or like taking off the bat weights on deck in a baseball game.
I think there is a fundamental difference between your two examples. Bat weights stress the muscles more, swimming with fists does not.
And anyway, I've always thought of swimming with fists as a technique thing, something to help teach EVF. Not a tool to get stronger.
But ultimately I think there are two questions you should ask of any training tool or practice:
-- does it promote greater strength/fitness in a way that will help me race faster?
-- does it promote better technique?
I just don't see how "shoe kicking" does either of these. I guess if you hate kicking, and putting shoes on makes you work at it more, it can be a useful training aid. But regular kicking, or kicking with fins, is better IMO.
yes, sometimes we used to kick with shoes when I swam for UT (Sep 81 - May 86)
I could kick 50 yards with shoes & a board in about 32 seconds
I remember it felt funny to take them off & kick bare foot.
not sure if or how much it helped,
I am a fan of training hard to kick faster
Ande
Has anyone heard of this technique or used it in swim practices?
It seems to do nothing for me other than takes 2 min to do a 50 !!
I would rather use small fins or just use my own 2 feet !
Kicking hurts. Becoming a better kicker is going to hurt, there is no way around it. Kicking with shoes is like kicking with weights on your feet. Don't focus on your speed or intervals just do it and make it hurt. A set I enjoy is :20 seconds sprint :10 seconds easy repeat as many times as you like. 10 rounds will do the trick though. Take the shoes off and then do some fast kicking it will feel great.
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