So earlier at practice I experimented with flat feet coming off every wall. There was a very noticeable difference. I could surface with ease past the flags, without any DKs. In my first two years of swimming, I have used just the balls (and toes) of my feet in coming off the walls.
Flat feet (that is, both ball and heel) feels a little awkward right now, like any technique change, but I think I'm going to start adjusting to it for permanent use.
Thanks to Jim Thornton who suggested I make this a poll!
I don't seem to have the calf flexibility necessary to get my feet flat on the wall (at least not easily). Perhaps my legs are in the wrong position?
I am surprised that no one has said anything about whether the average swimmer (not your top swimmer) will be faster this way. It seems to me that one possibility is that your average swimmer will spend more time on the wall with a flat-footed push, even if (as some have argued here) you are able to push off farther.
I don't seem to have the calf flexibility necessary to get my feet flat on the wall (at least not easily). Perhaps my legs are in the wrong position?
I am surprised that no one has said anything about whether the average swimmer (not your top swimmer) will be faster this way. It seems to me that one possibility is that your average swimmer will spend more time on the wall with a flat-footed push, even if (as some have argued here) you are able to push off farther.
