I have always been terrible at kick, and I believe it holds me back, so I want to make some improvements. As an age group swimmer, we would train lots of 50m kick on 60 secs, and I would struggle at that pace, and now I am older and heavier than I was then.
Physically I am 6'2" and about 225#, but my feet don't measure up at all at size 8, with a high arch and hammer toes. I don't want to make excuses, but this may be why my feet struggle to catch the water properly. I know this means I'm going to struggle, but I am looking to do the best with what I have.
What should I do in training to:
Improve feel for the water and effectiveness of kick?
Greatly improve kicking endurance?
Keep my kick "switched on" when doing full stroke?
Are there other factors I should consider?
Kicking like all of a stroke, is part learning what works best for your particular body, and part lots of practicing to make that form even stronger and faster. All parts of a stroke may need constant adjustment as muscle and strength builds over time.
For instance, my ankles lock in the down stroke before they are parallel to the shins, unlike most swimmers I see that accomplish a flat shin to top-of-foot line. I unconsciously compensate for this by focusing on finding the fastest kick form: speed, amplitude, timing all adjusted constantly. Study of natural swimming creatures shows that faster smaller undulations give the highest speed, but not necessarily the fastest acceleration. This all takes lots of patience, a sense of the water with your legs, a willingness to change things up a bit just to see what happens, and practice to find the best kick for oneself. Sometimes in sets I might do a few lengths with slow large exaggerated undulating flutter kicks, which probably look bizarre to coach and others, but it works to stretch hips and legs, build core, and give a further sense of what type of leg movements give the best propulsion.
Despite what others said here, zoomers occasionally can teach your body the feel of moving fast with legs, which can be remembered later without zoomers.
Kicking like all of a stroke, is part learning what works best for your particular body, and part lots of practicing to make that form even stronger and faster. All parts of a stroke may need constant adjustment as muscle and strength builds over time.
For instance, my ankles lock in the down stroke before they are parallel to the shins, unlike most swimmers I see that accomplish a flat shin to top-of-foot line. I unconsciously compensate for this by focusing on finding the fastest kick form: speed, amplitude, timing all adjusted constantly. Study of natural swimming creatures shows that faster smaller undulations give the highest speed, but not necessarily the fastest acceleration. This all takes lots of patience, a sense of the water with your legs, a willingness to change things up a bit just to see what happens, and practice to find the best kick for oneself. Sometimes in sets I might do a few lengths with slow large exaggerated undulating flutter kicks, which probably look bizarre to coach and others, but it works to stretch hips and legs, build core, and give a further sense of what type of leg movements give the best propulsion.
Despite what others said here, zoomers occasionally can teach your body the feel of moving fast with legs, which can be remembered later without zoomers.
