I once had a terrific boss who taught me a lot not only about work, but life. One thing he taught me and that I've lived by ever since is to constantly ask yourself "Does what I'm doing make sense?"
Applying that question to kicking drills has made me wonder. I have read more than once that (other than in breaststroke) kicking a) is used to maintain your body's position in the water, b) that you derive little or no propulsion from it (other than perhaps when sprinting), c) kicking hard can actually increase your drag and slow you down, and d) kicking hard more than doubles your energy use.
Given those four things, I'd like to know your thoughts (and not just knee-jerk reactions) from both swimmers and coaches, regardless of your experience level:
Does it make sense for us to use a large part of our practice time and energy doing kicking drills?
Do we derive any real benefit from doing so?
Do we do it because it actually helps us be better swimmers (which would make sense), or do we do it because "that's the way it's always been done" (which makes no sense at all).
Keep on strokin'!
Glen,
While your mileage my vary, at least in my case, my kick is an integral part of my freestyle, at all distances.
To your 4 points:
a) is used to maintain your body's position in the water, - while a good kick will help to maintain your body position, there are many more benefits to a good kick and there are many more critical factors involved on maintaining the body position.
b) that you derive little or no propulsion from it - kicking with a board and no fins I will typically hold a 1:30 to 1:40 per 100yd pace, which may be faster then many masters, but is by no means world class. So with practice your kick can derive propulsion.
c) kicking hard can actually increase your drag and slow you down, - kicking hard I can get down to around 1:15 per 100yd, kicking hard does not increase drag, unless it your hard kicking is mechanically incorrect
d) kicking hard more than doubles your energy use – I don’t have the exact % increase of energy expended, but yes kicking expends energy.
If you watched the Olympics this year, you may have noticed that a lot of the distance swimmers maintained a strong 6-beat kick for their entire 1500 race, which is a change from 8-12 years ago where we saw more 2-beat distance guys. I think the distance world is discovering the benefits of strong kick, provided the athletes are properly trained to maintain this higher level of energy burn.
Glen,
While your mileage my vary, at least in my case, my kick is an integral part of my freestyle, at all distances.
To your 4 points:
a) is used to maintain your body's position in the water, - while a good kick will help to maintain your body position, there are many more benefits to a good kick and there are many more critical factors involved on maintaining the body position.
b) that you derive little or no propulsion from it - kicking with a board and no fins I will typically hold a 1:30 to 1:40 per 100yd pace, which may be faster then many masters, but is by no means world class. So with practice your kick can derive propulsion.
c) kicking hard can actually increase your drag and slow you down, - kicking hard I can get down to around 1:15 per 100yd, kicking hard does not increase drag, unless it your hard kicking is mechanically incorrect
d) kicking hard more than doubles your energy use – I don’t have the exact % increase of energy expended, but yes kicking expends energy.
If you watched the Olympics this year, you may have noticed that a lot of the distance swimmers maintained a strong 6-beat kick for their entire 1500 race, which is a change from 8-12 years ago where we saw more 2-beat distance guys. I think the distance world is discovering the benefits of strong kick, provided the athletes are properly trained to maintain this higher level of energy burn.
