I am a pretty strong kicker 34" for 50yds but I still only use my kick at the beginning of the race when sprinting for position. I would say that for anything over 500yds the kick has very little importance especially if you are wearing a wetsuit.

andrew

I too am a leg drager or at the very least slow down to a 2 beat . With the two beat I still get the rhythm and get to use the whole body for my swim stroke

I have to disagree with letting the legs drag and "saving" them for the rest of the race. I'm not saying that you kick like a madman, but I think that a good strong, consistent kick assists with the overall technique and stroke. Back in my high school days, I wasn't the fastest freestyler on the team, but I was one of the fastest kickers on the team, and the kick definitely kept me up there with the speed. I look at it from the perspective that the kick should assist the stroke, and relieve some of the effort that you put in with the rest of the body. As yourself this question: would you only run without swinging your arms? No, of course not, as your arms add to your overall effort and speed. I would argue that your legs do the same for you in the water.

Mark

I agree with Tri-ing. You are recommended to always have a strong kick in your stroke. Why? Well, it's the most beneficial forward motion your body produces when swimming. Arms, eh, your pulling, but at the same time you have a recovery that's sinking you into the water which doesn't help much. Kicking on the other hand is always driving you forwards. It's wise to use your legs to your benefit. =)

Just look at nature. What animal pulls itself through the water? Look at mans creations. The only watercraft that I can recall that pulls itself through the water is a fairy boat with those big spinnin' paddles things(whatever they're called), but I think some people on this forum can swim faster than those things.

So yeah, people say you have to save your legs for the rest of the race but what is better? Spinning your arms, dragging your lower body and swimming slower, or having a decent kick, relaxed arms, lower heart rate, high body position and a faster time?

Just my two cents.

I don't think there will be any arguments on at least kick enough to keep you in a good body position. After that, you've got to try and figure out for yourself where the cutoff is between burning calories and speed.

In cycling and running position is key, but in swimming, position is everything. Keep kicking enough to stay in good position. If you are trying to minimize the kick, remember that the kick plays an important part in keeping you momentum in the brief periods that you do not have an arm in a powerful stroke position. The kick is also crucial to maintaining good body roll and maintaining good position during breathing.

I just started kicking more on my long swims. I still don't kick much but the small increase gets me out of the water fresher and much sooner. I think some of us don't concentrate on the kick and end up not kicking. I think the best is to find the correct compromise

Three reasons to kick lightly:

1. Better body position;

2. Very modestly assists speed;

3. Clears lactic acid. Those legs are big pumps. Although accumulation of lactic acid is not a big problem in distance swims, you will feel less sluggish with a light kick.

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

Big d, I noticed from your profile that you are/were a competitive swimmer, and you have some decent times to go along with that. In a way I'm surprised that you feel the kick provides most of the speed in the stroke, saying its "the most beneficial forward motion your body produces when swimming" and advise looking at nature to prove your point. Look at the animals that push themselves through the water. Fish have fins, ducks and other water loving birds have webbed feet, crocodiles/alligators have huge muscular tails, the beaver also has a large surface area tail. Humans were built to walk on land, and therefore have adapted the way we have. You are correct when you say "It's wise to use your legs to your benefit", but not in the way you advise. Competitive swimmers work to have a strong kick because they don't have to get out of the pool and bike and run afterwards. I remember doing a TON of kick sets when I swam competitively, and have a strong kick myself. But I can go almost just as fast with kicking just enough to keep my feet toward the surface (which is almost no kick at all - you would love drafting me). The kick can provide perhaps 20% of the speed in your stroke but will burn up 80% of the energy you expend. It amazes me that you think you have to have a strong kick to have relaxed arms, a low HR, a high body position. I would say a triathletes time is better spent working on their body position, and form, rather than taking the time to develop a strong kick. Because if you think about it, doing kicksets with a kickboard is reinforcing a poor body position. Your head is up, your hips are low, your back is hyperexteded, but it allows you to recruit more muscles to work on your kick strength. Most triathletes didn't grow up as competitive swimmers like you and I did and are not able to find that good body position in the water that we find so natural. You don't want people like that working on something that is going to reinforce bad habits. Remember your audience when you're giving advice. A strong kick is a great thing to have if its been developed over your years of swimming, but isn't necessary for a triathlete, and there are better and easier places in the stroke to develop more speed than kicking can provide.

True, true. I have to agree with you. Though one thing I must correct you on is on what I meant by a strong kick. I didn't mean working with a kick board to build up a strong kick. Like you said, the last thing kicking with a board would do is develope stroke technique. The only purpose of it is to develope the leg muscles more by giving them 100% of the work load.



Now, in our terms, triathletes have legs of steal. The last thing they need to do in the pool is to develope leg muscles. To sum it up, I was just tryin' to say why not use your legs to your advantage if they are the strongest muscles on the body? Try building a better kick by more drills that require a kick such as long-axis sweet spot, sharkfin, etc, not with a kickboard.



Oh well, sorry for the mix-up here. Just trying to give a diffrent opinion. (just a fyi, I'm 100% swimmer in teh winter and 100% triathlete in teh summer. all teh stats that I said about HR was for my body only, and everyone is diffrent! sorry again!)

I am a former swimming coach. Here is my 2 cents:

Save your legs for the bike and the run. Kick only enough to keep good body position. I have often been to tris and seen people flailing away and spending way too much energy in the kick. I'm not saying don't kick, but kick sparingly. There is a comprimise between energy spent and speed.

Look at the difference between olympic sprinters and olympic distance swimmers. Spinters kick a bunch. Long distance swimmers do not kick as much. We have to get out of the water and ride and run. I for one save my legs for the (to me) harder parts of the race. This may be becuase I swim well and am more challenged by the other events.

Cheers

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Jon Bergmann
http://jonbergmann.com

thanks for the advice guys.

I'm not the greatest swimmer but I do reasonably well. To me it just doesn't make any sense to not kick at all. I regularly do kick sets without a kickboard just kicking and rolling side to side for breathing. Not kicking to save energy makes as much sense as only pedalling with one leg to save energy.

Though legs of steel don't necessarily matter so much in terms of good flutter kick. I'd put ankle flexibility and good glutes as more useful than hamstring/quad strength. Maybe I'm weird, but back in college, I could do 100yd kick set repeats on 1:45 all day long, but would get a bit winded going up stairs to someone's 4th floor dorm room.

I'd be inclined to say to up the kick rate a bit if you've got an actual efficient kick with good ankle flexibility and can comfortably cruise through your kick sets boardless and finless without killing your heart rate. But if you've got crappy ankle flex and can't even really make a 200 no board, then the bad form is going to cause you to spend more energy than you should.

Signed,

The lady with the three beat freestyle kick