http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AInQMmn-0Nw&feature=related
At :38, the swimmer on the right seems to use a 3 beat kick- two on the leftt, one on the right, per cycle…maybe he was cramping? Thought this was interesting…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AInQMmn-0Nw&feature=related
At :38, the swimmer on the right seems to use a 3 beat kick- two on the leftt, one on the right, per cycle…maybe he was cramping? Thought this was interesting…
a three beat kick is a hybrid between a two beat kick and a two beat cross over kick. theres really not a lot to it.
Whew… I thought you posted my swim critique. Lol I could not get the URL to work at first I think I fixed it.
No way man- state secrets never get leaked!
Right, but in an earlier thread, there was talk that other than as a training drill, there was no true “3 beat” kick. I came across it in a race situation and I thought it was curious, particularly since the swimmer does not seem either comfortable nor in balance, but he is swimming at the top of the game…hmmm…
Didn’t LA (Juan Pelota) have a three beat kick in that video of him swimming in Hawaii ?
That is most definitely a 3-beat - good eye! I wouldn’t say that it is related to a 2-beat crossover, since there is no “crossing over” occurring, but it certainly functions similarly to a 2-beat kick. The thing that is notable about a 3-beat like that used in the video, is that the only way to execute a 3-beat in a fashion that “works” is to have a double kick with one leg, then a kick by the opposite leg - otherwise, you will end up switching the arm-leg synch from side to side (since 3 kicks does not divide evenly between 2 arm strokes). It is fairly rare to see this, we naturally alternate leg motions it seems, but obviously from the company this guy keeps he is an elite swimmer, and, as you can see, his timing is solid, so the kick work. Brooke Bennett is another one who has a “decent” resume, and displays something similar, although hers is not as distinct as his. I also know a guy who was pretty good, 4:40 for 500 y (and a helluva open water swimmer), who did a 4-beat kicking R-R-L-L.
So, in short, no I don’t think he was cramping, I think that this is just how he rolls. The 3-beat kick DOES exist, it is just a bit uncommon, and a bit unconventional, but clearly, it can be done swiftly
Regards,
r.b.
A 3 beat kick means you kick 3 times per stroke.
The end.
i don’t see what the big deal is. Grant Hackett uses a 3 beat kick for the most part of his races except the end where he starts to sprint. Never hurt any world record attempts.
Yes, that is correct.
i don’t see what the big deal is. Grant Hackett uses a 3 beat kick for the most part of his races except the end where he starts to sprint. Never hurt any world record attempts.
Actually, Hackett uses a mixture of 2, 4, and 6 beat during his swims, then finishes with a 6-beat. I have not seen him do a 3-beat kick, however. The big deal here is that the swimmer in the video does 2 left leg kick IN A ROW, then follows with a right-leg kick, and this is very rare, although clearly not a deal-breaker.
r.b.
err NO.
a 3 beat kick is 3 kicks per 2 strokes (i.e. 1 left pull + 1 right pull incorporating 3 kicks).
Sorry bout that, triathlonstu is more correct here, I was taking stroke as “stroke cycle” because when we are talking about the beat of the kick it is always reative to a single cycle. But, taking a stroke as a single arm pull, 3 kicks per stroke equals a 6-beat kick.
Sorry if I contributed to confusion, and than traithlonstu for that clarification.
r.b.
at face value, i’d say you guys are on crack. if you focus on his right leg, it always kicks just on or a split second after the left arm’s catch. this would argue that he’s either engaged in a 2-, 4-, or 6-beat kick.
however, if a guy’s going to emulate a 2-beat kick with one leg, and a 4-beat kick with the other, i guess that qualifies as a 3-beat kick. i stand (provisionally) corrected, unless i change my mind back again upon further inspection.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AInQMmn-0Nw&feature=related
At :38, the swimmer on the right seems to use a 3 beat kick- two on the leftt, one on the right, per cycle…maybe he was cramping? Thought this was interesting…
I swim this way unless I am sprinting… no cramping just the way I swim
it certainly is not a “typical” 3 beat kick.
I use a 3 beat kick too. My left leg is stronger than my right, and what i do is: Left pull = left kick ; Right pull = right kick, left kick.
what this guy is doing is Left pull = left kick x 2, Right pull = right kick. That double left kick with the left pull doesn’t fit any of the typically accepted stroke cycles.
… if you focus on his right leg, it always kicks just on or a split second after the left arm’s catch. this would argue that he’s either engaged in a 2-, 4-, or 6-beat kick…
Dan,
Generally, you are right that it is impossible to do an odd #ed kick and still maintain the timing that you note. Impossible UNLESS you do 2 kicks in a row with one leg, in which case you can maintain the “cross-lateral” timing that you identified. That guy does a L-L, R kick rhythm. It would be cool to see a video of your kick. Have you ever considered yourself to be an outlier? 
(EDIT: oops. sorry, that was the albertan who said they kick that way)
regards,
r.b.
“It would be cool to see a video of your kick. Have you ever considered yourself to be an outlier?”
i’m a 4-beat kicker, straight up. no ambiguity. i don’t kick when i’m breathing; those are the two beats i miss. unless, that is, i’m breathing on the other side, in which case i’m a 6-beat kicker.
i wonder how many good swimmers are asymmetrical. i worry about that with my own swimming. i’m going a lot of one-arm pulls now, but, these aren’t arm-specific drills, rather, they’re kicking and just general fluidity drill - attempts to gain some sense of symmetry to my stroke.
i’m much more natural doing one-arm pulls on one side than on the other. no problem there. except that the side i’m much better on (right) is the side on which i don’t normally breathe (i’m a left-side breather by nature). which either argues that i need to capture the “good” from one side and translate it to the other, or, i just train myself to start swimming as a natural right-side breather (which i’m not). conundrum.
my solution - for now - is to try to become as good at one-arm drills from the left side as i am from the right, since i’m a left-side breather. this asymmetry is really nagging at me. again, it’s not that i’m pulling better with my arm from the left side. it’s that my kicking, and just the movement thru the water, seems much more fluid when i’m breathing/pulling right-side. to me, this argues i’m leaving something on the table when i’m swimming as a left-side breather.
i don’t see what the big deal is. Grant Hackett uses a 3 beat kick for the most part of his races except the end where he starts to sprint. Never hurt any world record attempts.
I actually checked a video of him since I thought he was using 3 kicks, but he is using 4 kicks, 1, 2, 3, 4, -, - in the rhythm of a 6 beat