Question: is backstroke kick anywhere near as effective as freestyle kick with a kick board?
I hate kicking. With a passion. But inspired by DougStern and compelled by a need for variety in my swim workouts, I have begun including kick sets over the past half-dozen workouts. Perhaps coincidentally, or perhaps not, I almost immediately found myself about 5 seconds faster per 100 yards. Not wanting to jinx a good thing, and figuring that at the very least I am building overall leg strength that will be helpful after T1, I have been slowly & painfully increasing the volume of kick sets. In what can only be described as a bad lactic acid trip, I decided to do an IM kick set and discovered to my surprise that backstroke kick is much less miserable that freestyle kick. And perhaps not in the guilt-inducing way that breaststroke kick is – it is still a flutter kick, after all.
So, triathlon swim gurus: do I get the same benefit from back kick drills as I do from free kick? Or at least some of the benefit? (My legs are on fire after 75-100 yards of free kick, but I can do twice as much back kick with half the pain.) I can convince myself that the body position while kicking on my back might even be less detrimental to swim technique than a head-up, arched-back position using a kickboard (or two). But my conscience is also telling me that if back kick is that much easier, it can’t be as beneficial. I’m also perfectly happy to hear opinions on whether or not I should be doing kick at all: does it help or hurt my swim in a triathlon context? Does an emphasis on kick just tire my legs out too fast on the swim leg? Does kicking in workouts at least build general leg strength in ways that are useful for the bike & run?
Info for context: I am currently swimming at a pace of about 1:25 per 100 SCY for distances of 1500 yards or so. I’m training for sprints & Olys. I’ve been training for about 9 months, and this is my first season of triathlon. I’m an ex-age group swimmer (although it has been 20 years), and I would imagine that my technique is not abysmal, although my times are certainly nothing to brag about.
Steve Stuart
some people think that kicking on your back is the only way to go; some coaches won’t even let their kids use kickboards. i don’t necessarily agree with that. what kicking on your back does is force you to focus on the up-kick (well, if you were doing freestyle, the part of the kick in which your foot moves up, with you hamstrings pulling) more than if you were using a kickboard. that’s probably why you’re feeling less pain; you’re kicking more evenly up and down. is it your quads or hip flexors that get loaded up with lactic acid? (just curious) either way, you are using that muscle less and probably replacing it with hamstring use on the up-kick (actually the down-kick since you’re on your back).
I think it’s mostly my quads that hurt when kicking freestyle. I also cramp a lot more (calves, arches, toes) after free kick.
I can easily believe that I’m kicking more evenly on my back – I kick a little slower, and make it down the pool with fewer total kicks than when using a kickboard.
Steve Stuart
Systuart,
Kicking on your back teaches you how to kick up and down. You are also increasing hip flexibility more on your back than on your stomach. Stretching your arms overhead increases shoulder flexibility as well.
Next do some dolphin kicking on your back. It is super ab work.
DougStern
Dump the multiple kickboards. if your going to use a kickboard, use the smallest on you can find. Break the normal ones in half or thirds. Unless your swimming lots of heads up freestyle a kickboard puts you in a not so good position and doesn’t allow for body roll like kicking streamlined does. Kickboards really are designed for among other things, social kicks when the coach wants to keep you moving, doesn’t have anything planned or wants to kill time. They also make inaccurate frisbees.
Exactly. Case in point, guy in my masters lane. He can kick my ass when kicking with a board. But when kicking w/o a board or heck even just swimming freestyle, I whoop his butt. He may have good quad strength to have such a strong kick, but his body position is horrible (pretty much all the time). The board reinforces his bad position. This morning we did a major backstroke session. Lots of kick on back in streamline position, lots of backstroke. Poor guy struggled because his body position is so poor.
Hate kickboards. Worst things invented.
AP
Thanks, everyone, for the good advice. I’ll ditch the kickboards. And kick fly on my back if I’m feeling masochistic.
So my back kick should be with arms extended over my head? I had been keeping them at my sides or behind my back.
Any opinions on how much I should be kicking, if my goal is triathlon, not masters swimming? Currently I swim about 6000 yards per week and kick about 500-800 of those yards.
Steve Stuart