I finally got video of my stroke and was shocked to see that I have a bad scissor kick, particularly when pulling with the right arm. What is the best way to correct this?
I’ve found that most scissor kicks are a reaction from some other flaw. Having your video would help but I’ll take a stab…Most of the time a scissor kick is the “safety check” that keeps you from over rotating - and I mean extreme over rotation the kind that would put you on your back. It’s very likely that your right arm pull (the sweep of that pull) might be too far under your body, if that’s true then the splayed kick is the counter-balance that is keeping you on right side up. If this is true (and I’m banking on a big “if”) then you’ll have two jobs: 1) pull straighter as if your right hand is a paint brush and your job is to put striped on the bottom of the pool right along side of your body and 2) then break the habit of old kick.
Ian
I concentrate on a steady compact kick. As if I was inside a tube and could only kick as wide as the tube is.
I finally got video of my stroke and was shocked to see that I have a bad scissor kick, particularly when pulling with the right arm. What is the best way to correct this?
Well awareness is the first step to correcting it so you are on the right path. I think a thick heavy band that is loose enough to allow you freedom to kick, but not enough to allow for the scissor would go a long way
Got the video? There’s a ton of ways to have a bad scissor kick. There’s kicking too wide vertically, kicking wide horizontally, not pointing toes back, wiggling at the waist, kicking with one leg and not the other, legs dragging…
Ok, here goes, get a pull buoy…there may be differing opinions.
for a lot of people, the issue begins with one or both arms crossing over at the front of the stroke, you cross over, you turn to breathe, you become imbalanced and your legs do a scissor kick to count act this. Easily fixed by ensuring your arms are in line with your shoulders when at the front of the stroke.
OK, here goes, get a pull buoy…there may be differing opinions.
I would tend to agree: the PB and maybe a loose ankle band such that your ankles are not more than 3 inches or so apart, measured between the inner ankle bones. This combo makes a person all pull with a straight lower body.
I’m going to give you a different piece of advice. Wear fins. Often. Go to the pool now that winter is here and the outdoor season is over. You likely have ankle flexibility and range-of-motion issues. The minor trade off is that your running ankles may get a bit more flexibility, and only very slightly impact your running performance (less than 1-2%).