Swim background: no formal, official stroke training, just what I learned as a kid. I’m very comfortable in the water but on the slower side in the swims in tris: ± 2:00/100M but am starting to see some improvement from attending a Masters program for the past 2 months. The coach told me I tend to take a wide kick when I breathe which I’ve been trying to eradicate. He also mentioned the feet being an ‘anchor’ and that it is important to keep the kick small, tight and fast as if kicking in a cylinder. Do any fishes have any recommendations on fixing my kick? Things I can think about (imagery) or drills I can do? No, I don’t have any video of my swim to post, sorry. Thanks!
Swim background: no formal, official stroke training, just what I learned as a kid. I’m very comfortable in the water but on the slower side in the swims in tris: ± 2:00/100M but am starting to see some improvement from attending a Masters program for the past 2 months. The coach told me I tend to take a wide kick when I breathe which I’ve been trying to eradicate. He also mentioned the feet being an ‘anchor’ and that it is important to keep the kick small, tight and fast as if kicking in a cylinder. Do any fishes have any recommendations on fixing my kick? Things I can think about (imagery) or drills I can do? No, I don’t have any video of my swim to post, sorry. Thanks!
Your scissor kick is caused when you pull past the centerline of your body. The arm is too far underneath you to do a proper recovery, so you need a giant kick to rotate your body back over. So to fix your kick you need to fix your pull. once you do that the scissor kick tends to disappear almost immediately. Tends to happen on people’s breathing side bc they want to rotate sooooooo much to get a breath. fairly common.
A swimmers snorkel was the solution for me. Gave me enough time to concentrate on keeping nice and straight. When I took it out I could then roll & breath without twisting out of shape.
I believe your problem is your stroke, you have to get so much leverage to turn and breath your legs are forced wide to accomplish it. It is a swim style that typically develops from someone who learned a sidestroke/breastroke scissor kick and then added the overarm crawl stroke later. It is ingrained in your stroke in the breathing phase.
You would need to find your balance in the water, some people have tried restricting their leg movement with anything from a belt to an inner tube (I guess you could inflate it a little to give you flotation, but some might consider that cheating). Once you can breathe without that heave, your need for a scissor movement is gone. A snorkel could help although when you take it off you might revert. Get the balance right.
I believe your problem is your stroke, you have to get so much leverage to turn and breath your legs are forced wide to accomplish it. It is a swim style that typically develops from someone who learned a sidestroke/breastroke scissor kick and then added the overarm crawl stroke later. It is ingrained in your stroke in the breathing phase.
You would need to find your balance in the water, some people have tried restricting their leg movement with anything from a belt to an inner tube (I guess you could inflate it a little to give you flotation, but some might consider that cheating). Once you can breathe without that heave, your need for a scissor movement is gone. A snorkel could help although when you take it off you might revert. Get the balance right.
By ‘get the balance right’ I’m guessing you mean front to back?
Thanks for all the replies so far.
Timely post, my coach masters shared that my kick was wide too. Would like some ideas to work on
Your scissor kick is caused when you pull past the centerline of your body. The arm is too far underneath you to do a proper recovery, so you need a giant kick to rotate your body back over. So to fix your kick you need to fix your pull. once you do that the scissor kick tends to disappear almost immediately. Tends to happen on people’s breathing side bc they want to rotate sooooooo much to get a breath. fairly common.
Interesting and helpful. Thanks. I need to think about and visualize what your are explaining.
use a band
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He also mentioned the feet being an ‘anchor’ and that it is important to keep the kick small, tight and fast as if kicking in a cylinder.
I’ve seen this done before by my kids’ swim instructor. It’s not a bad idea.
Your scissor kick is caused when you pull past the centerline of your body.
The arm is too far underneath you to do a proper recovery, so you need a giant kick to rotate your body back over.
So, I am trying to understand your comment. “Past the centerline” … I initially thought you meant the pull was too long but I think you mean it is across the middle of your chest??? But this is just a bad swimmer’s guess.
So the solution is to reach and pull wider??? I video many of my swims from below water and even when I think I am reaching really wiiiiide … it isn’t. How wide is wide enough?
Your scissor kick is caused when you pull past the centerline of your body.
The arm is too far underneath you to do a proper recovery, so you need a giant kick to rotate your body back over.
So, I am trying to understand your comment. “Past the centerline” … I initially thought you meant the pull was too long but I think you mean it is across the middle of your chest??? But this is just a bad swimmer’s guess.
So the solution is to reach and pull wider??? I video many of my swims from below water and even when I think I am reaching really wiiiiide … it isn’t. How wide is wide enough?
Pretend you have a line cutting your body into a right and left half. The hands are never to cross those lines. Now that line moves a little when you body rotates, but you get the idea. When you hand pulls too far underneath you (say, to the wrong side of your belly button), your arm is now in a sort of no man’s land, which makes it hard for you to rotate back over so the opposite hand can enter the water. This is when people tend to rear up a huge kick to correct the problem, or develop that “wiggle” in their stroke. The scissor kick then helps you rotate back over so you can continue on with your day.
Here’s an example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9A7ngytfUY
Notice how when he breathes, the bottom foot (or left is this example) rears back. As he finishes the breath and pull, that foot lays out one huge kick to right the ship. In that particular example, I got him to fix his left arm pull and his scissor kick disappeared the next 25. Now it creeped back in a little later as it had become a bit of a habit, but it was quick to disappear again with a little focus on what the heck he was doing.
Hope that’s a little clearer…
When you hand pulls too far underneath you (say, to the wrong side of your belly button), your arm is now in a sort of no man’s land, which makes it hard for you to rotate back over so the opposite hand can enter the water. This is when people tend to rear up a huge kick to correct the problem, or develop that “wiggle” in their stroke. The scissor kick then helps you rotate back over so you can continue on with your day.
Here’s an example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9A7ngytfUY
Hey now … when did you film me?
I got him to fix his left arm pull and his scissor kick disappeared the next 25.
Hope that’s a little clearer…
Yes, that is clearer, thanks. If I understand the solution, it was to keep the left reach wide instead of underneath him when he breathed … and also to have less rotation.
rotation is fine. just keep you your pull in it’s proper place.
Starting using a band around ankles in mid December and already noticing a difference. It definitely helped me with proprioception.
I would definitely recommend trying it out, in addition to the other advice provided above.
Put a couple of twists in it (so it makes a figure-of-eight between your ankles) to stop it slipping off your ankles as you swim
Does this help with swimmers that are weak kickers?