Alright, so I’m trying to get a handle on my swimming this year so I can enter tri’s with swim legs longer than 200 yds. So I’ve been to the pool a few times, and only manage to swim about 1 lap at a time for a total of 500-600yds. (Don’t laugh).
Sometimes I resort to a completely different kick that feels more natural, and it’s like I’m hopping (frog kick?), which seems to be faster.
Today I tried a kickboard and noticed that my traditional freestyle kick is completely useless. When I kick like I’m supposed to, I barely move AT ALL. But when I tried my ‘frog kick’, I doubled my speed immediately.
So my question is: What should my kick ‘feel’ like? I’ve tried the ‘tapping on the surface of the water with the top of my foot’, but that doesn’t seem to work.
I’m sure everyone will be laughing if I frog kick through my first tri next month.
Has anyone went through this same problem before? Can anyone help?
I’m joining my local master’s next month, just trying to get a handle on the basics before I show up.
Are you kicking from your knees or your hips?
I try to kick from my hips, but often resort to the knees, it just feels like I’m faster than way even thought I know it’s wrong
focus on your ankles - if you notice most good swimmers their toes look almost pointed while they are kicking. If you are keeping your toes up (the same position as when standing) you are actually pushing water in the wrong direction. I can make myself go backwards just by kicking with my toes up. Toes pointed, I can kick under a 1:20 for 100 yards.
Your toes are pointed (foot planter flexed) Right? Straight line down front of tibia through ankle to tip of toes. as others have said ankle flexibility.
Funny I know of others with the same problem at first. Most complained about foot cramps so they did not point their toes.
Like another said, your ankle flexibility may be a tad bit limited into plantar-flexion. in order to gain propulsion from your kick needs to start from the hip and then move down into your leg and your foot finishes the motion by pressing the dorsum of your foot into the water. Try using fins such as Zoomers or another fin that has been cut short. work the anterior leg muscles with your own hands or have a massage therapist beat on them a bit and then stretch them out repeatedly but in my experience the best way to gain swimming flexibility is to actually swim/kick in your case. keep it up and good luck! ERIK
“I’m sure everyone will be laughing if I frog kick through my first tri next month.”
It won’t be a first. I was passing some people on a staggered start last summer and got nailed in the balls and was at a loss to figure out how it happened. The guy to my right was swimming the breast stroke.
Try kicking vertically in the deep end with or without fins. Start by keeping a light hand on the side of the pool or on the lane rope. Kick from your hips with pointed toes. Think about your entire length of body being in a tube so your legs are immediately below the rest of your body. It’s tough at first, but you should be able to kick enough to keep yourself vertical in the water. Once you get better at it, take your hand off the pool or lane rope.
Stretch everyday. Work on ankle flexibility and kick from your hip flexors. You should feel your body rotating from side to side in the hips. Try to use a kickboard every workout and refrain from “frog kicking.” Good luck.
I do the same thing - little breaststroke kicks instead of the proper flutter kick when using a board. I can’t work to improve ankle flexibilty because of various ankle surgeries I’ve had, but I in my limited personal experience this aspect of kicking is overrated for triathletes anyway. I still go well under an hour for 2.4 miles pretty much just dragging the feet, so I think you can overcome it, but I’m sure stretching is always a good idea too.
Try kicking vertically in the deep end with or without fins.*
Oooh, I had forgotten about that one; I learned it at a clinic a few years ago and it completely slipped my mind. It is hard as hell when you first start doing it, but you can definitely tell if you’re kicking from the hips, because you’ll drown in short order if you’re not. Our coach had us do it for 30s or so at a time, arms crossed across our chest, and rotating 90 degrees every few seconds. She said that when her former swim coach was feeling especially sadistic, he’d make them do it holding a brick.
I remember those times. Except we’d go two minutes vertical kicking, and only 30 seconds of rest while passing diving bricks around. And some of the guys would decide it was fun to pass two or three bricks at once.
I’m not a huge fan of vertical kicking for poor kickers because it’s easy to pick up bad habits- when people start to sink, they tend to revert to eggbeater or breaststroke kick, or go way too big amplitude.
sorry to hijack a bit, been trying to work on my poor kicking, anyone have an explanation why it is far easier/ faster for me to kick on my back than face down?
Much easier to get into a comfortable streamlined position on your back because you aren’t having to worry about moving your head all around to breathe. You can just breathe whenever you need to.
You also have to focus more on kicking from your hips when you’re on your back because if you kick too much from the knees on your back, you sink.
