kick sets
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girlwithcurls2
Posts: 2,262 Member
So for those of you who have swum under coaching or instruction, I need a little guidance. I have a weak kick. I know that. I do work hard while swimming to make sure a lot of my internal dialogue is to work on it. It's a straight kick, from the hip, floppy ankles, but weak. I have fins (Finis Burners at the recommendation of gutzy), but haven't used them lately. I do kick sets with a board which are killers, but I have noticed (finally) that most swimmers do kick sets WITH fins. Aside from the fact that swimming with a board and no fins is incredibly slow, are there other benefits? How many laps should I have in a kick set? How many sets? I'm usually in the pool for half an hour to an hour.
Talk amongst yourselves...
Talk amongst yourselves...
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@girlwithcurls2 in my Adult Swim Club/lessons this year one drill that was introduced to us was the 25/50 kick/swim. 25m kick - Leave the board on the end deck do a 50m swim pick up the board and repeat. The benefit is that you do a 25m kick set and then try to apply the same technique to a 50m swim and then repeat. We would do a minimum of 4 of these but normally 8. This drill can be applied to all swim strokes and you can mix strokes to allow the legs a rest.
I have become a fan of Mr. Google and his great collection of U-Tube Training Videos.1 -
I thought I was kicking from the hips .... Certainly had been coached to in the past. Then I think somewhere along the line the idea of doing a slower kick got confused with doing a weak one.
So now I am trying to think of the power in the kick coming from the thigh muscle...(I think my brain thinks 'move foot up and down' otherwise) - and for each swoosh to have real intensity. Still a slow speed kick. But it is surprisingly hard to keep consistent.
We also did some fun stuff about how the kick changes as you rotate onto your sides (ie as arm goes in on front / back crawl) - here the kick becomes wider in both senses - ie feet further apart, and a bigger forward/back movement. Helps with the side buoyancy.
In term of repetition - I think it depends what you are trying to do. To get your brain thinking and habitualisong new habits - I think short and sweet bursts is best - stopping each 25m or 50m and having a break, and changing the drill (eg do an arm one, then come back to the leg one) is fine as you are doing concentrated brain work! But I imagine this is a personal thing really.
At the moment the minute I stop thinking about my legs and eg think about hand entry - the kicks go fast and footy....ie ineffective. So the idea of starting on a drill and then introducing the next step/whole stroke and going back to the drill etc is a really good one. Thanks Juliet3455
My favourite 1k workout is half drills....some of these are towards the end.1 -
(Sorry meant to add don't use fins, they made my knee problem worse so I avoid)0
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I do kick sets WITHOUT fins because I find that the fins actually reinforce poor technique for me. That may not be true for everyone, but fins tend to make me "bicycle" my legs more, and I don't get the power from my upper hips and thighs that I should when my technique is better.
I do 10 X 25 flutter kick, 25 dolphin kick as part of my regular lap set, but I also like the previously recommended 25/50 kick/swim @juliet3455 recommends--OR the revers of that (50 kick / 25 swim). That's a good drill to really focus on your leg position on the kickboard, and then see how you drift or change position when you add the arms.0 -
Meant to add that I splurged ( $25.00 ) on what I call Mini Fins/Training Fins, they are only about 7.5cm ( 3in ) longer than your foot so you get a little of the benefit of a fin but not the huge strain on the ankle/knee that some people experience. Any swim specific shop should have them - your pool might even have a few sets floating around in the equipment bins.
Equipment that is un-claimed from Lost and Found makes it's way into the Common Equipment bin at our pool.0 -
Hmm, some good ideas. Thanks, all! I'm planning to scoot out of work and grab an available lane early today so that I can get at least an hour in. I really want to focus on my legs. I noticed that my kick and body position are better, just weak. Sometimes I like to go and "just swim," but I am a firm believer in drills because my body has little muscle memory, and the drill do just that: drill it into my memory.0
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Apparently vertical kick is one of the best remedies for a weak kick. I had some really good kick sets I'd found a while ago so will try to find the link.1
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FYI we did a set tonight - 12x25 freestyle kick wit board - BUT with a medicine ball on the board which added extra weight to have to kick against.1
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Yep, Emma, I believe vertical kicks are super beneficial. We do them in the cardio class. I had an instructor on Saturdays who really did a lot of them. this one, not as much. I can DO a strong vertical kick (based on how far out of the water I can get myself), but when swimming regularly, I can tell that it is still a lot of mental energy to remind my legs to participate in the activity. 0
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Speedo makes a great ergonomic kick board. Better buoyancy than the thins ones at my Y too.
TYR Burner fins or any of the shorter fins work great. They are called "burner" because they really burn the quads when used properly. And being shorter, they do not alter your kick form nearly as much as the longer fins.
I have previously posted links to Amazon in the gear thread.0 -
I bought those fins, gutzy, at your recommendation. I really like them. I was thinking today that I probably need to do weight bearing-something for my quads. I am doing more kick drills than I ever did. My left side is weaker than my right (substantially, it seems). When I am working on a 2-beat kick, my left leg sometimes drags behind me, rather than kick when I'm taking a breath on the right side.
For a flutter kick drill, am I holding the kickboard out in front with extended arms, or pulling it into my chest? I know for sure that my legs aren't bent, causing inefficiency. But something is weak, because it's taking as much mental energy as it does physical. I have to really focus on a flutter when I swim (push UP and down).1 -
girlwithcurls2 wrote: »I bought those fins, gutzy, at your recommendation. I really like them. I was thinking today that I probably need to do weight bearing-something for my quads. I am doing more kick drills than I ever did. My left side is weaker than my right (substantially, it seems). When I am working on a 2-beat kick, my left leg sometimes drags behind me, rather than kick when I'm taking a breath on the right side.
For a flutter kick drill, am I holding the kickboard out in front with extended arms, or pulling it into my chest? I know for sure that my legs aren't bent, causing inefficiency. But something is weak, because it's taking as much mental energy as it does physical. I have to really focus on a flutter when I swim (push UP and down).
The weight room is your friend too. You do focused strength training and do pretty good balance evaluation.
Squats are good for balancing leg strength too.0 -
girlwithcurls2 wrote: »I bought those fins, gutzy, at your recommendation. I really like them. I was thinking today that I probably need to do weight bearing-something for my quads. I am doing more kick drills than I ever did. My left side is weaker than my right (substantially, it seems). When I am working on a 2-beat kick, my left leg sometimes drags behind me, rather than kick when I'm taking a breath on the right side.
For a flutter kick drill, am I holding the kickboard out in front with extended arms, or pulling it into my chest? I know for sure that my legs aren't bent, causing inefficiency. But something is weak, because it's taking as much mental energy as it does physical. I have to really focus on a flutter when I swim (push UP and down).
You can also do single leg kicking - weird at first but helps balance out, and also teaches you to work on both the up and down parts of the kick.1
