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help to improve freestyle

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Posted Jan 20, 2010 05:36PM

Look at sprinter footage Mr. Cher posted, they all kick like mad. If your a bad kicker your legs actual slow you down and you would be faster with them tied together. So to get faster you have to make them work.

I went from 27 seconds kicking 25 to 18 seconds in less than 2 months.
Get a stopwatch
Time yourself kicking a 25, don't holdback you'll be wasting your time
Test yourself 2 times a week
Include this into your normal kicking routine

It is so simple but it works! But that's it.

Also do stretches for your ankles to make them point downwards more. This little technique does a wonder.

Posted Jan 20, 2010 06:55PM

I disagree. Lack of kicking during freestyle will not "slow" you down. It will certainly not aid in your propulsive efforts. What does matter is if your feet are pointed as flat as possible relative to the shin. If they are at least parallel to the shin the water can flow over your feet without causing extra drag. If however your feet are not ALWAYS pointed then your going to have "aqua-brakes" as I heard from some other swimmer/coach.

Also, the key to steve's plan is that you are RECORDING your progress. This also means that if you decide to kick with a board do it every time like that. You want to keep everything as constant as possible durring a test sprint like that. So that you can asses how powerful and efficient your kick is becoming based on the time you achieve. Also some other thoughts you have to wear the same suit, so if ur in a jammer/brief do not compare your time when wearing swim shorts!!! I suppose you get the idea. Go for it!
Posted Jan 21, 2010 01:54PM

I stole the kick plan from Anders Rasmussen. I followed it and I went from terrible kicker to much better in a short time. This helped my sprinting a ton too.
Posted Jan 21, 2010 02:15PM

my current 25m speed kick pb is 18 sec ( with board ) 19s (without board)
i normally do 2 x ( 4 x 25m ) all out kick on 1: 30,easy 50m between each round.I attribute the drop in time to the flexibility of ankle which i think is crucial after read the article
http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/artic...
And, stretch before swimming will let u regain ur regular flexibility and strength.stretch after swimming will increase flexibility and strength more since your muscle is pliable and warm.
Currently, I just follow the ankle flexibility program provided by Go swim and stretch a bit after swim workout.Fins also helps, i got one red zoomer but i didn't use it very often : )
Kicking hard is not the point. You must know how to kick effectively and the 6 beat kick timing . However, when your kicking speed is faster than certain limit, it won't make you faster but create more drag. In high speed swimming, i think streamline body position is more important.

Posted Jan 21, 2010 05:05PM

Some thoughts I can suggest for improving your kick power would be
for example with the 2x(4x25m) kick set do the first 2-3 of each round with ankle weights. I use 5lb each ankle but that is rediculous! I would recommend 2lb probably. The important thing when using ankle weights is to have great kick technique. Keeping your kick in your body shadow and keeping a fluent wavelike motion with your leg kicks and of course feet super pointed as I mentioned before.

Feel how powerful you are on #4 of each round! Nothing compares to having ankle weights imo. Use a small parachute w/ ankle weights and u'll become a kicking champ.

with ankle weights you gotta make sure you get one with a strong fastening method. The ones with just velcro on either end will just fall right off and be useless....
Posted Jan 21, 2010 05:28PM

If you use ankle weights, please make sure there's a lifeguard or coach on deck and that they know you've got on weights :)

Posted Jan 22, 2010 02:16AM

No money to buy an ankle weight, i will use parachute
Posted Jan 22, 2010 02:36AM

be aware that weights and parachute do completely different things though... But parachute is good for learning imo. Even easier if your working on ur kick is to hold your kickboard vertically in front of you like a wall
Posted Jan 22, 2010 08:41AM

i tried that before, maybe not so many speed kick since my glycogen will be depleted very fast
Posted Jan 23, 2010 08:33PM

2, (4x25) kicking is too much. I could only do 1, (2x25) then rest. it burns bad


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