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Talk to me about kick sets...
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  2010-01-14 7:58 PM |
 Subject: ...This user's post has been ignored. Edited by gvey 2010-01-14 7:58 PM |
| 2010-01-14 10:13 PM in reply to: #2614926 |
Champion 7595     Columbia, South Carolina | Subject: RE: Talk to me about kick sets... Disclaimer: I am a beginning swimmer. I've heard that fins can help with ankle flexibility. They can also help you do various balance drills and such that you may find too difficult (at first) to do without them. I don't find these benefits (nor others I've heard) compelling, in my case. I used them for a while, but realized that my doing so was really just an excuse to use a crutch because my kick is awful. For a while, I gave up kick drills entirely. My New Year's resolution was to do them, and after only 2 weeks I'm seeing improvement, and am hopeful of much more. I've also heard people say "well, you shouldn't kick furiously in a triathlon or you'll cook your legs for the bike and run" and maybe that's true (I certainly don't kick furiously in a race), but it doesn't follow (as far as I can tell) that you shouldn't do kick sets; after all, you still want that easy two-beat kick to be as strong and efficient as possible. Bottom line: I've concluded that, for me at least, there is a significant benefit to be gained from doing kick sets, and doing them without fins. |
| 2010-01-14 10:27 PM in reply to: #2615102 |
Champion 7233 | Subject: RE: Talk to me about kick sets... everything he said, but if you do it HARD with fins it will simply kick your . your legs will be fried. i like the fins (same ones), but i agree learning to kick well is a good thing all around. |
| 2010-01-15 6:53 AM in reply to: #2615116 |
Expert 1618 Temple, TX | Subject: RE: Talk to me about kick sets... I do kick drills both ways... some days with zoomers, some days without. I like the days I do use them, only because the drill goes by so much faster! I used to use fins all the time (before I started tris and was just focusing on losing weight) and when I started swimming without them I realized how much I relied on them. Most of the time I DON'T use them, so when I do I push harder and can really feel it. It's fun to do a couple of intervals with them every once in awhile, just to FEEL how it should feel when you swim fast! |
| 2010-01-15 8:09 AM in reply to: #2614926 |
| Champion 5117 Brandon, MS | Subject: RE: Talk to me about kick sets... My legs get wrecked when I do kick sets with zoomers. So does my core when I'm doing dolphins, back, and side kicks. I use them basically as kick and core strength training, but moving faster through the water also helps you work on finding general balance and can help you streamline your body through the water. |
| 2010-01-15 8:47 AM in reply to: #2614926 |
| Master 2210 Columbus, Ohio Coaching member | Subject: RE: Talk to me about kick sets... Go for the torture and it will help you in the long run. I've always had a TERRIBLE kick - like getting lapped during a 100 kick. So when I wasn't swimming with a team, I would just do a 50 or 100 kick and that would be it. Now that I am with a team again, I was determined to improve. I thought there was something wrong with my technique, which may be true, but I have found that actually doing a lot of kicking has really improved my kick. It is much more efficient, just from practice. I think my cadence was too slow previously. So I agree that you don't want to be kicking like a maniac during a triathlon. But you are going to be kicking SOME, so it may as well be an efficient kick that actually propels you forward, right? If you agree with that statement, I would say it's worth spending time on kicking drills (with and without fins), at least during the winter. |
| 2010-01-15 8:58 AM in reply to: #2614926 |
| Subject: ... This user's post has been ignored. |
| 2010-01-15 9:03 AM in reply to: #2615543 |
| Veteran 155 Pittsburgh, PA | Subject: RE: Talk to me about kick sets... I think my swimming has really improved since I began kicking drills. I try to do sets of 200m - which really cause my legs and hips to burn. No fins. I haven't tracked my time for 200m, but it sometimes seems like it takes forever. |
| 2010-01-15 9:31 AM in reply to: #2614926 |
| Expert 1461 Sarnia, Ontario | Subject: RE: Talk to me about kick sets... I started my tri sw2imming class last night and we did kick drills. I instantly rememberd why I dont do kick drills. If I kick hard enough I actually go backwards. The coach pointed out I was putting too much emphasis on the recover stroke, (up) and not enough on the power (down). I tried to consiously change that and bingo instant improvement. I didnt know there was a differance, and it makes sence, I was actually pushing myself down in the water and doing the opposite of what I needed to to move foreward. Kick drills still suck, but I think I may actually, with practice be able to complete 100m kicking in less than 20 mins some day. |
| 2010-01-15 9:45 AM in reply to: #2614926 |
| Expert 834 Medina, MN | Subject: RE: Talk to me about kick sets... First, on kick sets, even without fins you should be able to push them hard enough to fry your legs, so the whole idea that you get a better workout with the fins is questionable. I think until you're a really good kicker and you get to the point where you just need that extra 5% of leg strength, you're probably doing more damage by using fins in that you potentially don't learn correct form. As a general comment on kicking, I find that when I swim with a wetsuit, the buoyancy of the suit lifts my legs so high that it's difficult to kick much. Consequently, I would suggest that kicking (and consequently kick sets) is going to help you more with swimming without a wetsuit than it will in swimming with one. In any event though, I don't think having your legs in better shape from kick sets is going to hurt at all, it just might not help as much. Edited by MLJ 2010-01-15 9:49 AM |
| 2010-01-15 9:54 AM in reply to: #2615102 |
| Veteran 867 Vicksburg | Subject: RE: Talk to me about kick sets... Experior - 2010-01-14 10:13 PM Disclaimer: I am a beginning swimmer. I've heard that fins can help with ankle flexibility. They can also help you do various balance drills and such that you may find too difficult (at first) to do without them. I don't find these benefits (nor others I've heard) compelling, in my case. I used them for a while, but realized that my doing so was really just an excuse to use a crutch because my kick is awful. For a while, I gave up kick drills entirely. My New Year's resolution was to do them, and after only 2 weeks I'm seeing improvement, and am hopeful of much more. I've also heard people say "well, you shouldn't kick furiously in a triathlon or you'll cook your legs for the bike and run" and maybe that's true (I certainly don't kick furiously in a race), but it doesn't follow (as far as I can tell) that you shouldn't do kick sets; after all, you still want that easy two-beat kick to be as strong and efficient as possible. Bottom line: I've concluded that, for me at least, there is a significant benefit to be gained from doing kick sets, and doing them without fins. I agree with everything he said except I do use fins occasionaly. I have always been a BOP swimmer. Decided to get lessons last summer and immediatly one of the first things my swim coach noticed it that I had no ankle flexibility and he showed me how my feet were acting as an anchor and slowing me down. He told me to get some fins and it would help and also help me feel proper balance in the water. Now I only use them about once a week or so. But when I do the kick my butt, if you aren't hurting after using the fins you are not going out hard enough in my opinion. I am still a slow swimmer 1:40/100 but it is a heck of alot better than the 2:00+/100 that I use to be. I can swim faster but I can't hold it for multiple sets. Right now I am trying to focus on the HTFU mentality in the pool to get faster before this summer. |
| 2010-01-15 10:03 AM in reply to: #2615634 |
| 158 | Subject: RE: Talk to me about kick sets... jspelay - 2010-01-15 9:31 AM I started my tri sw2imming class last night and we did kick drills. I instantly rememberd why I dont do kick drills. If I kick hard enough I actually go backwards. The coach pointed out I was putting too much emphasis on the recover stroke, (up) and not enough on the power (down). I tried to consiously change that and bingo instant improvement. I didnt know there was a differance, and it makes sence, I was actually pushing myself down in the water and doing the opposite of what I needed to to move foreward. Wow, that makes some sense about the power being the down stroke, I need to try this in the pool tomorrow. I pretty much go backwards without fins too! Just do them, I figure anything that is more work makes you better and faster |
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