can a kickboard help?

Kickboards help, especially as you are developing your swimming form. I'd recommend using a kickboard for less than 10% of your total workout. Generally speaking, your distance/time on the kickboard should be matched by an equal distance/time doing upper body isolation reps, like using a pull bouy and/or paddles (perhaps kicking and pulling should equal 10% of your total workout, but certainly no more).


Here are the benefits in my estimation:

1) You can focus on the hips, legs, and feet exclusively while using a kickboard - this will help you identify the effect of various flutter rates as you are developing (remember, we're going for economy of motion - kick like a bat out of hell and you'll see how inefficient it is when you heart rate spikes up).

2) Kickboards allow you to take some good deep breaths, helping you lower your HR if needed for a short rest during a long workout. You can also lose the goggles for a few laps, which is always nice.

3) Kickboards are another option for "mixing it up", which is a real nice thing because swimming can get monotonous.

4) A kickboard will help improve your cardio level and help you tone the legs and hips by keeping you in the water a bit longer than you otherwise would. Consider kicking a downhill on the bike or a nice short walk in the middle of a long run. It's still helping you immensely when taken in context with the entire swim workout.

5) For an alternative, try kicking without a board for a few laps. Tough, but really forces you to understand stroke efficieny for the lower half of your body.



Good luck!
-Adam

hi. thanks for your reply, you have been very helpfull.
shay.

I know that Total Immersion does not recommend the use of a kickboard. The reason is that it puts your body in an incorrect (for efficient swimming) position. Your head is up and you are kicking flat on your stomach, instead of your head being down and kicking on your side.

Try kicking on your back instead...

my swim coach told me that fins were good for learning/training your kick. With fins you kinda have to kick from the hip, ankles extended.

But for what it is worth, I swim better w/o kicking. I use it more for balance when rotating. I was talking to another person about it and she does 1/2 and full IM's w/o kicking. You arent getting any propulsion from it, or what you do is wasted energy. You will need your legs more for the bike and run. If you waste your "leg energy" in the swim to go faster a couple of minutes you could easily lose 20 minutes in the bike/run. Being a triathlete we need to be concerned about getting thru all three sports as opposed to swimmers getting thru one.

You should be more worried about your stroke then your kick unless your legs are dragging

I am not a big kicker. I have been using fins to improve my hip/leg motion, but that's all. Yesterday evening I was doing pulls and found that my splits were only 3-5 seconds slower than without the pull buoy. It is too bad that my legs are not detachable because I probably could get some extra speed by reducing the excess weight.

are you sure that when not kicking through out the race, you're not wasting to much time overall? how does your freind keep herself stabilized without kicking?

Ahhh, the true mystery of swimming. You must achieve balance while swimming, or you don't stand a chance. As long as you are actively fighting sinking, you cannot be actively moving forward.

If you ever get a chance, watch an accomplished distance swimmer. Almost all will use their arms and body rotation, without an "overt" kick. Their kicks will be mostly just to keep time with their bodies and arms.

no matter what you do- you are only going to go so fast in the swim. That is just reality. Sure you can come in 5 minutes faster swimming like a mad person- but I wouldnt count on having too much energy left over for the bike and run.

Here is a quote from gordoworld.com about doing a 1/2IM and swimming:
Go out easy on the swim - the swim makes no difference to your overall performance. Use it as a warm-up for the bike. Two minutes faster on the swim can result in 20 minutes slower on the run. I ran past 250+ people at Wildflower last year. In an IM race, I typically pass 5-800 people with this strategy.

I barely kick. Whatevr happens back there with my legs is a natural offset to the turning to breathe and keeping balanced. Thats all. I am not talking about my legs being complelety motionless. And dont forget- swimming takes a long time to perfect- people pulling in fast times have been swimming for years!

Your stroke efficencey and not creating drag (slicing thru the water) is WAY more important then your kick- just as long as your legs arent slowing you down (creating drag)

I use the kickboard and Zoomer fins. I don't really kick that much in my workouts I like to conserve my legs. But I feel that the cross training with kicking in the pool helps me on the run and bike. Maybe it does or doesn't but I like it anyways. I agree with the info from Gordo's board. You can make up the time on the bike and run more easily than in the swim.

Mike

your answers are very helpful so ill ask another question.
how do i know if i'm creating a drag by not kicking ? (lets presume that don't pay attention to my relative speed wjile i'm in the pool).
thanks.

Posted this in another thread - but TI teaches a two beat kick - which essentially saves the legs for bike, run - I've found it very helpful and my lets feel way better. (Still working too hard to breathe etc. - but the kick is great.)

Here's Terry Laughlin's comment on the two-beat kick from Total Imersion web site:
The kicking explanation in that book sounds pretty complicated. I’ll try to simplify. First, the best kick for anyone swimming a distance of more than 400-meters (and particularly anyone who has to cycle and run after swimming) is what I call a “non-overt” kick, which means not trying to kick or making it a conscious effort. Your kick should integrate seamlessly with your body movement and your legs should never fatigue while swimming. And that requires great balance.

"A 2-beat kick is the most economical; it means two beats per stroke cycle or one leg beat for each arm stroke. The primary purpose of the 2-beat kick is to help initiate body rotation. The right foot drives down to drive the right hip UP – which drives the left hip DOWN. The left hip driving down drives the left hand forward to where it anchors in the water. So the feeling of coordination should be: Your right foot drives and your left hand slices forward at the same time (and vice versa.) BUT, as I said, you should be barely aware of your kick. Instead put your primary focus on slicing your hands down and forward; in the back of your mind, check that your opposite foot drives down at the same time."