QUESTION:
Hello,
I am a masters swimmer and have been swimming for about 18month. I swim with a group of adult swimmers and when it comes to kick sets i find i am falling behind, yet when i swim i have no problems keeping up. my kick is my weakness.
What can i do to improve this part of my technique or is it that important that i need to spend extra time on this?
I have read that you only get about 10% of your forward propulsion from the kick?
Thanks
jodie
ANSWER:
Hi Jodie,
Many adults struggle when they just do kick sets compared with when they swim, so your concern is not unusual.
My suggestion would be to work on your kick by doing short kick sets and then gradually building them up over time.
An example may be to do 20 x 10m sprints kicking as fast as you can after pushing off the wall. Over team increase this to 20 x 17m kick sprints and then a few weeks later work on 20 x 25m kick sprints.
You will need to do this 2 or 3 times a week for 3 months and in that time, your kick should improve dramatically.
My belief is the kicking in freestyle can provide up to 30% of your forward propulsion in freestyle for thos e swimmers who have a strong kick.
Regards
Gary
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