Every single one of our lane swimmers made significant improvements after this evenings session , and should be really pleased with themselves. It’s just a shame that we forgot the DIME BARS we promised as rewards for good kick drills – Sorry! Dime Bar rewards will be back next week!
Tonight we focussed on our FREESTYLE KICK!
Let’s be honest, lots of us open water swimmers, and triathletes, have an inner loathing for kick! Whether it’s that we tell ourselves that we need to save our legs for the bike and run sections, or whether we just get too reliant on the buoyancy of our wetsuits who knows, but we tend to avoid using our legs don’t we!
Well, there was no hiding from KICK DRILLS at our coached lane session tonight!
FREESTYLE KICK, whatever we think about it (love it or hate it), is not primarily about propulsion. Ultimately, kicking our feet whilst swimming freestyle brings our legs into a streamlined, torpedo-like shape, with our torso, meaning our legs are not hanging low in the water causing drag.
Tonights drills, poolside and in the water, were aimed at each of our swimmers getting a feel for the right body position, and maintaining that with 3 key components in their kick:
1. KICKING FROM THE HIP – knees should not be bent (bending the knee presents the thigh to the water which acts as a brake to forward motion). Legs should not be scissor-kicking – and if they are just pull your bum cheeks together!!!
2. PLANTAR FLEXED FEET (Point Your Toes) – your toes should be slightly turned in (almost so that your big toes are touching)
3. FLEXIBLE ANKLES – remembering that your thrust comes from the flexibility in your ankles
If you would like a copy of this evenings sets and drills please go to our Resources pages
Our coached pool sessions cost £5, are open to swimmers of all ability and run on Tuesday evenings from 9-10pm at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre. If you would like to get involved please email us at info@swimyourswim.com. Check out the Calendar for specific times and dates as some weeks can be different.