If you are just starting out with vertical kicking, cross your arms in front of you like you are grumpy about something. Michael Phelps used vertical kicking (along with a 20lb weight belt on) in his preparation for the Beijing Games, doing rounds and rounds of :50 seconds, :10 seconds off to help strengthen his dolphin kick, but we can use it just as easily in order to improve our freestyle kick. It also doesn’t require a lap pool all you need is a really tall bucket.Īnytime the local lap pool is a bubbling cauldron of swimmers I migrate over to the deep end and do some vertical kicking until either the lanes clear out or my legs are shot. Vertical kicking is versatile, and can be used by the complete noob and the Olympic champ. I love routinely adding 1,000-1,500m of straight single leg kicking with fins on during my recovery sessions. And yes, core strength is important for swimmers. Keeping your non-working leg straight, as well as keeping your direction in the pool, requires you to engage that core of yours. Single leg kick also has the benefit of added core engagement. In order to motor along at a consistent pace and not be starting-and-stopping in the water you need to apply just as much force within both phases of the kick. It discourages the lazy up-kick because you will notice a significant decrease in propulsion when you slack on the up-kick portion of your kick. With only one leg going you have to really focus on both the up and down phases of the kick. Kicking with a single leg has a couple magical benefits: Adapt the drills to your goals, your conditioning levels and what you are currently capable of. The following drills can be done with a snorkel in a streamline. That being said, good luck prying my big, ugly green kickboard out of my hands! If you have level 10 swimmer’s shoulder than putting your arms out in front of you for extended periods of time is pretty much the worst.Īnother downside of using a kickboard? It limits hip rotation. The following drills can be done with a kickboard, or not. Do I have to use a kickboard for these kick drills?
As with anything, start slowly, focusing on proper form and steadily progress in volume and intensity. Listed below are three versatile freestyle kick drills for you to add to your training. It promotes better body position, provides a measure of propulsion, and for you gallop-stroke freestylers it can help maintain speed between strokes. Whether you are a distance swimmer or a sprinter a strong kick is essential for an efficient and powerful freestyle stroke. The fluidity, power and flexibility come together to create a smooth, effortless performance. There are fewer things more impressive than watching a swimmer with a powerful kick. Here are 3 freestyle kick drills to level up your freestyle swimming.
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