Special Swim Post: Freestyle Kick

Hey, guys! Its been an awfully long time I haven't updated. I know, don't be surprised, I blog, swim and play games. I am also a student that watches quite a lot of sports. I have been swimming seriously for three years, and my time is a bit above average for swimmers in my age category. I just join minor competitions, and not national ones. I specialize in short distance breaststroke and freestyle. My coach trained the national swim team and with his support for the national team, our swimming accomplishments are quite good. We reached Asian opens and the South East Open games. So, lets get to the drills now.

I am not a kicking powerhouse; I enjoy doing hand drills more, but my improved kicking really helped me swim faster. Kicking in freestyle doesn't speed you much. The main points to focus in freestyle are your hands and hand to feet coordination but if you're talking about breaststroke, kicking takes over around 70 percent. For beginners that are learning to swim, take your float board in your hands, and don't keep your head in the air for the whole time. If you keep your head above the surface, your body weight will push the board down and slow you down. Don't fold your legs too much, it will drag you and slow you down. Just get used to keeping your legs straight but if it's too hard, you can fold your legs but don't overdo it. If combined with hands, remember a two beat pattern. Don't keep your feet silent; keep moving it and do one foot for each hand you move. To keep it moving, move your hands quite quickly and match it with the feet. A six beat or a four beat would be easier though; just do more feet than your hands.

For intermediate swimmers, use fins for additional weight in your legs. Still keep your legs straight although with the fins it would take you to your destination faster if you fold your legs but that would be useless because the main use for the fins are to make your feet heavier so when you take them off it would feel like kicking air. Hands take longer to do than feet and that is when you move your feet. Always remember hip rotation, for there is an imaginary line in the middle of your body that keeps your position streamline so always remember to rotate your hips when moving your feet. Keep your feet straight to decrease drag.

For advanced swimmers, you could start drilling and counting your time for your feet speed. Another useful drill for your feet is sculling. Spread your hands in the front to keep you floating and move your feet while doing so. When sprinting, hit your feet deep underwater but still keep up the speed. Hit your feet deep too when doing drills. Don't kick with all your power; when you are doing long distance swims, it wastes a lot of power. Just kick with low effort, and with the right technique, you'll get far. Kick from the hip, not the knee, that is a vital part in swimming. Never kick to the front; it creates lots of drag. Kick down, where it doesn't drag you. When taking a breath, open your feet wide; it saves lots of energy and gives you a push forward. That could be practiced by kicking wide in the water.

For swimming practices when not in the water, just jog to keep your feet flexible. Also stretch your feet to keep it flexible and to prevent cramps and injuries. Specific stretches are stretching your ankles by putting your feet in the front and taking a leg then folding it towards your crotch for a few seconds. Take turns and switch your feet. Do it repeatedly for 5 or 6 times. Kneel on your tibula and keep that pose for 30 seconds or more. Also remember to point your feet while stretching so you are used to doing that in the water.