Kicking Focus 2

More kicking work - the objective this week is to connect the kick to the pull.

Technique Focus Points

• Kick from the hips.
• Kick compactly, in the shadow of your body.
• Minimize knee bend.
• Point your toes back, but keep your foot relaxed.
• Rotational kick with lower leg as recovering arm enters the water.
• Rotational kick with lower leg as lower arm transitions from catch to pull.

What to Watch For

• Not kicking. Don't stop kicking. Even with a wetsuit. For longer distances you can use a relaxed two-beat kick or a compact four- or six-beat kick.
• Slipping. When you attempt a rotational kick with the wrong (upper leg, for freestyle), your hip is already at the surface and has no place to go. You will feel like you slipped.

Kicking Focus Workouts

• Group Workout
• Key Workout
• Recovery Workout

More Information

• Video Clips - Kicking
• Bottom Up Swimming. A set of three articles by Coach Emmett Hines on how to develop a proper six-beat kick and connect it up to a full-body stroke:
  • Part 1: Let Your Legs Drive Your Long Axis Strokes
  • Part 2: Your Swimming Machine
  • Part 3: The Spin Doctor's Prescription
• Dancin' With Yourself - Another article on kicking by Emmett Hines. This one is the best description I have seen on how to do the two-beat kick the right way. (Above I am not saying "Don't use the two-beat kick" but rather don't use the two-beat kick exclusively.)

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