swim kicking question

The way I was taught was that a two beat kick is two kicks for every left and right arm stroke. As a sprinter in high school I always practiced with a four-six beat kick and after awhile of counting your kicking becomes natural. Where it can get confusing is if your trying to count your laps, how many arm strokes you have taken per length and what you beat is to your kick. Now a person should be given a medal for accomplishing that.

Mike

A swimmer told me at the pool that if you are kicking less than 10 beats, then you are either kicking 2 or 6 beats and nothing else (like not 4 beats or 5 beats or 8 beats)?

Of course I knew I was not doing 2 beats, but I could not verify I was kicking 6 beats either because I was getting confused.

Is this true?

Too much counting - I have difficulty just counting how many lenghts I've swam at the moment

Here's an answer I got from the usms forum from a guy named Rob...pretty interesting analysis.

"Let’s not say it’s impossible to do 4, 5 or 8 beat kick. However, only 2 and 6 (10 or 14 would also work, but not many would want to sustain this) give you the symmetry of the hand entering and the opposite leg down kicking.

As I mentioned before, with a 2-beat kick your right leg kicks down as your left hand enters the water, followed by the left leg kicking down while the right hand enters the water. A 6-beat is right leg kicks down as your left hand enters the water, then kick left, right, followed by the left leg kicking down while the right hand enters the water, then kick right, left. Then back to the beginning.

A 4-beat kick would be right leg kicks down as your left hand enters the water, then kick left, followed by the right leg kicking down while the right hand enters the water, then kick left. Then back to the beginning. This ends up with a right leg kick with both left hand entry and right hand entry. The same would hold true for an 8-beat kick. Again, it’s not impossible, it’s just not balanced."

Edited by auto208562 2005-01-03 2:24 PM

Too much counting... Laps, Strokes and now beats..., c'mon! I'm gonna need an assistant :/

Edited by charlie 2005-01-03 3:17 PM

Are there drills that you can do to help do a 2 kick drill that you can explain to me?

I was curious since I can't slow my kick down. My brain just can't coordinate my arm stroke with a slow 2 beat kick. I can slow it down if I don't use my arms or if I use a wall, but once I add my arms, it just doesn't work.

Edited by auto208562 2005-01-04 9:13 AM

I don't get too hung up on what beat kick you need for open water swimming.
It is a very technical part of swimming, and even though I've been swimming and competing in the sport for 24 years, I still don't know how many beats I have! Just develop a rhythm that works for you, and usually it will be the "right" one.

Good luck!
Kevin

"I don't get too hung up on what beat kick you need for open water swimming."

GREAT ANSWER!! I totally agree with all the posts above that say too complicated to keep up with, get in a groove and go with it I say!

Happy Healthy Tri-Training!
Kristi

My 2 cents.....

I don't think about kicking. As I drive my hips down in order to rotate, my legs seem to act on their own to support this movement. Less splash, more propulsion, no wasted energy. This technique lets me swim longer distances.