Weak swim kick?

Ace,  

At your t-pace, I would focus on: swimming more often; improving balance/alignment in the water; and getting relaxed with continuous three-stroke breathing.  You'll have more to gain than improving your kick.  

Hope this helps,

g

A strong kick but with less flexible ankles will result in very little forward movement.

Being a non-swimmer myself, take this with a grain of salt, but I agree with Gordo in that really focussing on form and overall mechanics of your stroke will reap much greater reward than worrying about your kick.

I have a pretty weak kick, but have gotten my 1,000 yard TT pace down to 1:41 with my TT last week.  And I do very little "leg" work in the pool during my drill sessions.  Mostly I focus on the main parts of the stroke.

a good for triathlons is that one that allows you a better body balance and body rotation. The proulsion you gte from kecking is minimal, you just want a flutter kick to provide you with a nice rhythm to rotate. Speed will come from proper body position, and the frontend of your stroke (rach, catch pull, frequency and distance per stroke).

if your T-pace is 1:57min for 100m IMO your technqiue still needs a lot of work and kicking is not really a huge concern nor a priority. And yes if you don't spend much time in the pool you can stress about many things that you could do to swim better but it wont change anything in the end. Focus on improving your body position and stroke and once you work your way through to get your Tpace to around 1:40 for 100m then you can focus on other stuff. Get a swim coach, have a good swimmer help you, get a book, get your stroke analyzed, etc.

Don't worry about your kick.  Save your legs; you can rest your shoulders and arms on the bike.    That's my motto at least.  I'm not a speed demon in the water, but I stay firmly MOP with little to no kick.  Swimming is not where I get my butt kicked...I save that for the run. 

i second gordo, jorge, rick et al.

I was a 2:05 swimmer not too long ago and have finally dropped down to a 1:40ish T pace.  My kick now is noticably lighter then when I was slower, but it is more deliberate and controlled.   A change in body position and a better link between kick, hips and shoulders is what did it for me.

So I wouldn't focus on kicking with a board and being slow, but work on kicking on your stomach/side and holding position in the water

Man we are running the exact same times and I have the same problem, I can't use that stupid board to save my life. Thanks for posting this.

I have to disagree with this. A strong kick has nothing to do with "saving your legs". I have a strong 6 beat kick that usually gets me out of the water in the top 1% whether it's a sprint or an Ironman and have plenty left for the bike and run.

The key is to have an efficient kick. Flexible ankles and relaxing the feet is how to acheive an efficient kick. Simple things like putting a heavy blanket on top of your feet when you are watching TV or sleeping can help with ankle flexibility. Grabbing a kickboard and kicking is how to get stronger. Kicking with fins is another great way to increase your leg strength and ankle flexibility.

I have a related question.  My kick, with a kick board, is also weak.    I can kick fine when I'm really swimming, and fine doing a back balance drill and kicking (and also on my side in other TI drills).  But why, when I turn over onto my stomach and use a kick board, is my kick nearly pointless?    I don't understand why it matters if I'm on my back or not.  I prefer my back because I'm more horizontal in the water - with the kickboard I'm at a weird angle. 

Should I work on the kickboard kicking?  Or continue kicking on my back?

(try typing kick a few dozen times and starts to look weird...)

Kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick,  - Wow! That does look wierd!

When you are kicking with a board, most people (non-swimmer type folk) hold their head too high and it drives their feet down under water more. If you look at the competitive swimmers use a kickboard you will see that their upper bodies are much lower in the water. They do this by relaxing their upper body and focusing on using their legs. Don't get me wrong, just having your head out of the water will drive your feet down some. If you are moving through the water well without the board then throw away the board. There is no reason or benefit to using the board but there is a benefit of developing a strong kick. Use what works for you!