Help with freestyle kick

I feel your pain.  It probably took me 4-5 minutes to do 100 yards of kicking and I was exhausted...  I have improved on that a little...

Good news is that with long distance swimming, like the kind done in tri's, the kick is not used for propulsion as much as for balance and body position in the water.  Kicking for speed takes a lot of energy.  Too much for what you get out of it speed wise.  Good for swim races, but not so much for tri.

However, we should all strive to be the best at every aspect, even if we use it or not, no?  So that being said, kicking is a lot about technique and flexability.  Work on kicking from the hip and work on ankle flexability with stretches and the use of fins.  I also found that kicking while on my back help with technique.  If your knees leave the water before your feet, you are kicking too much with your lower leg.

Also if you have a pool with a deep end, practice with vertical kicking.  Which is basically treading water with a free style kick instead of a egg beater kick or frog kick.

I urge you to buy the Total Immersion book or DVDs and learn the proper freestyle stroke.  It will change your world- seriously.  After taking a few months to break down my stroke and learn to swim properly, I marvel at the fact that 95% of the world is swimming incorrectly (even triathletes).

When you swim properly (with your power coming from hips and torso, not legs and arms)... your kick is virtually non-existant.

Watch the most perfect freestyle stroke ever and see how his "kick" is only a mechanism for thrusting his torso/hips forward.  It's a quick flutter to begin each stroke... that's it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJpFVvho0o4

+1 for Total Immersion

Somewhere I read "You swim like a barge." Well that's me.   I'm halfway through the TI book and already have started improving. The video that you linked was enlightening as well. 
Thanks for sharing!!

Edited by Bone Head 2009-07-20 2:02 PM

I'm not going near TI pros and cons but I will say that in tris, your upper body does majority of the work while swimming (think conserving strength for the run/bike) while your kick is really just keeping your hips up and body balanced.

Edited by Tim_H 2009-07-20 2:58 PM

An area often overlooked is core strength relating to kick, rotation, maintaining a streamlined body position.

+2 for this. a solid Core will help you maintain stability in the water to help you be more efficient.

Thanks for all the useful information. I will put it to work tomorrow at the pool!! Happy Training!