Which fins?

Hi - one thought.  I saw a great suggestion for ankle flexibility for swimmers and it really works.  When you're sitting around at home (watching TV or whatever) sit on the floor with your feet under you, causing your ankles to flex.  It's painful at first and be very gentle, but eventually you can lower your body weight and sit for periods of time.  That made a HUGE difference for me.

I didn't like swimming with fins, only because while it was AWESOME when I had them on, I felt immobile without them.  Since a strong kick isn't what I was looking for, the ankle flexing exercise did the trick for me. 

That all said, the fins I used were just cheapies they had at the YWCA and looked an awful lot like the snorkel fins I had at home.  Using the fins will help get a good sense of kicking from the hip.