![]() ![]() Now that I have made you feel bad about not wanting to kick, let’s get to work on fixing that! In this article, I am giving you 3 kick sets that will both crush your legs and make you a stronger more well rounded swimmer for your next triathlon. This stuff is good for you even if you don't see any sort of kickboard in your future.A common misconception that I hear over and over is that triathletes don’t need to work on their kick! Well that is just plain wrong! If you believe that, then I feel sad for you! I have come to the conclusion that many triathletes believe this because kicking is hard to do, it is exhausting and people hate working on things they are bad at! There are so many reasons why kicking can improve your swimming and lucky for you, I have already covered that topic in depth here! Give it a read and consider that myth debunked! Then gently point your toes away from you and return to neutral, 10x.Īnkle strength and mobility is super important for life in general. Pull your toes toward you then return to neutral, 10x. Point your toes and flex your feet - Sit on the floor with your legs stretched out in front of you. Towel pick up - still sitting in that chair, throw a towel down on the floor and grab the center of the towel with your toes, curling it towards your body. Spell the alphabet - try sitting in a chair with one foot propped off the ground, spell out the alphabet in the air with your toes. Stretch out the plantar fascia (the bottom of your foot) - take a golf ball (or baseball) and, sitting in a chair with your feet on the ground, roll the ball around under the arch of your foot for a minute or two with each foot. Roll and stretch out those calves - Using the wall, a step, or a foam roller (or tennis ball), get those calves and achilles tendons loosened up. WHILE YOU ARE AT HOME WATCHING REAL HOUSEWIVES In addition to allowing swimmers to get a better feel of what your body position and stroke SHOULD feel like (which I touch on in my fins post), kicking with fins can also pull your ankles into plantar flexion, increasing mobility and giving the swimmer a sense of what proper foot position feels like. Kick or swim with fins - This is one of the primary reasons I heavily encourage beginner swimmers to invest in a pair of fins. You won't sink because you are holding onto the wall, and you can play with different techniques and see how they feel, which ones make it easier to maintain your body position, etc. Wall Kicking - Hold onto the wall, face in the water, body position level with the surface, and kick. Kick often (duh) - Practice makes perfect. In the pool, you should train your backstroke flutter kick with a kickboard when you practice the rest of your kick drills. So, if you are one of those swimmers struggling with getting your foot to move in the motion above, what are some things you can do to improve your kick and ankle flexibility? Besides being aware of how you kick in the water, you will want to train your legs both in the pool and during dryland training. BUT I will have additional posts for how to avoid kicking from your knees or hips, today we are just talking about those feet. ![]() Often times people will kick from the knees (a topic for another post), or solely from the hips (totally straight legs). His feet are relaxed, not rigid, changing position throughout the course of the kick. ![]() ![]() Assume a prone position, and float face down on the water’s surface. To get started, we will use swimming fins. The main thing I want you to notice is the motion of his entire leg, through his toes, during the kick. We will now cover the drills to practice the body undulation/dolphin kick. To watch the complete minute+ version of this video, go here. ![]()
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