#flutter kicking

When heading out to the pool for some laps I scope out the lanes to determine which one is best suited for my speed. The identifier between an established swimmer and a recreational one is easily identified through the way they freestyle kick. Most people tend to kick with the knees resulting in a V shaped kick that can propel you forward slightly but is terribly inefficient as kicking faster or harder with this method will yield minimal gains in speed and distance.

A prime example of kicking with the knees. The arrow points to how to the leg where the kick initiates while the other leg shows the end point.

How do I fix this?

The problem with this is that your feet are not catching enough water as it moves through the water. To understand this concept, get yourself in a position where you can move your legs forwards and backwards by sitting/standing. Keep the leg relatively straight (allowing only a slight amount of bend at the knee), toes pointed away from the body, and the ankles loose. 

*Ankle flexibility is key to an efficient kick and may require some stretching in order to progress. If this is an issue, practice ankle circles clockwise and counter clockwise as well as foot flexion.

If you are doing it correctly, you will feel your quads, hamstrings, and potentially your gluts working to push and pull the leg up and down. Another good sign would be to feel your feet pushing the water away from your body. 

Sitting on the edge of the pool, on stairs, or even standing with one leg are a few options on practicing.

I tell my students that their feet need to feel "heavy" when they kick in order for them to move which discourages knee bending. Most of them can do it for a few kicks but will revert back to their old habits since it provides less resistance and is less tiring.

Still not working?

Try on flippers like this. Flippers add increased surface area forcing your feet to feel a higher resistance which is both great for ankle flexibility and awareness. 

The key here is to make sure that the flippers are bending and not rigid. Practice with these with the same tips mentioned above. 

Now what?

Getting to the point where this becomes muscle memory is difficult especially if you've been V kicking for a while so keep at it and within a couple sessions, you should be able to notice the difference. Some people (mainly dudes) will prefer to use their arms over their legs and say that focusing on the kick slows them down. This is true when they initially work on their legs but most of them don't stick with it long enough to see results. 

If you need more motivation, flutter kicks are a great way to tone and strengthen both the quads and hamstrings when done correctly whereas V kicking focuses on just the quads.

Here's a video snippet for you visual learners. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ddjgj6h-qs