Kicking better in swimming?

Question

I am a 50 and 100 freestyle sprinter and right now my times are 23.77, and 51.7, and i really feel that my lack of kicking skills is slowing me down. Any good sets to do to get better at kicking quicker?

Answer 1

Do some dryland work to work your core muscles. A lot of people don't realize that a strong core helps you stay on top of the water and allows you to kick faster. Building up your leg strength in the weight room or running laps on a track is not a bad idea either.

In the water I've had coaches make me kick sets with tennis shoes on. It is a horrible experience, but it will make you a much better kicker. Doing sets with fins helps too, but you have to do a lot of kicking with them to make good progress.

Answer 2

wow!! first off your a great swimmer!

well to have good fast kicks you will need a strong core...so a bunch of dry land!! do crunches, plank and other excerixes that strengthen your core!

also flippers will help you a lot!! they can get your kick just right with our completely tiring you out!

a set that my swim coach makes me do is you have your hands on the wall and you have to keep your body horizontal (your head can out of the water or not) and you have to sprint for 30 seconds and then swim freestyle (sprint) to the other end....so just a 25 and then kick agian    it gets really really tiring but then when i swim my 50 kicking is sooo easy!! :)

also just for an easier set that you can do that will improve your kicking ablitly is a 100 kick with about 7 seconds rest inbetween

also work on ankle flexibitly and always remember that when you are in a streamline you have to kick your hardest and fastest!! :)

Answer 3

No matter what sets you do, concentrate on these two things:

1) Make sure all your kicking is quality kicking -- NO loafing.

2) Work on ankle flexibility. Using fins helps.

The kicking sets that helped me the most were 5x or 10x 100 kick, with a sendoff that resulted in rest of only about 5 seconds. We did the set multiple times per week.