LEG LESSONS

Kicking's a real power builder. Too bad it's the swimming workout nobody wants to do.

By Terry Laughlin

Everyone has a good reason not to do kicking drills. Triathletes and runners have trouble making any headway on a kickboard, and besides, their reasoning goes, they already condition their legs by running and biking. Why spend more time on that same stuff in the pool? Even Masters swimmers begrudge precious workout time to an exercise that limits the yardage they can cover.

That's unfortunate because the poor ankle flexibility that handicaps triathletes and runners is gradually improved by kicking. And everyone benefits from what is an excellent conditioning exercise, good not only for the legs but also for abdominal and lower back muscles, which help a swimmer's streamlining ability, body position, and alignment in the water. Even high yardage swimmers (over 10,000 per week) benefit. Kicking sets allow their overused shoulder muscles and joints to recover, while still working the cardiovascular system.

How do you get the most benefit? First, kick for about 10 to 15% of your total swimming yardage, and don't use a kickboard. Kicking without a board better simulates the way you actually use the legs while swimming, and allows more variety. Kick on your back, on your sides, vertically (hands held above the water), submerged, and with fins in all these positions. Each way will teach you something about streamlining, body position, and how to kick more effectively.

Don't kick for long distances slowly. Do it at fairly high intensity, in short distance repeats, with short to moderate rest. Or try fartlek--alternating easy lengths with fast lengths.

Try these kicking drills for variety:

Kick on your side. In a streamlined position, lie on your right side with your right arm fully extended and your left arm at your side. Your face should be out of the water, and your left arm should be exposed from the shoulder all the way down to the hand. Maintain a clean line from fingers to toes and keep the kick pattern tight and within the “shadow” of your body. Change sides one or more times per length. Flutter or dolphin kick.

Kick on your back. Lie on your back with hands at your hips making small sculling actions. Intermediate swimmers extend one arm overhead. Advanced swimmers extend both arms overhead in a tight streamlined position. Head in a comfortable position, hips up, knees underwater, toes ruffling the surface. Use, flutter, dolphin, or breaststroke (whip) kick (keep hands at sides on breast kick.)

Kick underwater. Keep the arms at your sides, or extend them in a super-streamlined position. Use flutter, dolphin, or breaststroke (whip) kick. When you need a breath, take a breaststroke pull and surface. Don’t hold your breath past the point of discomfort. The increased water pressure underwater helps build power and heightens your awareness of body misalignment (poor streamlining greatly increases resistance.)

Kick with fins. This is not cheating. Fins can help improve technique, strength, ankle flexibility (attention, runners and triathletes), and speed. Weak swimmers can achieve better body position and advanced skills more quickly. And all swimmers will gain leg power and speed and an improved sense of what fast, efficient swimming feels like.

Light, medium-blade fins are best because they allow a tight, quick, steady kick that matches your natural stroke rhythm. The popular "speed" fins with virtually no blade work well if you already have a strong kick, but weak kickers need at least a medium-sized blade for better propulsion and to improve leg strength and ankle flexibility. My favorite type of fin is the Slim Fin, a bladed fin designed to match the natural stroke rhythm of nearly every swimmer.

One more time-saving tip: You can improve your kick, along with your technique by kicking hard while doing stroke drills, such as single-arm and catch-up. In fact, if you were to devote 20% of your yardage to skill drills (as even the most highly skilled swimmers should), and kick hard while doing so, you may not need any additional kicking sets.